World-first: AI guides live brain surgery in the UK to save patient's sight

Copyright UCLH

By Marta Iraola Iribarren

Published on 27/08/2026 - EURONEWS

A British man has become the first patient in the world to undergo brain surgery guided live by artificial intelligence, in an operation that saved his sight.

A man in England has become the first patient to undergo live AI-assisted brain surgery, which protected his sight during the removal of a brain tumour, the University College London Hospitals announced on Thursday.

Rhys Hibbert, a 48-year-old from Bedfordshire, was diagnosed in December 2024 when he collapsed during a walk and suffered a seizure.

As his symptoms worsened, Hibbert opted for surgery and volunteered to take part in research.

“If patients are not prepared to join research how can doctors ever learn and how can medicine ever progress?” he said.

“Asked if I would be prepared to be the world's first patient to have this technology used live… I said, yes, of course.”

According to Hibbert’s doctors, the tumour would have continued to threaten his sight and could ultimately have led to blindness. The operation successfully removed the growth and protected his vision.

Hibbert said that upon waking from surgery, his vision had dramatically improved: “When I came round… I could see everything in the room clearly.”

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The operation was carried out at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), part of University College London Hospitals (UCLH), as part of a clinical trial using AI technology developed in-house at University College London and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

During the surgery, the AI analysed the live surgical video feed in real time, rather than using pre-surgery scans, helping the surgical team make more precise decisions by highlighting critical structures at the base of the brain, UCLH explained.

In this part of the brain, the pituitary gland — which is the size of a marble — sits tightly blood vessels and nerves controlling vision. A margin of error of just a millimetre can prove critical, potentially leading to death, blindness or stroke.

The doctors explained that AI supported the surgical team by helping identify risky areas to avoid while removing as much of the tumour as safely possible.

It also has the potential to track surgical instruments and instrument–tissue interactions, with the aim of supporting surgeons during complex procedures and providing feedback.

“This is an example of AI at its best: patients getting care previously deemed unimaginable thanks to the latest groundbreaking technology,” said James Frith, the UK’s Health Innovation Minister.

He added that AI needs proper safeguards and we will always ensure that safety is taken seriously.

Major security weaknesses found in leading open AI models

International research team finds all 21 leading open-weight AI models tested could be modified to bypass safety protections, raising concerns about misuse at scale

University of Waterloo

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Safety protections built into some of the world's most widely used artificial intelligence (AI) models can be stripped away with alarming ease, according to a new international study. 

The research team, led by the University of Waterloo and FAR.AI, a non-profit AI security research group, rigorously tested 21 of the most popular open-weight large language models (LLMs) and found they could all be tampered with despite their built-in safeguards. 

The holes in even the best protections currently available raise concerns open-weight models could be used to wage mass disinformation campaigns, create sophisticated email scams or produce step-by-step instructions to make hazardous chemicals. 

“When the safety guardrails are stripped out of a capable model, it can be used at scale for harm in ways a single person could never manage manually,” said Dr. Sirisha Rambhatla, a professor of management science and engineering at Waterloo. 

LLMs are advanced AI systems that can essentially understand and generate human language to perform tasks such as drafting emails, writing computer code and conversing with users. 

Unlike closed proprietary models such as ChatGPT and Gemini, open-weight LLMs are publicly available to be downloaded and fine-tuned for use by everybody from individual software developers to private companies and public organizations like hospitals. 

Rambhatla said the “sobering” results of testing by the team – which included members in Canada, the United States and Switzerland – should serve as a wake-up call to global researchers on the need to develop stronger security systems. 

“The leading open-weight models are often not too far behind the best closed models,” said Rambhatla, director of the Critical Machine Learning Lab at Waterloo. “As they grow more powerful, the potential consequences of someone stripping out their safety features grow with them.” 
 
While the study identified significant vulnerabilities, Rambhatla noted that the weaknesses may not be unique to open models. “Open-weight models remain essential to AI research and accountability,” Rambhatla said. "This openness is part of how we make sure the models people use work for everyone.” 

To test a cross-section of open-weight AI models, the research team first built an open-source tool called TamperBench, a standardized way to simulate a variety of different attacks. The hope is that other researchers will now help refine and improve it. 

“The defences available today don’t yet appear strong enough to guarantee that a publicly released model will remain safe once it’s in the hands of anyone who chooses to modify it,” said Saad Hossain, a researcher in the lab who led the study. 

“And as governments increasingly rely on AI in healthcare, fraud detection, education and other public services, the assessment of models and their procurement must be more rigorous and grounded in evidence.” 

The research team also included members from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich and the University of Toronto. 

A paper on its work, TamperBench: Systematically Stress-Testing LLM Safety Under Fine-Tuning and Tampering, was recently presented at the ACM Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining in South Korea. 

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DOI

10.1145/3770855.381755 

US effort to pressure Central Asian states on AI development falling flat

President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hou Jianguo (right) and Kazakh counterpart Akhylbek Kurishbayev shake hands in Beijing on August 18 after agreeing to expand cooperation on AI in several areas. / gov.kzFacebook

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By Eurasianet August 26, 2026

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are tossing figurative darts at a US trial balloon connected to the intensifying race between the United States and China for leadership in AI development. 

Reuters reported on August 14 that the US State Department had drafted a note stating that any country interested in widening access to advanced American knowhow and technology in the artificial intelligence sector under a programme known as Pax Silica must refrain from participating in a rival Chinese initiative known as the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO).

Kazakhstan is a member of both Pax Silica and WAICO, while Uzbekistan is a signatory to the Chinese initiative while expressing keen interest in expanding cooperation with the United States in AI development. More broadly, the United States has taken steps over the past 18 months to expand economic ties with all five Central Asian states. 

Actions and statements made by Kazakh and Uzbek officials since news of the draft State Department note began circulating indicate that both states are disinclined to adhere to what amounts to an American demand.

Kazakh officials have not publicly commented on the issue of the country’s participation in both Pax Silica and WAICO, but recent developments suggest Astana is intent on maintaining close contacts with China in the AI sphere.

On August 18, experts from the countries’ respective academies of sciences agreed to jointly develop a science-focused AI platform to analyse “scientific literature and large data sets, identifying patterns, formulating and testing hypotheses, modelling complex processes, planning experiments, and predicting results,” according to a Kazakh government statement. Kazakhstan and China are also working on an AI initiative called DeepBas, which aims to develop “specialised models” enabling the more efficient management of water resources.

Exchange programmes are likewise proceeding. Kazakh engineers from the national space company recently participated in a training programme in China on using AI to analyse satellite data to improve natural disaster early warning capabilities. In addition, at a recent symposium in Almaty, Chinese and Kazakh researchers discussed AI applications in medicine and agriculture, as well as joint research and training for young AI specialists.

Uzbekistan has perhaps been more direct in addressing the brewing AI issue. Speaking at a technology forum in Tashkent on August 24, Bobur Khodjaev, an aide to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, issued what could be considered a veiled plea for the US to abandon an “us-or-them” stance on AI development. He also stated that Uzbek officials would continue to opt for the best available AI solutions, regardless of national origin. He acknowledged that American tech may be superior but also stressed that China offered more affordable options.

“As a developing country, we want to have access to all available technologies,” Gazeta.uz quoted Khodjaev as saying. “Specifically referring to the US and China, obviously American tech companies offer cutting-edge AI chips and AI models. China, in turn, offers open-source models that are significantly cheaper than American ones. And we would like to have access to both.”

“We are open to collaboration with all partners and interested parties and strive to implement artificial intelligence technologies not only in finance but in all areas of our economy,” Khodjaev added.

This article first appeared on Eurasianet here.

Ancient dental calculus reveals diverse diets of commoners in premodern Osaka, Japan, the 'Kitchen of the Realm'

Dental calculus proteomics uncovers rich food access among premodern commoners in Osaka

The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI

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Example of dental calculus attached to an ancient human tooth from the Umeda cemetery.

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Credit: Yoko Uchida-Fukuhara

What did ordinary people really eat in premodern Japan, beyond the dishes described in cookbooks and the bones discarded at urban waste pits? Reconstructing past diets at the level of individual food items is remarkably difficult. Traditional archaeological approaches and stable isotope analysis of human skeletons reveal broad dietary categories – such as reliance on marine fish and C3 plants. But they cannot show which specific taxa or tissues each person consumed, nor how access differed between social groups in a stratified society like premodern Japan.

A research team comprising researchers from the Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Aomori Public University, Kyushu University, and other institutions turned to an alternative source of evidence: ancient dental calculus, the hardened plaque that still adheres to the teeth of skeletal remains. Using palaeoproteomic methods on calculus from eight adult commoners buried in the Umeda cemetery, north of present‑day JR Osaka Station, they analyzed both bone collagen stable isotope ratios and food‑derived proteins entrapped in the calculus to reconstruct individual diets in premodern Osaka.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios showed that these individuals had typical urban premodern diets based on terrestrial plants and marine resources. The real novelty came from the dental calculus proteomics. From the eight individuals, the researchers identified 38 dietary proteins from 17 taxa, including nine fish taxa, several terrestrial and marine mammals, and multiple plants. Red sea bream (Pagrus major) muscle proteins were detected in six of the eight individuals, indicating direct consumption of a fish that historical sources describe as a luxury item. Proteins from flatfishes such as tonguefish (Soleidae), still important in Kansai and Seto Inland Sea cuisine today, were also found.

In addition, proteins from salmonids – cold‑water fish that do not naturally inhabit Osaka Bay – were identified in some individuals. This result provides direct evidence that commoners consumed marine products transported over long distances, likely via the coastal shipping routes that linked Hokkaido and the Japan Sea coast to Osaka. Dental calculus from three individuals contained proteins from non‑human terrestrial mammals, supporting historical accounts that meat from wild quadrupeds was eaten under the guise of “medicinal meat” despite formal taboos. The team also detected proteins from cotton seeds, which are normally inedible but can be processed into cottonseed oil. This suggests that everyday oil products derived from cotton – widely cultivated around Osaka in the Edo period – were possible part of commoners’ diets.

Taken together, these results show that even relatively poor urban commoners buried in the Umeda cemetery had access to an unexpectedly diverse range of foods, including luxury species and products from distant regions. The study highlights how Osaka’s role as the “Kitchen of the Realm” – a major hub for the production, redistribution and trade of foodstuffs from across western Japan – translated into real dietary diversity at the level of ordinary city dwellers.

The authors emphasize that the eight individuals analyzed represent only a tiny fraction of the thousands of skeletons from Umeda cemetery and the hundreds of thousands of people who lived in Osaka during the premodern period. Future work applying dental calculus proteomics to samurai, rural communities with less developed food distribution, other cities such as Edo and Kyoto, and earlier phases of the premodern period will allow us to compare dietary diversity across status, region, and time. More broadly, the study illustrates that local food cultures – such as Kansai’s long‑standing taste for sea bream and tonguefish – have roots extending back centuries, which can only be revealed by carefully analyzing irreplaceable cultural heritage materials like human bones and associated dental calculus.

 

An overview of the Umeda cemetery as excavated in the present day. The area is now redeveloped and bustling as “Umekita.”

Credit

Osaka City Cultural Properties Association

 

Number of protein groups identified from the subject ancient dental calculus.

Credit

Yoko Uchida-Fukuhara

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Journal

Anthropological Science

DOI

10.1537/ase.260519 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Dietary reconstruction of individual premodern commoners in Osaka, Japan, through the palaeoproteomic analysis of human dental calculus

Article Publication Date

19-Aug-2026

 

Parasitic plants act like genetic engineers by stealing and remodeling useful genes

How foreign genes become permanent in parasitic plants

Osaka Metropolitan University

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A dodder parasitizes a sesame plant, stealing nutrients and genetic material from its host. 

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Credit: Osaka Metropolitan University

Many plant species parasitize other plants by latching on and taking the nutrition their host needs to survive.

But sometimes, plants steal more than nutrients; they take genes. 

A new study shows how one such “stolen” gene was not simply preserved after entering the genome of the parasitic dodder (Cuscuta spp.). Instead, the parasite remodeled the gene over millions of years while keeping its original function intact. 

The gene is taken by a process known as horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Unlike ordinary inheritance, in which genes pass from parent to offspring, HGT allows genetic material to move between unrelated organisms. 

A research team led by Professor Koh Aoki of the Graduate School of Agriculture, Osaka Metropolitan University, investigated what happens to these foreign genes after they arrive in the parasitic plant. Working with researchers from Suntory Global Innovation Center Ltd., the National Institute for Basic Biology and other institutions, the team traced the evolutionary history of the CYP81Q gene. 

They found evidence that CYP81Q originally belonged to another flowering plant in the order Lamiales—which includes many medical and culinary herbs—before being transferred to the dodder lineage in the distant past. 

The gene gave dodders something useful, as CYP81Q is involved in producing sesamin, a lignan compound with antioxidant properties. After acquiring the gene, dodders gained the ability to produce sesamin themselves. 

Over time, the foreign gene was changed in the dodder genome by pieces of transposable elements called “jumping DNA,” which inserted dodder DNA into CYP81Q. 

One of these inserted sequences eventually became part of a newly formed intron, a section of a gene that is removed from its RNA before the genetic instructions are used to make a protein. 

Despite undergoing these changes, the gene continued to work. The remodeled CYP81Q still produced a functional enzyme capable of synthesizing sesamin. 

“This demonstrated that the gene had retained its biological function despite substantial structural changes,” Professor Aoki summarized. 

The finding suggests that HGT is not necessarily the end of the evolutionary story of the gene, instead it can continue to evolve inside the parasite, becoming structurally integrated into its new surroundings while retaining its original function. 

“Usually HGT is a process of bacteria,” Professor Aoki said. “Our findings are further evidence that it is found in plants too.” 

For parasitic plants, this process may be especially important. Their direct connections with other plants create unusual opportunities for genes to cross species boundaries. Once transferred, those genes may become raw material for further evolutionary change. 

The story of CYP81Q goes beyond dodders simply “stealing” a useful gene to the plant making the borrowed genetic material its own. 

The findings were published in Plant Physiology.  

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About OMU  

Established in Osaka as one of the largest public universities in Japan, Osaka Metropolitan University is committed to shaping the future of society through the “Convergence of Knowledge” and the promotion of world-class research. For more research news, visit https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/ and follow us on social media: X, Instagram, LinkedIn. 

 

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Journal

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY

DOI

10.1093/plphys/kiag335 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Transposon-colonized intron gain follows parasitism-mediated horizontal transfer of a cytochrome P450 gene

How plants use scoop-shaped pores to distribute their pollen efficiently

New findings are particularly important in light of climate change, declines in bee abundance, and diversity

University of Vienna

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Fig. 1: Bee buzzing poricidal stamens of Pleroma (Melastomataceae), pollen grains are visible as white dust on the pink petals below the bee.

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Credit: César Arvelos

Approximately 30,000 species of flowering plants have "poricidal anthers" from which pollen can only be released when bees apply mechanical vibrations to them. In a new study recently published in Nature Communications, a research team at the Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research at the University of Vienna found that the shape of the plant's anther pore determines how pollen is released. The scientists discovered that anthers bearing scoops around their pores expel their pollen in narrower, more targeted jets than anthers lacking such scoops, which normally scatter pollen in broad clouds. Furthermore, scoop-bearing anthers release pollen at faster speeds. The team further learned that scoop-shaped pores are sensitive in their functionality to the exact nature of the vibration applied. Findings such as these are particularly important in light of more frequent temperature extremes altering flower vibrational properties, and declines in bee abundance and diversity.

Bees are the most important pollinators of flowering plants and approximately 10% of flowering plants are functionally specialized on "buzz-pollination". Buzz-pollination is a mechanism where pollen can only be extracted from flowers through the application of mechanical vibrations. Many important crops such as tomatoes, eggplants or blueberries are buzz-pollinated because they conceal their pollen in so-called poricidal anthers – floral structures which only have a minute pore as opening, and pollen can only be released from this pore when mechanical vibrations are applied.

In a new study recently published in Nature Communications, a research team at the Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research at the University of Vienna found that how the pore is shaped determines how pollen is released. Specifically, comparing more than 500 plant species, the researchers found that pores either carry a spathulate structure termed a "scoop", or lack such a scoop. Tomatoes lack such scoops, but anthers of the large tropical plant family Melastomataceae, for example, commonly bear scoops.

Plants bearing scoops at their anthers expel their pollen in narrower, more targeted jets

PhD candidate Benjamin Lazarus from the University of Vienna went ahead to test experimentally whether the "scoop" has a specific function – and found that it does. Lazarus applied mechanical vibrations to single anthers mimicking the vibrations of bees by placing stamens into a specifically constructed artificial vibration setup. He then used high-speed videos to film the pollen clouds expelled from the different anthers and analysed the scattering angle of pollen clouds as well as the velocity with which pollen clouds moved in the air. Lazarus found that anthers bearing scoops expel their pollen in narrower, more targeted jets than anthers lacking such scoop, which normally scatter pollen in broad clouds. Furthermore, scoop-bearing anthers release pollen at faster speeds.

"Our new findings have important implications for the functionality of buzz-pollination", says study lead Agnes Dellinger from the University of Vienna. Releasing pollen in narrow jets may allow plants to target specific areas on the bee's body and place pollen in a more controlled manner. "Accuracy in pollen placement is important for plants because it can improve pollination success and at the same time enables plants to place pollen in 'safe spots' where bees can't groom and collect it off their bodies. At the same time, faster pollen release may allow plants to eject pollen across larger distances and implant it more deeply in the fur of bees, thereby again reducing pollen loss", explains Dellinger.

The functionality of the scoop-shaped pore is dependent on vibration frequency

The team further found that scoop-shaped pores are sensitive in their functionality to the exact nature of the vibration applied – while targeted pollen release showed a cyclical pattern perfectly in line with vibrations at 300 Hz and 400 Hz, pollen release became "messy" and chaotic at low frequency vibrations of around 200 Hz. Finding that the functionality of the scoop-shaped pore is dependent on vibration frequency is important because different bee species vibrate flowers at different frequencies, meaning that some bees may remove higher amounts of pollen from flowers than others.

Furthermore, recent studies from other research teams indicate that vibration frequency may be temperature-dependent, with bees vibrating flowers at higher frequencies when temperatures are high. Finding that how pollen is released from buzz-pollinated flowers is sensitive to vibrational properties is particularly important in light of more frequent temperature extremes and declines in bee abundance and diversity.

Summary:

• A research team from the University of Vienna found that the shape of a plant's anther pore determines how pollen is released.
• The team looked into the mechanism of so called "buzz-pollination". Many important crops such as tomatoes, eggplants or blueberries are buzz-pollinated.
• Plants bearing scoops around their anther pores expel their pollen in narrower, more targeted jets.
• While targeted pollen release showed a cyclical pattern perfectly in line with vibrations at 300 Hz and 400 Hz, pollen release became "messy" and chaotic at low frequency vibrations of around 200 Hz also in scoop-bearing species.
• These new findings are particularly important in light of more frequent temperature extremes potentially altering flower biomechanical properties and declines in bee abundance.

About the University of Vienna:

For over 650 years the University of Vienna has stood for education, research and innovation. Today, it is ranked among the top 100 and thus the top four per cent of all universities worldwide and is globally connected. With degree programmes covering 188 disciplines, and approximately 11,000 employees, we are one of the largest academic institutions in Europe. Here, people from a broad spectrum of disciplines come together to carry out research at the highest level and develop solutions for current and future challenges. Its students and graduates develop reflected and sustainable solutions to complex challenges using innovative spirit and curiosity.

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Journal

Nature Communications

Article Title

Scoop-shaped pores change how pollen is released from poricidal flowers

Article Publication Date

20-Aug-2026

Fig. 2: Flower of Pleroma (Melastomataceae) with the scoop-bearing poricidal stamens in the center, visible as elongated white-purple structures. Scoop-bearing stamens are common in Melastomataceae, the largest group of plants specialized on buzz-pollination.

Credit

César Arvelos

Fig. 3: Experimental setup for the application of artificially synthesized bee vibrations to single stamens to test the functionality of the scoop-shaped pore. The handheld particle counter allows for immediately counting the released pollen grains.

Credit

Benjamin Lazarus

 

Fig. 4: PhD students Benjamin Lazarus (ri) and Johan Urrea (le) bagging flowers of Melastomataceae in the field for later pollination experiments.

Credit

Cristina Vargas