Julia Rock-Torcivia

By simulating the life cycle of a minimal bacterial cell from DNA replication to protein translation to metabolism and cell division, scientists from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have opened a new frontier of computational modeling into the essential processes of life. The researchers published their findings in the journal Cell.  The research team simulated…

In 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) unexpectedly terminated 2,291 active research grants, totaling $2.45 billion. A new study documents how the cancellations varied by gender and career stage, finding that early-career investigators and women were disproportionately affected. The study found that the cuts were likely most detrimental for early-stage researchers, who have fewer…

iDEL Therapeutics is developing a new method to deliver drug payloads directly into the cytosol, bypassing traditional cellular degradation pathways. The company is launching with a €9 million seed financing round led by BiomedVC to advance its Direct Cytosolic Transfer (DCT) technology.  Many current therapies that bind to receptors are internalized but become stuck in…

Quintessence Biotech is reinventing the bio-separation process with a biological reagent capable of reproducing natural processes while simplifying industrial workflows. The company’s technology improves therapeutic efficacy, reduces manufacturing costs while working with existing cell culture hardware, Quintessence said.  Cell therapies are based on the idea of using living cells as medicine instead of treating diseases…

Researchers from the University of California San Diego developed a way to minimize bystander edits, unwanted edits that occur when a base editor edits the bases surrounding the desired nucleobase. The work is published in Nature Biotechnology.  Base editing has progressed from the laboratory to patient care, treating debilitating or terminal illnesses, in less than…

An international group of researchers discovered three fungal proteins that can catalyze ice formation at high subzero temperatures. They published their findings in Science Advances. This discovery could enable scientists to engineer weather. The proteins were found in three fungal species: Mortierella alpina, Entomortierella parvispora and Podila clonocystis. Particles called ice nucleators, which can trigger…

The modern laboratory is no longer defined just by glassware and chemicals; it is a highly connected, electrified ecosystem. Current practice is moving toward software-defined, modular and remotely accessible laboratories. From everyday power supplies to complex, automated network architectures, electronic equipment forms the backbone of contemporary research and development. Foundational lab electronics Modern labs have…

Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Kentucky established a microbial platform that produces oxalic acid and purifies rare-earth elements. They published their findings in Nature Communications.  The current process for refining rare-earth elements is complex and intensive. The supply chain is dominated by China, as…

Basecamp Research, an AI lab for biological design, today announced the launch of the Trillion Gene Atlas, a scientific initiative to generate and model biological data at the trillion-gene scale. The initiative is a collaboration with Anthropic, Ultima Genomics and PacBio and is powered by NVIDIA AI infrastructure.  The Trillion Gene Atlas aims to expand…

A new brain implant is helping people type using their minds. A study published in Nature Neuroscience by investigators from Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute and Brown University describes an investigational implantable brain-computer interface (iBCI) typing neuroprosthesis.  The tool uses a QWERTY keyboard and attempted finger movements, which are decoded accurately with as few as…

Researchers have shown that potatoes can grow in moon dust-equivalent conditions in a preprint posted on bioRxiv. The researchers used recreated lunar regolith, the powdery dust layer on the moon’s surface, from NASA and Exolith Lab.  However, real lunar regolith is missing the organic matter plants need to grow, so the scientists added vermicompost, organic…

A research team from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics in China has developed a new process that uses sunlight to convert polystyrene waste and excess sulfur into valuable organic products. They published their findings in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.  The chemical industry produces over 20 million tons of polystyrene annually for…

HerAnova Lifesciences announced the release of HerResolve, a blood-based test to detect endometriosis, last month. HerResolve has been incorporated into fertility and reproductive medicine settings. The test is currently being used by reproductive endocrinologists and OB-GYNs at IVF centers.  Endometriosis affects one in ten women of reproductive age, yet diagnosis often takes years and may…

A limitation in widely used protein engineering algorithms could be undermining commercial applications from biosensors to industrial catalysts, according to new research published in Nature Communications. The problem: current computational tools ignore the critical role of water molecules at solid-liquid interfaces. Two parallel experiments in protein self-assembly produced different results, demonstrating the consequences of the…

Yaks and other animals have adaptations that allow them to naturally cope with low oxygen levels at high altitudes. New research indicates these mechanisms may help develop new treatments for brain diseases such as multiple sclerosis. In mice with brain damage, the adaptations lessened the signs of damage in young mice exposed to low oxygen…

Researchers from the University of Michigan have discovered an important new facet of programmed cell death. Recent studies have revealed that proteins involved in the process assemble into channels that shuttle calcium ions. By itself, this isn’t enough to initiate cell death. The team has now discovered the vital next step. The team worked with…

Scientists from the Tissue Engineering Group at the University of Granada (UGR) and the ibs.GRANADA Biomedical Research Institute have developed an artificial cornea based on fish scales. They published their research in Materials & Design.  Diseases that affect the cornea, the transparent part of the eye, are very difficult to treat because the cornea lacks…

Scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine have developed a simplified version of biodegradable nanoparticles that can teach the immune system to find and destroy disease-causing cells in the body. They published their findings in Science Advances.  Engineered immune cells have been successfully used to treat an array of blood cancers, using CAR-T cells or chimeric antigen…

Researchers have developed a novel physics-informed deep learning approach that reconstructs Earth’s rotational history with unprecedented precision, revealing that climate change is lengthening days at rates unseen in 3.6 million years. Climate change is lengthening Earth’s days by approximately 1.5 milliseconds per century, according to researchers at the University of Vienna and ETH Zurich. Rising…

The beginning of 2026 has been an exciting time for robots, with several bio-inspired robotic advancements announced from around the world. An inflatable robot from China can grow and shrink, walk on land and water, swim and even fly. In Switzerland, two robots are making history. First, a zebrafish inspired bot that is helping unlock…

Scientists have designed and developed a proprietary non-precious metal oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst featuring a layered structure optimized for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) environments. The study proposes a novel catalyst design strategy capable of simultaneously achieving high efficiency and durability while reducing reliance on expensive precious metal catalysts.  AEMWE operates under alkaline…

A bumble bee queen’s ability to survive week-long submersion while maintaining just 15% of normal metabolic activity reveals a natural solution to challenges in low-power systems, underwater respiration and metabolic suppression. During an experiment, ecologist Sabrina Rondeau noticed that a refrigerator had dripped condensation into containers holding four hibernating queen bees and found them still…

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have revealed that comet 3I/ATLAS is packed with an unusually large amount of the organic molecule methanol.  “Observing 3I/ATLAS is like taking a fingerprint from another solar system,” shares Nathan Roth, lead author on this research, and a professor with American University, “The details reveal what it’s…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Reactor Innovation Center  (NRIC) have announced the establishment of the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad. The framework is designed to dismantle the traditional barriers — including regulatory lag, high infrastructure costs, and siting complexities — that often stall advanced nuclear technologies in the laboratory phase. Building on…

At a Glance: The MYF Shift Incremental (Old Way) Paid in annual installments High risk during government shutdowns Carryover requires NIH approval Forward Funded (New Way) Total 5-year budget paid upfront “Shutdown proof” once awarded Full flexibility to spend across years The “Competitive ND” Tip If your grant is in the middle tier, tell your…