A Korean research team has developed a new viral vector technology that significantly improves the production efficiency of next-generation cell and gene therapies known as CAR immune cell therapies, which are designed to recognize and destroy cancer cells. Dr. Chi Hoon Park and his research team at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) discovered a novel envelope protein derived from Simian Retrovirus Type 2 (SRV2). The newly identified SRV2 envelope protein demonstrated superior performance compared with the widely used RD114 envelope protein derived from feline endogenous retrovirus, highlighting its potential for future large-scale manufacturing of CAR immune cell therapies.

A research team led by Professors Jiafu Wang and Jue Qu has jointly developed an eye-tracking-driven, polarization-agile, and beam-programmable metasurface. This system integrates high-precision eye-tracking technology with advanced programmable metasurface design, enabling real-time 3D beam focusing and adaptive reconfiguration of polarization modes for wireless communication signals. This achievement was published in Research under the title "Eye-Tracking-Driven Programming Metasurface System for Adaptive Beam Focusing and Polarization-agile Communication".

A new study shows that older adults’ perceptions of their mental sharpness closely align with their actual cognitive performance. The findings may help clinicians better understand and support patients.

Organic molecular crystals can respond to external stimuli such as heat, light, and mechanical force, making them attractive candidates for next-generation functional materials. However, predicting how multiple intermolecular interactions cooperate or compete to govern crystal behavior remains a major challenge. Now, researchers at Kochi University of Technology have demonstrated that the hierarchy of intermolecular interactions—the relative strength and priority of different molecular forces—can determine crystal structures, luminescence properties, and even phase-transition pathways in molecular crystals. Their findings provide a new design principle for controlling solid-state functions through molecular engineering. The study was conducted by Mahiro Nakabayashi and Professor Shotaro Hayashi and published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Researchers led by Kaoru Sugimura from the University of Tokyo have identified the mechanism that ensures average cell size is constant across samples of developing Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) wings. They have found that rather than every cell behaving in the same way, several distinct groups of cells that differ in when and how many times they divide work together to reproduce the average cell size with remarkable precision. This new framework for understanding how developing animal tissues control cell size could widen avenues for research into conditions associated with abnormal cell size, such as cardiac hypertrophy and cancer. The findings were published in the journal Development.

UNSW researchers have developed a soft robotic model of the human heart that can mimic disease and provide a realistic environment for testing the next generation of cardiac devices.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, is one of the most persistent members of the PFAS family of “forever chemicals.” Widely detected in groundwater, surface water, and drinking water sources, PFOS is difficult to remove because of its extremely strong carbon-fluorine bonds and high chemical stability. Now, researchers have developed a new biochar-based material that not only captures PFOS from water, but also helps destroy it through light-driven reactions.