December 2025 · 8 Articles · Pages 401–502
December 2025
Open Access8 Articles · Pages 401–502
The open science movement has transformed how research is conducted, shared, and evaluated across the life sciences. This editorial examines the progress made over the past decade in data sharing, preprint adoption, and open peer review, while highlighting the challenges that remain in ensuring equitable access to scientific knowledge globally.
Emerging evidence implicates the gut microbiome as a key modulator of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. This review synthesizes findings from clinical and preclinical studies linking dysbiotic microbial signatures to Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, with a focus on the mechanistic roles of short-chain fatty acids, tryptophan metabolites, and microbial amyloids. We discuss therapeutic strategies targeting the gut-brain axis, including fecal microbiota transplantation, prebiotics, and engineered probiotics.
Loss-of-function mutations in BRCA1 are strongly associated with hereditary breast cancer, yet the precise downstream effects in mammary tissue remain incompletely characterized. Using CRISPR-Cas9, we generated BRCA1-null murine mammary epithelial cell lines and performed multi-omics profiling to map transcriptomic, proteomic, and epigenetic changes. Our results reveal novel disruptions in DNA damage response pathways and identify potential therapeutic targets for BRCA1-deficient tumors.
Coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region face unprecedented thermal stress driven by climate change. Through a combination of field surveys across twelve reef sites and controlled laboratory experiments, we characterize the physiological and molecular mechanisms that confer thermal resilience in select coral species. Our findings identify heat-shock protein expression patterns and symbiont shuffling dynamics that may inform reef conservation and assisted migration strategies.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) efficiency remains limited by incomplete epigenetic reprogramming of donor nuclei. We performed genome-wide DNA methylation and histone modification profiling of bovine SCNT embryos at multiple developmental stages. Our analysis reveals stage-specific reprogramming barriers at imprinted loci and identifies histone demethylase treatment as a viable strategy for improving cloning efficiency.
C3 and C4 grasses exhibit distinct physiological adaptations to water limitation, yet the underlying transcriptomic differences remain poorly resolved. We conducted comparative RNA-seq analysis of three C3 and three C4 grass species under progressive drought stress, identifying divergent regulatory networks governing stomatal closure, osmolyte accumulation, and root architecture remodeling. These findings provide candidate genes for engineering drought tolerance in cereal crops.
Single-cell RNA sequencing of human pancreatic islets from healthy donors and individuals with type 2 diabetes reveals previously uncharacterized beta cell subpopulations with distinct transcriptional signatures. We identify a rare subpopulation enriched for stress-response genes that may represent an early marker of beta cell dysfunction, offering new avenues for early diagnostic and therapeutic intervention.
We present a rapid, low-cost colorimetric assay for the detection and semi-quantification of microplastics in freshwater samples. The method utilizes Nile Red staining with a novel solvent system that achieves detection limits of 50 particles per liter within 30 minutes. Validation against FTIR spectroscopy across 40 field samples demonstrates strong concordance, making this approach suitable for large-scale environmental monitoring.