The efforts of a research team from Bochum and Würzburg give hope for new treatment approaches for dangerous tropical diseases. The researchers have compiled a high-precision inventory of the membrane proteins of cell organelles of the African sleeping sickness pathogen. “Some of these proteins contain components that are specific to parasites and differ significantly from those of the host cells,” explains Professor Ralf Erdmann from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. As a result, they are a good target for potential active substances. The researchers report their findings in the journal Cell Reports from May 27, 2025. 

This review summarizes the research progress on flexible wearable sensors based on different plant signals and classifies them according to their functions: physical sensors, chemical sensors and electrophysiological sensors. Furthermore, the challenges currently faced by wearable plant sensors are presented and we propose a design framework for next-generation plant wearable sensors enabling continuous real-time plant health monitoring under field conditions.

How relatedness to nature is linked to well-being is determined by district-level socioeconomic status. The Kobe University analysis is based on survey results from two major Japanese metropolitan areas.

Prof Eliane Candiani Arantes heads the Laboratory of Animal Toxins at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirao Preto, University of São Paulo (USP) where her group is working with toxins found in the venom of the Crotalus durissus terrificus rattlesnake and the Tityus serrulatus scorpion. They also study the venom of scorpions from the Amazon region, which are still not well understood.

Prof Manuela Berto Pucca heads the Laboratory of Immunology and Toxinology at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at São Paulo State University (UNESP). Her research focuses on venomous animals, the molecular complexity of their venoms, and the development of next generation antivenoms.

They are co-authors of a recently published Frontiers in Public Health article that focuses on the rising number of scorpion stings straining Brazil’s public health system. In this latest Frontier Scientist installment, they talk about their research and careers.