Engineered microorganisms are widely used in industrial biotechnology and biopharmaceutical applications, including the production of biofuels, sustainable chemicals, and therapeutic compounds. However, concerns remain regarding the unintended environmental release and uncontrolled proliferation of genetically engineered microbes. For this reason, biocontainment technologies, which are designed to prevent microorganisms from surviving outside controlled environments, have become increasingly important in both academia and industry.

Pompeu Fabra University has conferred the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on Helga Nowotny and Maria Leptin. Key figures in the consolidation of a European research model, they jointly received the highest academic distinction awarded by the University. According to the rector of UPF, Laia de Nadal, who presided over the ceremony, “Leptin and Nowotny’s work reminds us that there is no world without science and no science without the world.” Helga Nowotny, a sociologist, was the first woman to serve as president of the European Research Council (ERC). Leptin, a biologist, is the institution’s current president.

Now in its 28th year, the European Congress of Endocrinology (ECE) 2026 commences on Saturday 9 May and runs until Tuesday 12 May. The Congress will bring together endocrine specialists from across Europe and the rest of the world to meet, collaborate and celebrate endocrinology at the Prague Congress Centre in Prague, Czech Republic. This year’s Congress will also celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) since the formation of the Society in 2006. 

Child maltreatment is linked to disrupted development and decreased ability to maintain stable body systems based on measures of platelet counts, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, heart rate and other body systems.

Small samples of DNA can reveal hotspots and trade routes in the illegal wildlife trade, according to a study published May 7^th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Sean Heighton and Philippe Gaubert of the University of Toulouse and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France and colleagues.

A UC Davis study in Science found that 7% to 16% of global plant species studied face high risk of extinction by 2100 under current climate change projections.

A University of Houston nursing researcher has developed the Lactation Psychological Needs Scale providing a new way to measure the psychological experience of breastfeeding.

As part of the body’s first line of defense against foreign invaders, macrophages play an integral role in the innate immune system. However, the ability of macrophages to interpret and respond to diverse danger signals remains incompletely understood. Researchers from the University of Manchester have now found that increases in cell volume reprogram macrophage gene expression and induce inflammation. The findings, to be published May 7 in the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB), add another piece to the ever-expanding puzzle of immune-related inflammatory responses.