Seeds of Innovation: GEFSES Symposium Bridges Continents Through Genome Editing - McGill University

AustraliaAqua Paradiso was an exhibition curated in 2022 by the National Asian Culture Center (ACC). This contemporary art project brought together 11 artists from Asia and around the world to explore the theme of “water” from aesthetic, philosophical, and ecological perspectives. The exhibition took place over a three-month period at ACC in Gwangju, offering a multilayered examination of the primordial  nature of life contained within water and its relationship with human society. Aqua Paradiso now continues in 2026 as a touring exhibition at Korean Cultural Centres in India and Australia. This edition features three of the Korean artists who took part in the original exhibition: Hyewon Kwon, Boo Jihyun, and Eunhae Jung (eco orot). Each uses a different visual language to approach the responsiveness and dynamics of water and the transformative sensibilities of the Anthropocene era. More than just a resource or part of the backdrop, the exhibition looks at water as a sensory presence and ecological actor. Ancient civilizations viewed water as the emotional product of transcendent deities, harboring feelings of the sublime in the face of its overwhelming majesty.

HHMI investigator Harmit Malik is uncovering the evolutionary rules that guide genetic conflicts—competitions between different entities trying to maximize their success at the expense of another. Credit: Robert Hood The Malik Lab thrives on competition. But for HHMI investigator Harmit Malik and his team at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, it's the genomes—not the people—that are in conflict. The lab studies rapid evolution—the genetic changes that happen in a species over a few generations rather than thousands of years. These fast changes are often fueled by genetic conflicts—competitions between different entities trying to maximize their success at the expense of another.

Haiyi Zhang1,2 na1, Yawei Li1,3 na1, Xinhong Zhao1, Yujie Zhao1, Jinchao Gu1, Hao Pan1, Aijun Liu1, Jiangguo Lin4, Yuanyuan Peng5, Lijun Wang5, Huantian Zhang6 & … Jiahui Cao1 We’re sharing this article early to provide faster access to peer-reviewed, accepted research. It is citable and carries a permanent DOI. This version is subject to further edits and will be replaced automatically by the final Version of Record. All legal disclaimers apply.

We’re sharing this article early to provide faster access to peer-reviewed, accepted research. It is citable and carries a permanent DOI. This version is subject to further edits and will be replaced automatically by the final Version of Record. All legal disclaimers apply. AbstractLung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), the predominant subtype of non‑small cell lung cancer, continues to exhibit high incidence and mortality due to tumor heterogeneity and therapy resistance, underscoring the need for novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. This study aimed to systematically characterize the expression, prognostic value, immune‑microenvironment modulation, and functional role of VDAC1 in LUAD, with a focus on its regulation of glucose‑deprivation–induced disulfidptosis. By integrating multi‑omics data from public resources, we performed differential expression, copy‑number variation, survival, immune‑infiltration, pathway‑enrichment, and single‑cell/spatial transcriptomic analyses. Findings were validated using immunohistochemistry on 15 paired LUAD samples and functional assays in A549 and PC‑9 cell lines.

Mitochondria are the tiny powerpacks that supply most of the energy our cells need. Their ability to generate this energy relies on a distinctive architecture: two membranes, one tucked inside the other, separated by a narrow gap called the intermembrane space (IMS). This tiny space helps sustain the chemistry of energy production, making its organization critical to how these cellular powerpacks function. Now, a new study led by a University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine investigator reports a potentially transformative discovery: the volume of the IMS is genetically controlled and adjustable. By controlling where this space expands or narrows within each mitochondrion, cells can actively shape the internal architecture of their powerpacks and tune how they function.

Pandemics can arise wherever animal or human populations are sufficiently large, and they are not confined to the modern age. Johan Jakobsson, Professor of Molecular Neurogenetics at Lund University, believes that the findings from the new study are highly relevant: they show that a virus can cause a DNA sequence to change across an entire population. "The virus we investigated specifically affected chimpanzees. Yet humans and chimpanzees have largely the same genetic makeup. That is why it is important to understand the differences in how genes are regulated. Our findings suggest that one gene, LINC00662, plays a significant role in early human brain development," says Johan Jakobsson.