Day: August 13, 2026

Mutaciones encontradas en familias colombianas dieron esperanza para el desarrollo de tratamientos. Datos alterados e imágenes sospechosas ponen en cuestión los beneficios

Mutations found in Colombian families raised hopes for treatments. Altered patient data and suspect images call their benefits into question

When a disease outbreak occurs, sequencing the responsible pathogen and posting its genome to a public database facilitates research into diagnostic tests and vaccines. However, the benefits of sharing genomic data quickly and widely are not equally shared. Many outbreaks begin in lower-income countries (1), where health workers and scientists collect samples and generate sequences that are then used by well-resourced institutions to create proprietary tests, therapeutics, and patents (2). When there is little return for sharing data, countries may decide to share less [as Indonesia did in 2006 (3)], making the equity problem a security problem as well. Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted the Pandemic Agreement in 2025 (4), and they are now negotiating an annex called Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) (5). The current terms of the annex will help in emergencies but overlook the steps required to establish enduring equitable practices.

More than a decade after shark mislabeling was first highlighted in Brazil (1), generic commercial names such as caçao (2–4), galeos (5), rock salmon and huss (6), flake (7), palombo (8), tollo, and cazón (9) continue to obscure shark species identity worldwide. DNA-based surveys repeatedly reveal that products sold under these names comprise multiple shark species, including threatened and internationally regulated taxa (2–12). Although these commercial names differ among countries, they produce the same outcome: species identity is progressively lost as shark products move from capture to consumption, precisely where fisheries management, wildlife trade regulation, sustainability claims, and informed consumer choice depend on it.

A field experiment among Côte d’Ivoire cocoa farms suggests an approach to improve auditor reporting

Highlights from the Science family of journals

Editors’ selections from the current scientific literature

Geochemical signatures of hotspot lavas suggest that their mantle sources are compositionally distinct, but their source locations remain elusive. Mapping hotspots to their deep origins is complicated by the presence of interconnected, low–seismic ...

Dystroglycan (DG) is an extracellular matrix receptor crucial for tissue development and pathogen entry. DG harbors a long, complex glycan called matriglycan. Loss of matriglycan or reduction in its length disrupts DG function, causing ...

It is likely that you have seen videos of humanoid robots diligently performing a variety of household chores: loading the dishwasher, vacuuming the floor, or putting groceries away. These are all tasks we humans carry out regularly, usually with limited enthusiasm, that often prevent us from doing considerably more interesting things. I shall refrain from elaborating on what those things might be, save to suggest that reading this piece would not be an entirely unreasonable choice, and instead turn to a question that has occupied me for rather more months than I care to admit—is loading the dishwasher really among the most pressing problems we need robots to solve today?