Scientists have long struggled to target proteins that lack defined structure and are involved in cancer, neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease, and other serious illnesses. Now, a new study from Scripps Research demonstrates a proof of concept for a new strategy: engineering proteases—enzymes that cut proteins at specific sites—to selectively degrade these elusive targets with high precision in the proteome of human cells.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 7 adults in the United States will experience a substance use disorder during their lifetime. University of Oklahoma College of Medicine faculty member Brandi Fink, Ph.D., is working with primary care clinics and health care systems to identify people with an alcohol use disorder and intervene early before the problem worsens.

Interferometers, devices that can modulate aspects of light, play the important role of modulating and switching light signals in fiber-optic communications networks and are frequently used for gas sensing and optical computing.

Now, applied physicists at the Harvard  John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have invented a new type of interferometer that allows precise control of light’s frequency, intensity and mode in one compact package.  

Even with significant expansion in the global market for antibodies used in clinical care and research, scientists recognize that there is still untapped potential for finding new antibodies. Many proteins group together in what are called protein complexes to carry out biological functions. The traditional method of generating antibodies by immunizing animals struggles to make antibodies related to these protein complexes.

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys and Eli Lilly and Company published findings March 5, 2025, in the Journal of Immunology demonstrating that fusing protein complexes together adds stability during immunization and enables antibody generation.

From virtual reality to rehabilitation and communication, haptic technology has revolutionized the way humans interact with the digital world. While early haptic devices focused on single-sensory cues like vibration-based notifications, modern advancements have paved the way for multisensory haptic devices that integrate various forms of touch-based feedback, including vibration, skin stretch, pressure and temperature. Recently, a team of experts, including Rice University’s Marcia O’Malley and Daniel Preston, published an in-depth review in Nature Reviews Bioengineering analyzing the current state of wearable multisensory haptic technology, outlining its challenges, advancements and real-world applications.

Inventors from The University of Texas at Arlington have once again been a vital part of the University of Texas System’s recognition as one of the world’s leading innovation centers. According to the prestigious National Academy of Inventors (NAI), UT System ranks No. 6 on its Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents list for 2024. UTA contributed 23 patents—an increase of 15% over 2023—to UT System’s total of 234 last year.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences has gone in this seventeenth edition to Avelino Corma (Institute of Chemical Technology, Universitat Politècnica de València-CSIC, Spain), John F. Hartwig (University of California, Berkeley, United States) and Helmut Schwarz (Technical University of Berlin, Germany) for fundamental advances in the catalysis field, in the words of the committee, that have made it possible to “control and accelerate chemical reactions” and obtain products across multiple industrial processes, thereby “improving efficiency and reducing energy consumption.”