The administration of US President Donald Trump has announced plans to revoke visas for Chinese students in the United States and to tighten the criteria for future visa applications from China and Hong Kong. This measure specifically targets students who have ties to the Chinese Communist Party or are involved in fields of study considered critical to US national security. The announcement was made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who emphasized that the State Department would work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to implement this policy. The exact number of affected students, as well as possible exceptions, remain unclear for the time being. This decision exacerbates the already tense relations between the US and China and raises questions about the long-term impact on the academic landscape, particularly research in the United States. Background and Context Relations between the US and China have been characterized by political... 

More than three decades ago, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  approved  Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) as the first immunotherapy for cancer. And it is still used today to treat early-stage bladder cancer. Now, a team of researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and Weill Cornell Medicine is expanding the understanding of how the treatment works – an understanding that could help improve the effectiveness of immunotherapies in general. BCG is a weakened strain of the bacterium  Mycobacterium bovis , which is used worldwide as a vaccine against tuberculosis in children. In the treatment of bladder cancer, BCG is used in higher concentrations. For a long time, it was assumed that it primarily works by infecting local cancer cells, thereby attracting the attention of the patient's immune cells, which attack the tumor. However, the exact mechanism of action was not fully understood. Scientists were unsure to what extent the…

Salk Institute researchers have created the most comprehensive, high-quality, and detailed genetic atlas of cannabis to date. The team analyzed 193 different cannabis genomes (complete genetic information) and revealed unprecedented diversity, complexity, and untapped potential within this foundational crop. This groundbreaking achievement was the result of a multi-year collaboration with Oregon CBD, Oregon State University, and the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology. The findings, published on May 28, 2025, in Nature, pave the way for transformative advances in cannabis-based agriculture, medicine, and industry. For the study, the team collected genomes from 144 different cannabis plants from around the world, compiling a total of 193 genomes – 181 of which had never been cataloged before. Due to this haplotype resolution, the overall genome is larger than the plant genome, as each plant produced two genome assemblies with both sets of chromosomes examined. Together, these many genomes form the pangenome, which was analyzed,...

Dysfunctional blood vessels in muscles may be responsible for the muscle weakness and weight loss experienced by most cancer patients. This is according to a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago. The discovery could help cancer survivors regain muscle strength, contributing to better outcomes for these patients, said Dr. Jalees Rehman, senior author of the new paper and Benjamin J. Goldberg Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the College of Medicine. Up to 80% of cancer patients suffer from muscle wasting, known as cachexia, a debilitating complication characterized by extreme fatigue, weight loss, and loss of appetite. "It is one of the main drivers of poor outcomes for cancer survivors when they are no longer able to perform their daily activities due to the loss of significant muscle strength," said Rehman, who is also co-leader of the Translational Oncology Research…