An international team of researchers has maintained brain organoids, three-dimensional models of human brain tissue, for longer than ever before. For over five years, the tissue continued to mature in ways that closely resemble human brain development. The findings have been published in Nature. By extending the lifespan of these organoids, the researchers create new opportunities to investigate neurodevelopment, model brain disorders and test potential drugs.

A human, an octopus, and a coral could hardly look more different — yet deep inside their cells, their chromosomes still carry recognizable pieces of a genome inherited from an animal ancestor that lived more than 600 million years ago. A study published today in Science Advances by researchers at the University of Vienna maps how those pieces have been reshuffled across the world of animals and reveals that animal genomes evolve along a limited set of irreversible "evolutionary highways". The latest findings provide an important basis for the conservation of animal biodiversity. 

A field-based study from the Yunkai Mountains reveals divergent elevational diversity responses between overstory tree and understory plant communities, highlighting the necessity of integrating vertical stratification and full elevational gradients for tropical mountain biodiversity conservation.

Insilico Medicine has announced the program for ARDD 2026, the 13th Aging Research & Drug Discovery Meeting, taking place October 1–3 at the David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University in Boston.

The three-day program will convene global leaders from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academia, clinical medicine, investment, artificial intelligence, scientific publishing and policy. Sessions will span aging biology, therapeutic discovery, clinical development, regulatory strategy, partnering and investment, reflecting the growing maturity of longevity biotechnology.

Insilico Medicine has announced the program for ARDD 2026, the 13th Aging Research & Drug Discovery Meeting, taking place October 1–3 at the David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University in Boston.

The three-day program will convene global leaders from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academia, clinical medicine, investment, artificial intelligence, scientific publishing and policy. Sessions will span aging biology, therapeutic discovery, clinical development, regulatory strategy, partnering and investment, reflecting the growing maturity of longevity biotechnology.

Inconsistent nomenclature, analytical constraints, and a limited understanding of metabolism and biological roles impede research on selenosugars, the principal urinary metabolites of selenium. To address the inconsistencies, a new study has proposed a standardized nomenclature, along with analytical criteria for reliable identification and an updated selenium metabolism framework. This is expected to improve consistency across selenium studies, strengthen analytical rigor, and accelerate future research into selenium biology and human health.

Over the last quarter of a century, the edge of the summer sea-ice in the Greenland Sea has shrunk steadily northwards. Now, researchers have shown from systematic surveys and field reports that this change has drawn exceptionally large congregations from three species of baleen whales to the coastal waters east of Greenland, adding up to approximately 16,000 animals per summer. The authors concluded that the whales have moved in to feed en masse on capelin, a fish that has recently shifted its geographic distribution northwards towards these exceptionally fast-warming waters.