news 2025

An infraslow brain and body rhythm, specific to the deep sleep of mammals, has recently been identified in seven reptile and one bird species, thus demonstrating its ancestral and fundamental character.

A study by Inserm, in collaboration with the CNRS, the University of Grenoble Alpes (UGA), the Grenoble Alpes University Hospital (CHU), and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), published on December 9 in the The Lancet Planetary Health journal, suggests there may be an association between exposure in the third trimester of pregnancy to two synthetic phenols, methylparaben and bisphenol S, commonly found in everyday products (food, cosmetics, plastics, etc.), and questionnaire scores that could suggest behavioral disorders in children.

The presence of a compound present in cruciferous vegetables, indole-3-carbinol, is essential to make certain cancer treatments effective. Photo by Monika Borys / Unsplash It is a universally recognized truth that vegetables are good for your health. A study conducted by Institut Curie and Inserm reveals that the presence of a compound present in cruciferous vegetables, indole-3-carbinol, is essential to make certain cancer treatments effective.

Electric discharges have for the first time been recorded within the storms and whirlwinds of dust - known as dust devils - that sweep across the surface of Mars. Captured by the microphone of the SuperCam instrument on board NASA's Perseverance rover, the signals were analysed by a team of scientists from the CNRS, Université de Toulouse and the Observatoire de Paris - PSL, working as part of an international team.

The study of an assemblage of Neandertal human bones discovered in the Troisième caverne of Goyet (Belgium) has brought to light selective cannibalistic behaviour primarily targeting female adults and children between 41,000 and 45,000 years ago.

Two researchers from Inserm and one researcher from INRAE contributed to a series of three articles published on 19 November in The Lancet on the health consequences of consuming ultra-processed foods. The 43 international scientists who signed this series of articles propose the implementation of public health measures to limit the use of ultra-processed foods and improve nutrition worldwide.

According to a communication from the CNRS dated November 12, 2025. Based on a scientific publication in Nature Ecology & Evolution to which Lucie Étienne, CNRS research director at CIRI, and Alexandre Legrand, INSERM researcher and CIRI doctor, contributed: Evolutionary characterization of antiviral SAMD9/9L across kingdoms supports ancient convergence and lineage-specific adaptations.

A cellular resistance mechanism at the origin of relapses of triple-negative breast cancer has recently been discovered by scientists from CNRS, Institut Curie and Université Paris Cité. Their findings have been published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, on 6 November 2025.

According to a CNRS communication dated October 16, 2025. Based on a scientific publication in Current Biology to which the RDP laboratory at ENS de Lyon contributed: "Robust branch patterning in moss shoots via symplasmic auxin diffusion." Image © Des Callaghan In an article published in Current Biology , scientists explore how auxin, a plant hormone, travels through the stem of moss to shape its architecture.

Press release, Villeurbanne, October 9, 2025. The past of the planet Mars continues to captivate the scientific community.

Currently incurable, peripheral neuropathies 1 are common neurological complications of chemotherapy, causing persistent pain, tingling and burning sensations in the feet and hands, sometimes even after treatment has ended. In the hope of offering a therapeutic option to affected patients, a research team led by a CNRS 2 researcher has identified a molecule capable of preventing the onset of such side effects.

4D visualisation of the vascularisation of an entire kidney obtained using the multi-lens probe developed in this study. Veins are shown in blue and arteries in red. Colour variations indicate blood flow velocity: the brighter the colour, the faster the blood is flowing. The smallest vessels are less than 100 micrometres in diameter.

In an article published in Current Biology , scientists explore how auxin, a plant hormone, travels through the stem of a moss to shape its architecture. In vascular plants, such as most grasses or trees, it has been known for several decades that auxin is actively transported between cells via dedicated molecular pumps.

According to a press release from the Lyon Observatory dated September 4, 2025, based on a scientific publication to which Elliot Lynch, researcher at CRAL (ENS de Lyon/CNRS/UCBL), contributed as part of an international team: "ALMA Reveals an Eccentricity Gradient in the Fomalhaut Debris Disk", published in The Astrophysical Journal on September 4, 2025.

According to a CNRS communication dated September 22, 2025, following a scientific publication in PLOS Computational Biology co-authored by Lucie Riglet, Christophe Godin, and Isabelle Fobis-Loisy, researchers at the RDP, ENS de Lyon, together with Catherine Quilliet and Karin John from LIPhy, Université Grenoble Alpes.

According to a CNRS communication dated September 22, 2025, based on a scientific publication in Current Biology co-authored by Yoan Coudert, CNRS researcher at the RDP, ENS de Lyon, together with Saioa Ricou-Dreneuc and Claudine Ah-Peng: "Architectural shift to epiphytism fuels exotic bryophyte invasiveness.

In the future, could our mobile phones and internet data operate using light rather than just electricity? Now, for the first time, an international research team led by CNRS researchers 1 has discovered how to generate an electron gas, found for example in LED screens, by illuminating a material made up of layers of oxides 2 .

Consumption of plant-based products is associated with better cardiovascular health, provided they are of good nutritional quality and not or minimally processed. This is the finding of a research team from INRAE, Inserm, Sorbonne Paris Nord University and Cnam, based on analysis of health data from a cohort of 63,835 adults.

Astrocytes are found throughout the brain. Each astrocyte is in contact with several neurons and more than 100'000 synapses. A new study shows that, at the microscopic level, dozens of synapses from distinct neural circuits gather around a single specialized astrocyte structure called a leaflet, which is capable of detecting and integrating the activities of multiple synapses.

Researchers at the ESRF - the European Synchrotron - together with CNRS, ENS de Lyon and the Institute of Marine Research in Norway, have unveiled how Atlantic Bluefin tuna transforms the toxic form of mercury into less harmful forms. Their study, published in Environmental Science & Technology , shows that the tuna's edible muscle contains not only toxic methylmercury, but also mercury bound in stable, non-toxic compounds.