Molecular

Eleven new molecular drug targets receive approval in 2025, expanding treatment options for rare diseases, cancer, and infectious diseases.

A nerve cell resembles a vast tree with branches that communicate with thousands of other cells. To function, it depends on a motor protein that walks on two legs, hauling urgent cargo from the center of the cell to the faraway tips of every branch.

Driving an electric current through a molecule can create a magnetic field. Yet in practice, such fields are often too weak to be detected experimentally. Through theoretical modeling, researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) show how quantum effects can turn single molecules into effective magnets—including one shaped like a microscopic soccer ball, just in time for the FIFA World Cup final. The findings are published in Nature Communications.

Cells are crowded, dynamic places where thousands of molecules interact in tight quarters. Until now, scientists lacked a reliable way to see many of these molecular interactions as they happen.

Mathematics has always been at the core of securing information. From online banking to government communications, modern society relies on cryptography, in which complex mathematical algorithms transform readable information into an unreadable form to keep it secure. But as computing power grows and quantum technology advances, these mathematical safeguards are increasingly vulnerable to being broken. That's where biology stepped in.

Water-saving irrigation practices, including intermittent irrigation, are essential for sustainable rice cultivation amid growing freshwater shortages. However, periodic drainage creates aerobic soil conditions that drastically boost cadmium (Cd) bioavailability, leading to severe grain Cd enrichment. Disentangling the relationship between water conservation and high grain Cd has been a critical challenge for rice breeders and soil scientists worldwide.

Rotaxanes are dumbbell-shaped mechanically interlocked molecules in which one or more ring-shaped molecules are threaded through a linear segment, known as the axle. To keep the ring from sliding off, two bulky groups, sometimes called stoppers, are added to the ends of the axle. Making a rotaxane has always been as challenging as its structure suggests.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have identified a novel mechanism used by the bacteria responsible for gonorrhea to evade immune detection and achieve widespread infection, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes gonorrhea, which is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. If not treated promptly with antibiotics, the disease can cause infertility, sepsis and pregnancy complications.

Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, yet once damaged, it cannot regenerate naturally.

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Birkbeck, University of London, have identified a site where a commonly used anesthetic binds to sodium ion channels, revealing a molecular mechanism that may explain how these drugs dampen communication between neurons.

A team of researchers led by Felipe Herrera, a professor at the University of Santiago and a researcher at the Millennium Institute for Research in Optics (MIRO), has identified a quantum phenomenon that enables chemical bonds to be broken using significantly less energy than is normally required.

What happens to the human body in space may help scientists create new anti-aging therapies.

A study led by the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC), working in collaboration with an international research team, has identified a new molecular mechanism involved in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the most common inherited cardiovascular disease.

Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) at Kanazawa University, the Institute for Molecular Science and SOKENDAI have uncovered the hidden mechanism behind a molecular switch—a molecule that can change between different structural states in response to a chemical signal. Their study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, reveals how molecules can gradually switch between alternative states, a process that could help scientists design future molecular machines, smart materials and molecular information technologies.

Two people may be the same age and have similar family histories or risk factors, yet only one of them may develop thrombosis.

Researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have taken an important step toward developing intelligent molecular materials. The team headed by Dr. Bernd M. Schmidt (Institute of Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry) and Professor Dr. Jan Meisner (Institute of Physical Chemistry) has shown that complex molecular nanostructures can be selectively activated, disassembled in a controlled way and even reassembled using ultrasound. The results, published in Nature Communications, could, for example, aid the development of more targeted cancer medication in the future.

New research has revealed that water behaves differently when confined to spaces just one molecule thick. For the first time, scientists have directly measured the vibrational signatures of truly two-dimensional water. In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers used ultrathin channels only a few angstroms high to trap water in isolated layers and probe how its hydrogen-bonding network changes under extreme confinement.

Water is the most abundant liquid on Earth's surface, and it is highly anomalous compared with other liquids because it expands upon freezing. The anomalies in water have been linked to how its microscopic structure changes with temperature and pressure. However, there is no systematic scheme for characterizing these structural changes.

Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) has added the first molecular diagnostic test for Bundibugyo virus (BDBV) to its Emergency Use Listing (EUL).

Researchers from the Molecular Physics and Physical Chemistry departments of the Fritz Haber Institute have shown how two highly synchronized infrared (IR) laser beams can control molecules as they switch between different structural conformations. Their study provides a new window into how molecules rearrange themselves during chemical reactions, offering fundamental insights into the microscopic processes that govern chemistry.

Graphene can be used to produce diamond nanoparticles of a specific size and with desired properties. Versatile Nanodiamonds: Diamond

Organic molecular crystals can respond to external stimuli such as heat, light, and mechanical force, making them attractive candidates for next-generation functional materials. However, predicting how multiple intermolecular interactions cooperate or compete to govern crystal behavior remains a major challenge.

A novel study has found that obesity is associated with a distinct molecular program driving the transition from early-stage, premalignant breast lesions to invasive breast cancer.

Switches drive nearly every machine. A new one, made of folded DNA, does the same work at the scale of molecules. The post This DNA Switch Could Control Molecular Machines appeared first on SingularityHub.

Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have developed a new way to use molecules as tiny data storage devices with a new manganese-based material. Until now, this was possible only with iron-containing molecular materials, which require very low temperatures—ranging from 100 to a maximum of 130 Kelvin (minus 173 to minus 143°C)—making their application significantly more difficult.

A global team has cracked a decades-old mystery, revealing the atomic structures of the molecules in our eyes that allow us to see colors. "To understand how we detect light and perceive colors, we need to know the exact structure of light-sensitive molecules in our eyes," said The Australian National University (ANU) researcher Emeritus Professor Trevor Lamb.

A research team at Mahidol University, Thailand, has discovered that tosyl groups, long regarded as routine synthetic handles, can actively guide the formation and behavior of pillararenes—a class of pillar-shaped macrocyclic molecules widely used in supramolecular chemistry. Their findings, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, reveal that these groups can act as a hidden "instruction code" that influences the organization of molecular components before bond formation and enables temperature-triggered switching accompanied by visible color changes.

A study published in Nature Physics provides new molecular-level evidence from simulations that liquid water is not a single uniform substance, but a constantly shifting mixture of two distinct microscopic structures.

After nearly four decades of research, Mayo Clinic scientists have revealed the molecular structures of protein kinase C beta (PKCβ), a key protein linked to cancer and neurological diseases.

A new study reveals the dynamics of photosynthesis at the cellular level. Led by co-authors Professor Barry Bruce and Associate Professor Rajan Lamichhane, both of the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology (BCMB) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the team published its findings—"Single-molecule fluorescence and cross-linking reveal ligand-gated Toc34 oligomerization dynamics"—in the Biophysical Journal. The team included graduate student Sree Kavya Penneru, whom Bruce and Lamichhane co-mentor, and postdoctoral researcher Sriram Tiruvadi-Krishnan.

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the most serious complications of diabetes and a major cause of lower-limb amputation.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the digestive tract, with KIT mutations driving approximately 75% to 80% of cases.

A lot of things need to go right on a molecular level for immune cells to launch an adaptive response to an infection.

A research team from University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center has identified a critical molecular cause of age-related cognitive decline, potentially paving the way for new treatments to protect brain health as we age.

A new gel-based material developed by University of Florida chemical engineers filters PFAS forever chemicals from water more efficiently than many widely used commercial options. The advance offers a potential new path to filtering out PFAS, which has been linked to health effects including birth defects and some cancers. Importantly, the new material doesn't itself use fluorine to trap PFAS, helping reduce fluorinated chemicals in the filtration supply chain.

How large, fully folded proteins can pass through cell membranes without destroying them has long been one of the open questions in cell biology. Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), Leonid Sazanov and Ziyu Zhao at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have now uncovered new details about a molecular "gate." Their findings were published in Molecular Cell.

Our body contains an intricate system of tiny vessels through which blood, water and other molecules flow. When the size of the pipes shrinks to the nanoscale, where only a few molecules can fit side by side, the classical laws of physics governing the behavior of water are influenced by the atomic structure of the walls. "It's not that classical hydrodynamics breaks down, but rather that it gets mixed with the condensed matter physics of the solid walls," says Nikita Kavokine, tenure-track assistant professor and leader of the EPFL Quantum Plumbing Lab.

A simple PCR of mouth rinse may serve as a useful non-invasive test in diagnosing Pneumocystis pneumonia compared with bronchoalveolar lavage in immunocompromised patients without HIV.

Simulations reveal why water nanodrops spread on surfaces: molecular structure at the contact line flips line tension, reshaping nanoscale wetting.

Why does water roll off a duck's back but spread on clean glass? For macroscopic (millimeter-scale) drops, this behavior can be explained using continuum theory. However, when nanoscale (10–9 mm) droplets spread on surfaces, a force called line tension becomes relevant and mysteriously changes sign. Questions about the nature of this force and its relevance to water's interaction with surfaces have remained unanswered.

Pairing the life histories of free-living macaques with genomic data from different tissues in adulthood, researchers have generated some of the clearest molecular evidence yet that early life adversity leaves a lasting, system-wide impression at the epigenome. The post Impact of Early Life Adversity on Epigenome at Molecular Level Mapped in Macaques appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.

Scientists studying lipids—the fatty molecules that store energy, make up cell membranes and act as signals—produce enormous amounts of information. A single experiment can detect thousands of different lipid molecules, generating long lists of measurements. But knowing what the results mean and being able to retrace how scientists moved from raw data to their conclusions isn't always easy.

Scientists have uncovered new evidence from one of Earth's most extreme ancient warming events, revealing how the climate may recover long after human-driven CO2 emissions cease.

Life on Earth has evolved under an uninterrupted rhythm of day and night. While light provides the energy that powers countless molecular processes, periods of darkness often allow biological systems to reorganize, recover and transform that energy into functional outcomes. Inspired by this natural balance, an international team led by Javier Montenegro at the Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials (CiQUS) of the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela has demonstrated that the same principle can govern the behavior of simple synthetic molecular systems.

Scientists unveiled a reaction that swaps key carbon groups in complex compounds, offering a faster route to test new medicine candidates.

A detailed cellular study of Crohn’s disease has mapped how gene activity changes across more than 50 cell types in the gut.

Researchers from ETH Zurich have developed a molecular switch that is controlled by light. It wakes lung cancer cells up from a protective dormant state so that they are more accessible for treatment.

The study identified phage surface proteins acting as molecular anchors. These proteins confer phages ith the ability to attach to human cells.

Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that infect bacteria and are not considered human pathogens. Yet researchers at the Translational Microbiology Laboratory of the Institute of Biochemistry, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, have shown that some gut phages can also physically interact with human cells. Their study identifies phage surface proteins that act as molecular anchors, promoting attachment to human cells, cellular uptake, and prolonged retention in the gastrointestinal tract. The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, open new perspectives on how phages behave in the body and may create new opportunities for therapeutic development.

A new AI model has become so good at predicting how molecules evolve over time that, in the future, it could speed up the costly and time-consuming process of testing new drugs.

A new AI model has become so good at predicting how molecules evolve over time that, in the future, it could speed up the costly and time-consuming process of testing new drugs. In the long term, this technology could facilitate the development of medicines and new treatments, as promising drug candidates can be identified more quickly and with greater accuracy.

Author(s): Filippo Bigi, Johannes Spies, and Michele CeriottiMachine learning can reduce the number of time steps needed to accurately predict the progress of a dynamically evolving system. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 237301] Published Tue Jun 09, 2026

AI‑guided protein design was applied to turn caffeine into a reversible molecular off‑switch for engineered cells, enabling tunable control of gene circuits, pyroptosis, and CAR T cell activity. The post AI Reimagines Caffeine as a Molecular Off‑Switch for Engineered Cells appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.

For many of us, a warm cup of coffee is how we start our day. For Texas A&M Health researchers, it may also offer a new way to control engineered cells in future medicines.

Women are twice as likely as men to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - and new research may offer a biological clue as to why.

Inside cells, certain functions are carried out by locally adjusting molecular composition. This condensation of material results in the formation of dense droplets that can dynamically rearrange. Because of this, interactions between such dense regions determine the shaping of condensates. Scientists from the Department of Living Matter Physics at MPI-DS recently developed a model that can describe such phase separation dynamics based solely on attraction. The work is published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

From chewing to chomping to grinding, teeth suffer from a lifetime of repeated mechanical stress. It makes sense, then, that enamel is one of the hardest natural materials.

Glasses are non-crystalline but solid states of matter in which molecules and atoms are not arranged into a regular crystal lattice, but rather in a disordered pattern. Glassy materials are widely used in various settings, for instance, in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and the development of electronics or optical devices.

Conical intersections are crucial molecular switching points in light-driven reactions, but accurately predicting them usually requires computations. A researcher from Shibaura Institute of Technology has developed a new low-cost quantum chemistry method that can simultaneously describe ground and excited molecular states while efficiently locating these elusive structures. The approach reproduces benchmark geometries with strong accuracy and enables practical simulations of photochemical processes, making it promising for applications in photocatalysis, solar cells, and biological light-response studies.

The latest production from the "molecular movie" imaging technology developed at Oregon State University is a new, inexpensive way of dealing with a common environmental pollutant. Based on short-pulse lasers, the imaging technology allows chemical and biological actions to be measured as they are occurring, one high-speed frame at a time.

Experiencing a traumatic event sometimes produces long-lasting biological changes that can lead to an exaggerated fear response to future stressful events, such as what occurs in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Nature is the foremost international weekly scientific journal in the world and is the flagship journal for Nature Portfolio. It publishes the finest peer-reviewed research in all fields of science and technology on the basis of its originality, importance, interdisciplinary interest, timeliness, accessibility, elegance and surprising conclusions. Nature publishes landmark papers, award winning news, leading comment and expert opinion on important, topical scientific news and events that enable readers to share the latest discoveries in science and evolve the discussion amongst the global scientific community.

Ringed seals are among the most common marine mammals in the Canadian Arctic. They strongly rely on sea ice as a habitat, breathing through holes they maintain in the frozen surface, giving birth in snow lairs and diving beneath the ice to hunt Arctic cod and small crustaceans.

Living systems such as cells rely on membrane pores and channels to transport molecules, exchange signals, and organize biochemical reactions. These functions emerge from dynamic interactions between molecular components. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have used DNA nanotechnology to develop a synthetic membrane architecture that mimics such interactions. The new platform enables coordinated molecular transport and programmable biochemical reactions inside an artificial compartment.

Researchers have identified a key protein that may help failing hearts regain function, offering new insight into why some hearts recover while others do not.

Since their discovery in the 1950s, metallocenes—chemical compounds where a metal atom sits "sandwiched" between two carbon rings—have been at the heart of organometallic chemistry research, finding applications in catalysis, materials design, energy, sensing, drug delivery and more. Yet knowledge of their formation has been limited, due to the transient nature of their unstable intermediates.

Sens. Diagn.DOI: 10.1039/D6SD00037A, Paper Open Access   This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.Melania Mesas Gómez, Daniel Ropero Gil, Bárbara Molina-Moya, Arnau Pallarès-Rusiñol, Jofre Ferrer-Dalmau, Esther Julián, José Domínguez, María Isabel PividoriA portable TB molecular workflow couples double-tagging PCR with magnetic electrochemical genosensing in a disposable cartridge, enabling sensitive detection with battery-operated instrumentation.To cite this article before page numbers are assigned, use the DOI form of citation above.The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry

Scientists at VIB and Vrije Universiteit Brussel have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism that helps a widely used biological pesticide become more effective. The study, published in Nature Communications, reveals how bacteria produce ultra-strong protein fibers that form a molecular net, trapping infectious spores and toxins into a sticky film that enhances their ability to kill insect pests.

The ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN), in collaboration with the SWOG Cancer Research Network (SWOG), has launched a new initiative to analyze paired original and recurrent tumor specimens from two practice-changing breast cancer clinical trials.

Sens. Diagn.DOI: 10.1039/D6SD00020G, Paper Open Access   This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.Negar Heidari, Nogol D. Moghaddam, Sharmin Kharrazi, Jahan B. Ghasemi, Melika F. Aghdam, Mahdi Amrollahi Bioyki, Ebrahim Ghafar-Zadeh, Parviz NorouziH9N2 avian influenza threatens global poultry production and human health through cross-species transmission and its role as a genetic reservoir for emerging influenza strains, underscoring the need for rapid and reliable early detection.To cite this article before page numbers are assigned, use the DOI form of citation above.The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry

Scientists designed a molecular tether than anchors cancer therapeutics to tumor cell membranes, improving drug retention in cell and animal models. The findings establish membrane tethering as a strategy to enhance therapeutic persistence and efficacy. The post Molecular Anchors Help Tumor Therapies Stay Longer on Cancer Cells appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.

Researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine have found that ethnicity and geography may influence human molecular makeup - from metabolism and immunity to gut microbiota and biological aging.

A research project led by the Institute for Research in Nutrition and Food Safety (INSA) and the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences at the University of Barcelona, together with the Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona (IBMB) of the CSIC (which stands for Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), has successfully designed and tested a gluten-degrading molecule that is a promising ally in the management of coeliac disease, an autoimmune disease whose symptoms are triggered by the consumption of gluten and other prolamins found in cereals.

Medications are designed to treat diseased tissues while sparing healthy ones, often by attaching the drug to something that helps guide it directly to its target. But drugs also need time to work, which means they need to stay near the diseased tissues long enough.

Different receptors respond to different neurotransmitters or hormones, such as adrenaline involved in the fight-or-flight response, or dopamine linked to reward and motivation. Both the receptors themselves and the substances they recognize are often very similar, but still make the body react in completely different ways.

Proteins do most of the work in our body's cells. But when a protein is too active or does not function properly, it can lead to disease or other health problems. Researchers from the University of Toronto have discovered a molecule, CLEO4-88, that acts as a "molecular glue," binding together two proteins to inactivate one of them. The finding—enabled by the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan—points to the possibility of one day treating disease by controlling the activity of harmful proteins.

Scientists' discovery of a molecular "switch" that activates an energy‑burning pathway in mice has the potential to lead to new treatments for bone disease.

Entropy gets a bad rap. Typically associated with randomness and chaos, it can also correlate with freedom and diversity. Cornell researchers have found that, thanks to the latter qualities, entropy can help bind certain pairs of molecules faster and more robustly—an approach that could have broad applications in drug development and assembling nanoparticles to form new materials.

Have you ever wondered why freshly brewed coffee smells so delicious, but tastes bitter? New research from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine has revealed the molecular details responsible for the detection of this bitter taste.

Sens. Diagn.DOI: 10.1039/D6SD00048G, Paper Open Access   This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence.Erfan Shirzadi, Yue Xu, Mara Jenkins, Jianwen Wang, Sunandan Tandon, Gyorgy J. Jaics, Zoya Leonenko, Mahla PoudinehReagentless electrochemical protein detection is critical for real-time health monitoring. Most currently available electrochemical antibody-based sensors require the addition of external reagents as redox reporters and/or detection antibodies. Here, we...The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry

Author(s): Marzena Rams-Baron, Alfred Błażytko, Riccardo Casalini, and Marian PaluchThe long-standing Arrhenius paradox in molecular glasses is resolved by showing that activation energy decreases linearly with temperature as a consequence of density-driven variations of the barrier. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 188202] Published Wed May 06, 2026

Researchers at the University of Alicante (UA) have developed a highly precise method for measuring distances at the nanometer scale at room temperature, opening up new avenues in molecular electronics research. The team, based at the UA Quantum Transport Laboratory (QT-Lab), has also identified gold nanocontacts just three atoms thick for the first time, significantly advancing current understanding of electronic transport.

Author(s): Kentaro Yamamoto, Yuta Kikuchi, David Amaro, Ben Criger, Silas Dilkes, Ciarán Ryan-Anderson, Andrew Tranter, Joan M. Dreiling, Dan Gresh, Cameron Foltz, Michael Mills, Steven A. Moses, Peter E. Siegfried, Maxwell D. Urmey, Justin J. Burau, Aaron Hankin, Dominic Lucchetti, John P. Gaebler, Natalie C. Brown, Brian Neyenhuis, and David Muñoz RamoNoise-aware calibration, logical rotation gates, and quantum error-correction gadgets enable a partially fault-tolerant molecular energy computation on a trapped-ion quantum computer. [PRX Quantum 7, 020319] Published Thu Apr 30, 2026

Author(s): Ryan WilkinsonBy combining quantum error correction with fault-tolerant techniques, researchers have improved how accurately a quantum computer estimates a molecule’s energy. [Physics 19, s52] Published Thu Apr 30, 2026

An international team of astronomers has analyzed the data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to investigate giant molecular clouds in nearby galaxies. The new study, presented April 27 on the arXiv preprint server, unveils crucial information regarding the lifetime of more than 100,000 such clouds across 66 galaxies.

A new study led by researchers from VIB and KU Leuven shows that Parkinson's disease can be divided into distinct subtypes, helping explain why a single treatment does not work for all patients. Using an machine-learning-driven analysis, the team identified two main groups and five subgroups of the disease, marking an important step toward more personalized therapies. The findings were recently published in Nature Communications.

From smartphone charging to hydrogen production, the fundamental principles of energy technology have been revealed. Korean researchers have, for the first time, identified how molecular structures change within the ultra-small space called the "electric double layer." The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, opens a new path to simultaneously improve efficiency and performance in battery, hydrogen, and carbon-neutral technologies by reducing energy loss and selectively inducing desired reactions.

Author(s): Jaladhar Mahato, Siyang Wang, and Laura J. KaufmanSingle-molecule measurements and a generalized Langevin framework show that subdiffusive, non-Gaussian probe transport near the glass transition arises from progressively softening viscoelastic confinement. This provides direct microscopic evidence of dynamic heterogeneity and suggests a pathway to more fully understand glassy dynamics in polymer glass formers. #TheoryExperiment #SoftMatterSpotlight [Phys. Rev. E 113, 055401] Published Mon May 04, 2026

During brain development, neurons can regulate their movement until they reach their final destination thanks to a "molecular switch" involving the protein Teneurin 4 (Ten4).

A new study by a team at Tohoku University, published in Chemical Engineering Journal, has shown that more isn't always better when it comes to nanoscale chemical reactions. One might think that giving reactants completely unrestricted access to a speed-boosting catalyst would be the fastest way to drive a chemical reaction. Instead, it was shown that hollow nanoreactors can work more efficiently when transport into the reaction space is slightly restricted.

Sens. Diagn.DOI: 10.1039/D6SD00020G, Paper Open Access   This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.Negar Heidari, Nogol D. Moghaddam, Sharmin Kharrazi, Jahan B. Ghasemi, Melika F Aghdam, Mahdi Amrollahi Biouki, Ebrahim Ghafar-Zadeh, Parviz NorouziH9N2 avian influenza threatens global poultry production and human health through cross-species transmission and its role as a genetic reservoir for emerging influenza strains. This dual risk underscores the urgent...The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry

Researchers from the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Fritz Haber Institute and Freie Universität Berlin have revealed the arrangement of water molecules at the interface between liquid water and air. Their findings help to better understand interfacial chemistry, which is largely determined by the specific arrangement of the water molecules. Published in Science Advances, the study shows that one parameter in particular—one that has been neglected until now—is of fundamental importance: the water twist.

Conventional spontaneous Raman spectroscopy of interfacial molecules typically requires plasmonic or electronic enhancement, limiting accessible systems. A nonlinear coherent Raman method now enables direct, high sensitivity detection without such requirements.

Author(s): Nathan McLane, LeAnh Duckett, and Leah G. DodsonThe transitions of hydrogen molecules embedded in a crystal depend on the surroundings—a behavior that could be used to tailor molecular quantum dynamics. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 178002] Published Wed Apr 29, 2026