Why the first trimester of a pregnancy could be vital in driving human brain evolution
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 31-Oct-2026 18:16 ET (31-Oct-2026 22:16 GMT/UTC)
A new study has examined just how mothers influence the size of their child’s head – and as a result, its brain size and future IQ – during the first trimester of their pregnancy.
The evidence for this rests on indirect studies of prenatal oestrogen as measured by digit ratio - the relationship between the length of index and ring fingers, known as the 2D:4D ratio.Genetically engineered CAR T cells expressing artificial receptor proteins are increasingly used in the clinic to boost the immune system’s response against leukemias and other cancers. In a study to be published July 6 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), researchers in Switzerland have adapted this approach to suppress the immune system’s response to a common allergen, reducing or preventing asthma symptoms in mice. The technique could eventually be used to treat a wide variety of allergies in humans.
A research paper by scientists from Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College applied transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) with continuous-wave (CW) and 40-Hz pulsed light to target neurovascular pathology in 5xFAD mice.
The new research paper, published on Jun. 23 in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems, has uncovered how two distinct transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) protocols–continuous‑wave (CW) and 40‑Hz pulsed light–can tackle both amyloid pathology and vascular impairment through different glial‑mediated mechanisms.
A research paper by scientists from Zhejiang University presented a novel approach utilizing thin and flexible carbon nanotube piezoresistive fibers as a bandage, helically integrated on the surface of existing slender medical continuum robots for shape sensing.
The new research paper, published on Jun. 24 in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems, has developed a simple, low‑cost alternative: a carbon‑nanotube piezoresistive fiber bandage that wraps around the outside of any existing continuum robot and lets it “feel” its own shape in real time.
An initiative focused on partnering with retailers to decrease the influence of tobacco, alcohol and lottery marketing is showing promise and could present a more effective way to protect public health throughout the country, according to researchers at The Ohio State University.
The program, called Retailers Creating a Responsible Environment (Retailers CARE), launched in Montgomery County, Ohio, and may be the first effort in the nation to incentivize retailers to voluntarily reduce promotion of tobacco, alcohol and lottery products.
The new Institute for Applied Health Intelligence at UC San Diego will connect resources across six schools and UC San Diego health to generate next-generation solutions for pressing challenges in medicine.
Following the earlier deployment of MMAI Gym for Science for large language model (LLM) post-training, Insilico Medicine has expanded its generative AI capabilities through a strategic collaboration with Liquid AI, yielding a 2.6B parameter model optimized for retrosynthesis and a high-capacity 24B parameter model, both available for on-premise deployment and via the Microsoft Marketplace. To enable enterprise-grade automation, Insilico has unified its entire Pharma AI suite via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing researchers to execute complex workflows directly within developer environments like Claude Code and Cursor. Concurrently, the company launched PandaClaw, an autonomous AI agent for multi-omics target discovery, alongside critical upgrades to its core suite: dynamic multibody simulation scaling in MDFlow, an expanded kinase profiling panel, advanced ionization states in generative chemistry, and enhanced MD simulations for metalloproteins.