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Researchers have developed preclinical models for invasive lobular carcinoma and trialed a new drug. It slows tumor growth effectively by targeting specific features of the disease and opening the door to future clinical trials. Breast cancer is not a single disease. Some types of carcinoma do not form distinct masses but spread in a string-like pattern, making them difficult to detect.

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded Vici funding to 39 adventurous, talented and pioneering researchers, including five from VU Amsterdam and Amsterdam UMC/affiliated VU. The Vici grant enables researchers to develop an innovative line of research and further expand a research group over the next five years.

Researchers at the University of Bern have investigated the influence of siblings on the development of lifelong social competence in African cichlids. In an experiment, they show for the first time that two factors must work together for this effect to occur: Both the number of siblings present during early life and the quality of their interactions with them are crucial.

More than 10,000 patients with rare diseases are treated annually at the University Departments of MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna - many of them with long periods of suffering, delayed diagnoses, and limited treatment options. On Rare Disease Day on February 28, 2026, the Medical University of Vienna and University Hospital Vienna will demonstrate how the close link between clinical care, research, and interdisciplinary collaboration is continuously advancing the care of people with rare diseases.

Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a gene therapy that could potentially treat a rare and currently fatal muscle disease in children. The study shows in animal models that a single treatment is sufficient to stabilize muscles and nerves and to halt disease progression. The challenge now is to bring this promising therapy into the clinic.

Lasers cut precisely and without contact - ideal for surgery. The problem is that, in hard tissues such as bone, they are too slow and do not cut deep enough. Researchers at the University of Basel have now demonstrated a way to cut much deeper and faster with a surgical laser than with previous laser systems.

"Behavioural research can show how wolves try to navigate a human-dominated landscape." Highlight After more than 150 years of absence, the wolf has re-established itself in the Netherlands. This raises questions about nature, safety, livestock farming and living together with wild animals. Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is at the heart of that social and scientific conversation, with years of expertise in wolf ecology, monitoring and human-animal interactions.

Researchers at the MPI of Biochemistry and TUM have examined the cerebrospinal fluid of 5,000 patients with neurological diseases and discovered new diagnostic and prognostic markers for multiple sclerosis.

A few years ago, researcher Maya Gislason's young child came home from school with her crayon drawing of the Earth in 2020 and 2050. "The first was blue and green; the second was a planet on fire," she says. "Her question to me was: How old will I be when I die in 2050?"  Now, new Simon Fraser University research into the full range of emotions kids and teens feel around climate change is providing one of the clearest pictures yet of how the climate crisis is reshaping young people's daily lives, future thinking and sense of security.

Eels were once everywhere in large numbers, from the North Sea to the smallest ditches. But for many years, the eel population has not been thriving. Researchers at Wageningen University & Research are therefore closely monitoring the numbers. It is no easy task. The latest methods, such as eDNA testing and AI, help.

Children who eat healthily often continue to do so as adults. That is why Gertrude Zeinstra is studying programmes that help schools and parents to teach children healthy eating habits. These are programmes where they try fruits and vegetables, cook and grow them and are surrounded by good examples.

The transition towards sustainability in the Dutch agrifood sector requires more than isolated chain initiatives. Current coordination and governance arrangements around sustainability agreements fall short, preventing structural solutions from emerging. Researchers Lan van Wassenaer and Elsje Oosterkamp discuss the logic, preconditions and choices involved in developing effective and future-proof forms of steering.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have identified hundreds of microbial species living among corals. These microbes produce a variety of substances with untapped potential for medicine and biotechnology, making the reef ecosystem even more valuable than previously recognised. Coral reefs are teeming with life: they are home to over a third of all marine animal and plant species on Earth, despite covering less than one percent of the ocean floor.

Researchers in Manchester have developed an experimental method that shows potential for accurately detecting the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer in adults, known as glioblastoma, from the blood. This pioneering study, led by scientists at the University of Manchester and involving teams in Denmark, has been published in Neuro-oncology Advances [add link to article].

A compound that maize plants use to defend themselves against pests can unintentionally help parasitic nematodes locate their host. This is shown by new research accepted for publication in Nature Plants. The key lies not with the plant or the nematode alone, but in a subtle interaction with soil bacteria.

Avian influenza (Avian influenza, HPAI H5N1) has been detected in a Dutch dairy cow. Research by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (part of Wageningen University & Research) shows that the cow in question has antibodies against the avian influenza virus. No virus particles were found in the animal. This means the cow is not shedding the virus and does not pose a risk to public health.

Researchers at Wageningen University & Research have developed a new type of plastic that, according to materials theory, should not be able to exist. Its properties sit somewhere between those of glass and plastic: it is easy to (re)shape, yet resistant to impact. This unusual combination is possible because the building blocks of the material are not held together by chemical bonds, but by physical forces.

To manage harmful nematodes in agriculture effectively and sustainably, it is essential to know exactly which species is present. Identifying nematode species is complex, costly and requires highly specialized expertise, which is available only in a limited number of places worldwide. Researchers at Wageningen University & Research (WUR) are contributing to the development of an AI-based identification system for nematodes.

How do plants achieve their remarkably regular arrangement of leaves and flowers? And why does this pattern remain so stable, even as plants grow and respond to their environment? Researchers at Wageningen University & Research and the Dutch fruit and vegetable breeding company Rijk Zwaan have identified the biological mechanisms that underpin this precision.

A team from the University of Stuttgart and international researchers have succeeded in making perovskite solar cells more efficient and more resistant to environmental influences. This is another important step towards the application of a technology that holds great promise for photovoltaics. Optimal material mixture sought Perovskite solar cells are a promising technology for photovoltaics.