How did mammalian faces evolve from reptilian ones? Our study describes the morphological details of mouse craniofacial development, challenging the view that mammals and reptiles share the same jaw structure pattern. We show that mammals lost a reptile-like ancestral jawbone, reorganizing their upper jaw and transforming the ancestral jaw tip into an independent nose. These findings enhance our understanding of facial evolution and provide new insights into human craniofacial development and disorders.

This study investigates the conversion of endothelial cells to osteoblast-like cells and its role in maintaining bone homeostasis. The authors focus on the Kindlin-2/Piezo1/TGFβ/Runx2 signaling pathway, showing that endothelial-to-osteoblast conversion is crucial for bone health. The findings suggest that endothelial cells can adopt osteoblast-like functions, thus contributing to bone maintenance and repair. This conversion process could have therapeutic implications for bone-related diseases, including osteoporosis and fractures, offering new insights into vascular-bone interactions.

Why retinoic acid is effective in this setting but not against primary tumors, has been speculated about for nearly 50 years. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists resolved the mystery, showing the drug “hijacks” a normal developmental pathway to trigger cancer cell death.

A team of researchers at Rice has developed an innovative AI-enabled, low-cost device that will make flow cytometry ⎯ a technique used to analyze cells or particles in a fluid using a laser beam ⎯ affordable and accessible.

Nanozymes are synthetic materials that have enzyme-like catalytic properties, and they are broadly used for biomedical purposes, such as disease diagnostics. However, inorganic nanozymes are generally toxic, expensive, and complicated to produce, making them unsuitable for the agricultural and food industries. A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign research team has developed organic-material-based nanozymes that are non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and cost effective. In two new studies, they introduce next-generation organic nanozymes and explore a point-of-use platform for molecule detection in agricultural products.

Paul Armsworth, Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has received a 2025 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award for excellence in teaching, research and service.