Here in Austria, as in many other places, it’s been a hot end to another unusually warm month (this year, only May has been cooler than average). Blistering heatwaves like the one expected to peak in Europe this week are just one consequence of climate change. Another is the spread of vector-borne diseases, as mosquitoes and other vectors expand into new regions. For example, mosquito-borne flaviviruses causing diseases like dengue fever, Zika, and West Nile fever already infect over 400…

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If you aren’t a cell biologist, you may have never heard of focal adhesions (FAs): these are complexes at the surface of many animal cells, mediating the attachment of the cell to its environment and the exertion of force via that environment to help the cell move (or not). FAs are still revealing their secrets, but we know that they contain various specialized proteins that exchange signaling through receptors called integrins. FAs also host a specific mRNA, the one that…

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Seventeen years ago, when I was pregnant with my daughter, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I assumed it would go away after delivery, as it does for many people. But it didn’t. Today, like about 1 in 3 American adults, I live with prediabetes, marked by elevated HbA1c—a quiet signal that my blood sugar regulation is off. What’s more troubling is that most people with prediabetes don’t know they have it. And the consequences aren’t trivial: about 70% of…

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Among my favorite characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is King T’Challa, the title character in Black Panther (2018) who appears in other MCU movies. T’Challa was portrayed by the brilliant Chadwick Boseman—even if you are not a fan of the MCU, you might know Boseman from his portrayal of Jackie Robinson in 42 or of Thurgood Marshall in Marshall. He worked on Black Panther while terminally ill, somehow keeping this fact largely unknown and keeping it from stopping…

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Misuse and overuse of antimicrobials have led to a global health crisis: antimicrobial resistance (AMR), including multidrug-resistant superbugs. Common misconceptions that contribute to the problem have proven difficult to dispel; for example, 30% of Europeans believe that antibiotics are effective against colds (Eurobarometer 2022). One important arm of the multipronged strategy to tackle AMR is surveillance, but the current focus on clinical settings is too narrow. Microbes – including bacteria carrying antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) – are everywhere, and environments…

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