A new study identifies vgll3 as a key gene that promotes rapid growth and early reproduction while increasing the risk of aging and cancer later in life. The findings provide rare experimental evidence for the theory that evolution favors early-life advantages even at the expense of long-term health. Researchers say the discovery could open new paths for understanding, and potentially separating, the biological links between development, aging, and disease.

Researchers have captured the first atomic structures of human SMUG1, an enzyme that helps cells repair damaged DNA. The findings provide new insight into how cells recognise and remove harmful DNA bases, and may support future efforts to develop drugs that target this DNA repair pathway.

Biological tissues can behave like fluids or solids, depending on mechanical properties like tissue rigidity. EMBL researchers and their collaborators have shown that the rigidity of embryonic tissues is directly regulated by factors like cell-cell adhesion – how tightly neighbouring cells connect to each other. They also show that tissue rigidity plays a critical role in tissue organisation, regulating how cells process biochemical information, ultimately determining their future identities in a maturing embryo. These new biophysical findings have important implications for what we know about embryonic development, as well as other processes involving tissue-level transitions, such as cancer metastasis.

A new PET tracer targeting carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) has demonstrated exceptional sensitivity and high tumor-to-background contrast in detecting clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), according to early clinical research. The newly developed tracer, ⁶⁸Ga-RCC78, successfully identified additional metastatic lesions missed by standard imaging while significantly reducing abdominal background noise, offering a powerful new tool for kidney cancer staging. This research was presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2026 Annual Meeting.

Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have discovered a promising new way to improve CAR-T cell therapy for solid tumors such as lung cancer and melanoma. The study, published in Nature Cancer (https://www.nature.com/articles/s43018-026-01167-6), found that focused irradiation, a targeted therapy that delivers high-energy beams to stun rapidly growing cells such as cancer, can help CAR-T cells survive longer and work more effectively inside tumors.