Paradigm shift: Chinese scientists transform "dispensable" spleen into universal regenerative hub

Nanjing University School of Life Sciences

LinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessagWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

3D reconstructions of hepatocyte and fibroblast shielded islets (HFI).

view more 

Credit: Credited by Lei Dong/Nanjing University.

Dual Breakthroughs in Diabetes Cure and Organ Regeneration Redefine Medical Frontiers

 

NANJING, China – In a revolutionary one-two punch, Chinese research teams have successfully engineered the human spleen into a living bioreactor capable of curing diabetes and growing functional organs – achievements published back-to-back in Science Translational Medicine and Diabetes this month. This convergence of discoveries positions the long-underestimated spleen as a game-changing platform for regenerative medicine.

 

​The Spleen Solution: From Biological Filter to Life-Saving Factory

Once considered expendable, the spleen now emerges as the body’s ideal regenerative site thanks to three innate advantages:

Ample Real Estate: Porous structure hosts billions of transplanted cells

Nutrient Superhighway: Direct blood supply mimics natural organ development

​Low-Risk Adaptability: Can be reprogrammed without disrupting vital functions

 

​Breakthrough #1: The "Living Shield" Diabetes Cure

(Published in Diabetes, Nanjing University-led)

Facing the 60% failure rate of conventional liver islet transplants, Prof. Dong Lei’s team developed a bio-hybrid defense system:

 

​"Invisibility Cloak": Coats insulin-producing islets with liver cells that evade blood’s destructive response

​"Survival Scaffold": Fibroblasts create instant infrastructure for cell growth

Results:

Diabetic mice maintained normal blood sugar for ​> 1 year – longest ever achieved

Required ​40% fewer donor cells – critical amid global organ shortages

"We’ve turned the spleen into a nurturing home for islets," said Prof. Dong.

​

Breakthrough #2: The Universal Bioreactor

(Published in Science Translational Medicine, multi-institutional team)

Taking the concept further, Profs. Dong Lei and Jian Xiao engineered nanoparticles to convert the spleen into a plug-and-play organ nursery:

​Reprogramming Kit: Nanoparticles remodel spleen environment by:

Building extracellular matrix scaffolding

Accelerating blood vessel growth

Suppressing immune attacks

Landmark Achievement:

Human islets successfully matured in reprogrammed monkey spleens – a crucial step toward cross-species organ solutions.

 

​Proven Versatility: The Spleen’s Regeneration Portfolio

This platform has now regenerated multiple organs:

Liver functions in mice (Science Advances 2020)

Thyroid tissues in animal models (Advanced Science 2024)

​Human insulin production in primates (2025 breakthrough)

 

​Why This Changes Everything

"This isn’t just about diabetes," emphasizes Prof. Jian Xiao. "We’ve created a minimally invasive platform where patients could one day grow custom organs from their own cells." The approach’s advantages are transformative:

​On-Demand Organs: Potential to grow patient-specific organs via iPSCs

​No Major Surgery: B-ultrasound-guided delivery replaces invasive transplants

Solve Donor Shortages: Cross-species compatibility demonstrated

 

​The Road Ahead

As 537 million diabetes patients await cure, this radical spleen-based strategy proves a profound truth: ​"In discarded ground, grand purpose is found." – Redefining the overlooked organ into medicine's newest frontier.

---

Journal

Diabetes

DOI

10.2337/db24-0856 

Article Title

Intrasplenic Transplantation of Islets With a Platelet-Shielding System Restores Glycemic Control

HFI-shielded islets grown well within the spleen.

HFI-shielded islets displayed a round shape and well-preserved surface contour resembling pancreatic islets within the spleen.

HFI-shielded islets grown well within the spleen.

Confocal 3D imaging of the vascular network showed good vascularization of the islet portion of the HFI at specific times after transplantation.

Credit

Credited by Lei Dong/Nanjing University.

 

Do we feel less moral responsibility when following orders?

Understanding how people make moral decisions and the neural processes underlying these decisions are critical scientific and societal issues, particularly for a better understanding of wrongdoings

BIAL Foundation

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

A study analysed the brain activity of military officer cadets and civilians while they were making moral decisions and concluded that the perception of being the author of our actions and their consequences decreases when we follow orders, whether we are civilians or military. Understanding how the brain processes moral responsibility is important because of the implications it can have for ethics, justice, and the psychology of human behaviour.

Although we can make some decisions freely in our daily lives, a significant part of the choices we make are conditioned by rules established by society or other individuals, which can strongly influence our behaviours. Numerous historical examples and experimental research have shown that restrictions on freedom of choice can lead to behaviour that causes serious harm to others. Thus, understanding how people make moral decisions and the neural processes underlying these decisions are critical scientific and societal issues, particularly for a better understanding of wrongdoings.

A key neurocognitive process for decision-making is the so-called sense of agency (SoA), which refers to the perception that we are the authors of our actions and their consequences, thus taking responsibility for our choices. SoA is a cognitive process that seems to be reduced when individuals obey orders, as opposed to making free decisions.

Previous studies have shown that this feeling actually decreases when we obey orders, reducing our perception of responsibility. This effect is particularly relevant in contexts where following orders is part of the routine, such as in the military.

To assess whether the neural basis of SoA during moral decision-making differs between civilian and military populations when making free or coerced decisions, while occupying different positions within a hierarchical chain, Axel Cleeremans (Centre for Research in Cognition and Neuroscience, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium) and collaborators used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to analyse the brain activity of 19 military officer cadets and 24 civilian controls while they were making moral decisions.

In the article “Neural correlates of the sense of agency in free and coerced moral decision-making among civilians and military personnel”, published in March in the scientific journal Cerebral Cortex, the authors explain that in the experiment they carried out, the participants could freely choose or follow orders to inflict a mild shock on a victim. SoA was assessed through temporal binding, a phenomenon in which the perception of the time between action and consequence changes depending on the degree to which the decision was voluntary.

The results of the study, supported by the BIAL Foundation, indicated that SoA decreases when we follow orders, regardless of whether we are civilian or military, i.e. no significant differences were found between the groups, suggesting that the neural basis of moral decision-making is consistent, regardless of professional environment. In addition, several brain regions, including the occipital lobe, the frontal gyrus and the precuneus, were associated with this perception.

Axel Cleeremans points out that, “in addition to confirming that the perception of being the author of our actions and their consequences decreases when we follow orders, there were also no differences between military personnel and civilians, which suggests that everyday environments have minimal influence on the neural basis of moral decision-making, allowing the results to be generalised”.

Although these results might suggest that the effects of coercion on the brain are generalisable across populations, it is important to stress that in this case, the military participants were officers trained to take responsibility for their actions. “One might wonder whether being a mere executant would influence these results, as a previous study showed that holding a low military rank had a detrimental effect on the SoA. This would suggest important avenues for responsibility training”, says Cleeremans.

Learn more about the project “150/18- A neuroscience approach to investigating how hierarchy influences moral behaviour” here.

---

Journal

Cerebral Cortex

DOI

10.1093/cercor/bhaf049 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Neural correlates of the sense of agency in free and coerced moral decision-making among civilians and military personnel

DEI

The results of a UJI study confirm the slow progress of equality in the Spanish audiovisual sector

The research has focused on analyzing the role of women in the streaming industry

Universitat Jaume I

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

The Observatory of Media Content and Platforms of the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, led by professor Jéssica Izquierdo Castillo, has coordinated a research project that addresses the situation of women in the streaming industry, with an analysis covering the period between 2015 and 2022. The conclusions of this study have confirmed that gender inequalities also exist in the audiovisual market.

The study focused on analysing the content available on Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video, revealing, among other data, that only 35% of the content available is made up of women, while men occupy approximately two thirds of the space investigated. Likewise, the Observatory has also verified the gender disparity through figures with examples such as 81% of directors in the audiovisual field compared to 19% of women in that role, as well as the modest 7.1% of female directors of photography; the presence in Spain of more female directors (22%) in the fiction genre (19.3%) than in streaming documentaries (18.6%) or that men still account for 68.6% of the total number of workers in the documentary genre.

view more 

Credit: Universitat Jaume I of Castellón

The Observatory of Media Content and Platforms of the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, led by professor Jéssica Izquierdo Castillo, has coordinated a research project that addresses the situation of women in the streaming industry, with an analysis covering the period between 2015 and 2022. The conclusions of this study have confirmed that gender inequalities also exist in the audiovisual market.

The study focused on analysing the content available on Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video, revealing, among other data, that only 35% of the content available is made up of women, while men occupy approximately two thirds of the space investigated. Likewise, the Observatory has also verified the gender disparity through figures with examples such as 81% of directors in the audiovisual field compared to 19% of women in that role, as well as the modest 7.1% of female directors of photography; the presence in Spain of more female directors (22%) in the fiction genre (19.3%) than in streaming documentaries (18.6%) or that men still account for 68.6% of the total number of workers in the documentary genre.

Part of these results have been published in the book Mujeres en streaming. Especialización, liderazgo y representación, edited by Jéssica Izquierdo Castillo and co-authored by 15 people from six different universities. The project's web platform has also been launched, offering published articles and interviews with women professionals in the audiovisual sector in various areas of specialisation, along with informative videos presenting key results of the study, such as "The voices of the documentary", "Women's leadership in the industry" and "Opportunities and challenges for women in the audiovisual sector".

The Observatory has recently published the full report with the results of the study.

These activities are linked to the research project "Study of the impact of streaming platforms on the role of women in the Spanish audiovisual industry and its contents" (AICO/2021/168), funded by the Regional Ministry of Innovation, Universities, Science and Digital Society for the period 2021-2023 and integrated by the UJI, as coordinator, and the universities of Vigo, Basque Country-EHU, Complutense de Madrid and University of A Coruña.

The Ministry of Equality has granted the UJI funding for a new project of the Observatory entitled "Women creators in the audiovisual sector: factors of transformation of structures to renew discourses and references", with the participation of six UJI lecturers from different departments (Communication Sciences, Philosophy and Sociology, Translation and Interpreting and Mathematics) and four lecturers from external universities (University of Seville, University of Vigo, University of Alaska Anchorage and University of Girona).

Announcement of winners for the fourth “Marie Sklodowska Curie Award”

Japan Science and Technology Agency

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

JST has selected winners for the fourth Marie Sklodowska Curie Award for young female researchers.

view more 

Credit: Japan Science and Technology Agency

JST has selected winners for the fourth Marie Sklodowska Curie Award for young female researchers. For the fourth Marie Sklodowska Curie Award, we accepted applications from October 1 to December 10, 2024. Through document screenings and interviews with external experts, we have selected one Grand Prize winner and two Inspiration Prize winners. JEOL Ltd. will award 1M yen for the Grand Prize and 500K yen for each Inspiration Prize.

JST recognizes the importance of initiatives designed to promote the activities of female researchers in science, technology, and innovation, and based on this belief we established the “Marie Sklodowska Curie Award” in 2021, together with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, for awarding young female researchers who are expected to flourish across the world. The award’s namesake, Dr. Marie Sklodowska Curie, was recognized for her achievements in her early thirties and later won two Nobel Prizes. The award honors her great contribution and achievements to the development of science and technology, and we hope her example will inspire the ambitions of Japanese female researchers.

While the latter half of the doctoral program and the first few years after obtaining doctoral degrees are the most promising period for female researchers to make great strides as independent researchers, it is also true that they often face various life events during this period. By honoring the achievements of the winners and making them widely recognized, we hope that this award will support them to take a leap forward with their passion and flexibility as well as to foster the next generation of female researchers.

The Winners of the Fourth Marie Sklodowska Curie Award

Grand Prize Winner

Prize pot: 1M yen

Sub prize: Travel expenses (transportation and accommodation) to visit research institutes in Poland

FUJISHIRO Yukako

RIKEN ECL Unit Leader

RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science & Pioneering Research Institute

Extreme Quantum Matter Physics RIKEN ECL Research Unit

Driven by her curiosity to observe phase transitions that alter topological order parameters, Dr. Fujishiro initiated her project, which has since demonstrated her strong leadership and produced outstanding research results recognized both domestically and internationally. Her innovative approach to the synthesis and characterization of new quantum materials is expected to contribute to paradigm shifts in social infrastructure and electronic devices in the future. She possesses excellent presentation skills and is dedicated to supporting young researchers and promoting science communication. Dr. Fujishiro is expected to make significant contributions both in Japan and abroad in the future as a researcher.

Inspiration Prize Winners

Prize pot: 500K yen each

TEI Reika

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Genetics, Stanford University

Dr. Tei is actively pursuing innovative research aimed at elucidating and controlling the dynamics of intracellular biomolecules through the development of unique molecular tools and has achieved outstanding research results. Her ambitious research activities, driven by a clear vision, are expected to lead to further remarkable advancements. In addition to her research activities, Dr. Tei advocates for the importance of diversity in research environments to the next generation of researchers and international students through her lectures that draw upon her personal experiences. She is a promising young researcher with a bright future who is expected to make significant contributions on the global stage.

YOSHIMOTO Airi

JSPS Overseas Postdoctoral Fellow

Department of Biology, Stanford University

Dr. Yoshimoto, despite being a graduate student at the time of selection, has already achieved numerous outstanding results studying the interactions between the central nervous system and peripheral control systems, such as elucidating the neural mechanisms that enable intentional heart rate control. She actively participates in international collaborative research and has conducted research at multiple universities both domestically and internationally. We expect Dr. Yoshimoto to achieve even greater advancements in the future as a researcher. Her passion and drive for research, combined with excellent presentation skills, suggest that she has high potential not only as a researcher but also as an educator. She is a researcher with a highly promising future.

For more information, please refer to the website below.

URL: https://www.jst.go.jp/diversity/en/OurEfforts/mscaward/index.html

 

70% of citizens in Spain and Portugal say they are concerned about digital disinformation

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

Researchers from the SmartVote project, in which Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) participates, have carried out a study that analyses the impact of digital disinformation in electoral processes in both Spain and Portugal. The report reveals a growing social concern about information manipulation, but also shows the high degree of scepticism among Generation Z (those aged between 18 and 24) towards traditional sources of information and new tools based on artificial intelligence (AI). 

The SmartVote project involves more than twenty Spanish and Portuguese researchers from six different organizations, who are designing a tool to identify fake news (by recognizing image and video manipulation), the dissemination of misleading polls, decontextualization and hoaxes. “The narrative most commonly used to spread disinformation is that of electoral fraud,” explains one of the authors of the study, Carolina Fernández Castrillo, from UC3M’s Communications Department. “And the amplification of disinformation by political parties is a key factor in its propagation and perceived credibility.”

According to the report, far-right parties, such as Vox in Spain or Chega in Portugal, are the main sources of false content on social networks. “There is a certain Iberian homogeneity in terms of disinformation, with these political parties adopting similar structures and narratives,” says the report's coordinator, Miguel Paisana, a researcher at Portugal's Observatório da Comunicação (OberCom). 

The report is the first published by the SmartVote project, in which in addition to UC3M and OberCom, the Centro Protocolar de Formação Profissional para Jornalistas (CENJOR), the Club Abierto de Editores (CLABE) and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) also participate. This Iberian consortium is led by the Fundación Cibervoluntarios. 

The fact that the project covers the entire Iberian Peninsula adds an additional level of complexity in terms of participation and intervention, according to the authors of the report. “Spain faces greater political polarization and a stronger institutional response to disinformation, whereas Portugal is less polarized but increasingly exposed to political instability and digital disinformation, with softer regulatory approaches. In recent years, early elections have become more common in both countries, leading to shorter government cycles and greater political instability,” says Miguel Paisana.

Print media playing an increasingly minor role

One finding of the study is that Spaniards use social networks more than television news to find out about electoral issues, whereas in Portugal, it is the other way around. In both cases, however, print media lags behind. Trust in news organizations, meanwhile, is significantly higher in Portugal (56%) than in Spain (33%), with the latter figure being even lower among young Spaniards (19%). There is also a gender difference, with young women showing a greater reluctance to seek information about electoral issues through AI-generated news.

To tackle disinformation, the report highlights the need to improve media literacy, not only among young people but across all generations. “Disinformation directly affects democratic quality and influences voting intentions. We have already seen this in processes such as Brexit. If we want to combat this problem, we must consider educational strategies aimed at students, journalists and the general public. It is not just a matter of identifying hoaxes, but of understanding how elections work and why it is essential to be informed in a critical and responsible way,” comments another of the report's authors from UC3M’s Communications Department, Raúl Magallón Rosa.

The report includes an analysis of 125 initiatives against disinformation, 52 of which use AI or machine learning. European projects such as AI4Trust and AI-CODE combine these technologies with human verification processes, with the aim of improving the quality of information and supporting media professionals in their work. “While AI has potential as regards automating content detection, its use raises ethical concerns about transparency, freedom of expression and privacy,” the report notes.

The SmartVote project aims to combat disinformation in three ways: firstly, through media literacy; secondly, through various educational activities aimed at journalists, journalism students and young people interested in disinformation and electoral processes; and thirdly, by designing a tool to identify disinformation on the Internet. 

Bibliographic reference: Paisana, M., et al. (2025). Report on Social Media Disinformation in Spanish, Portuguese and EU elections and detection tools. SmartVote. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15305356

Video: https://youtu.be/S2sEQya9NKs?si=oC90dSLm182sG_Xy