Schizophrenia is widely thought to involve the disruption of both early and late phases of brain development – the so-called ‘two-hit’ hypothesis – but what is the biology behind these two hits? Studying genetic changes contributing to risk for the disorder, we uncovered surprising links between the biological pathways involved in early and late hits.

Have you ever wondered how plants make use of sunlight to do photosynthesis? What happens inside your eye such that your brain can perceive your smartphone screen or your coffee cup? It turns out this is eventually triggered by tiny rearrangements of individual atoms. Our aim is to develop an imaging method sensitive enough to watch such processes in single molecules on the atomic level.

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic illness that requires patients to control their blood sugar levels constantly. With daily injection of insulin to maintain healthy glucose concentrations, the patient’s quality of life suffers. A drug being tested on newly diagnosed patients could improve their quality of life by protecting and stimulating the pancreatic cells responsible for blood sugar regulation.

The diversity of the US population is not well represented in its scientific workforce. In our research, we use large scale bibliometric databases to understand the relation between scientist identities, their research topics, and their impact. Our findings suggest that inclusion is key for a diversified research portfolio.

In a recent study, we investigated a crucial brain blood flow regulation mechanism in mouse models of heart disease and dementia. We found that there was a breakdown of this regulation in the brains of mice with heart disease. Furthermore, the combination of heart disease with Alzheimer’s led to the trebling of a key Alzheimer’s protein in the brain, which could eventually trigger dementia.

Fig trees (Ficus carica) produce furanocoumarins, a class of small organic molecules with various medicinal and agricultural applications. Villard et al. studied the enzyme catalysing the first synthetic step in the production of these molecules. They revealed how this enzyme emerged recently and independently within the Ficus lineage in a mechanism called convergent evolution.