Researchers studying ctenophores, gelatinous marine creatures often called comb jellies, have used their genetics to probe fundamental questions about animal evolution, including the origins of nervous systems and bioluminescence. A 2023 study analyzing chromosome structure bolstered the argument that ctenophores, not sponges, split off first from the rest of the animal kingdom, challenging over a century of scientific consensus.
quantamagazine.org
· 2026-09-17
A mouse study led by Cambridge researcher Menna Clatworthy found that immune cells activated during intestinal infections, such as those caused by Citrobacter rodentium bacteria and the parasitic worm Schistosoma mansoni, travel to the meninges surrounding the brain. There, the cells take up long-term residence and mount a faster, stronger response when the same infection recurs more than a month later, indicating they retain a memory of the original illness.
nature.com
· 2026-09-15
Harvard researchers studying ribosomal RNA in the California two-spot octopus discovered an unprecedented gap that splits a normally single RNA fragment into two pieces, a feature not seen in any other animal studied so far. This structural quirk, published in Current Biology, appears to help ribosomes assemble proteins with unusual precision, and so far turns up only in octopus lineages with enlarged nervous systems capable of complex behavior.
smithsonianmag.com
· 2026-08-24
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