Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK and the second leading cause of cancer-related death. The new findings may help clinicians better understand how the disease develops, how aggressive it may become, and how patients might respond to different treatments.

The team analyzed whole genome sequencing (WGS) data from more than 9,000 cancer patients. Their results, published in Science Translational Medicine, also challenge a widely held assumption that every cancer type has its own unique microbial signature.

“This study changes how we think about the role of microbes in cancer,” said lead researcher Dr. Abraham Gihawi, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School.

How scientists analyzed tumor microbes

To carry out the study, researchers examined Genomics England DNA sequence data from 11,735 cancer samples spanning 22 different cancer types.

“When you collect cancer DNA sequences, you also gain information from the DNA of microbes contained within the samples,” said Dr. Gihawi.

“We wanted to determine the precise DNA composition of microbes present in each sample. So, we developed computer programs to remove human DNA and analyse the remaining microbe DNA.

“We then correlated this information with clinical data from the patients about their cancer type and clinical outcome.

“What we found challenges previous claims that each cancer type has a distinct microbiological signature or fingerprint.

“But importantly, as whole genome sequencing becomes more common in hospitals, we show that looking at the microbes in tumor samples could become a powerful tool for improving cancer care at little extra cost.

Colorectal cancer shows a distinct microbial signature

The analysis revealed a clear pattern. Among all cancers studied, only colorectal tumors consistently showed a unique and identifiable microbial community.

“Our results show that only colorectal tumors possess distinctly identifiable microbial communities.

“We found that these microbial signatures were so specific that they could accurately distinguish colorectal tumors from other tumors. We hope that this could help doctors diagnose the disease more precisely and researchers to study the microbes found in colorectal cancer.”

The study also points to broader clinical uses. In oral cancers, researchers found that certain viruses such as HPV (human papillomavirus) could be detected more accurately than with some current diagnostic tests.

They also identified rare but dangerous viruses, including Human T-Lymphotropic Virus-1 (HTLV-1), which can remain dormant in the body and later contribute to cancer development.

Microbes linked to survival and treatment response

The findings suggest that microbes may do more than simply exist alongside cancer. In some cases, they appear to be linked to how patients fare.

“We found that certain types of bacteria were associated with poorer survival rates in some cases of sarcoma. This might lead to additional research and treatment options for these types of cancer,” said Dr. Gihawi.

“One of the most exciting things we found was that in some sarcoma cases, the presence of specific bacteria was linked to better survival rates.

“This suggests that microbes might one day help doctors predict how well a patient will respond to treatment and open up new approaches to treatment,” he added.

Whole genome sequencing as a clinical tool

Experts say the work highlights the growing importance of genome sequencing in modern medicine.

Prof Daniel Brewer, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “This study highlights the growing clinical value of whole genome sequencing in identifying pathogenic organisms such as HTLV-1 and papillomavirus, which may otherwise go undetected.

“By revealing these hidden infections and providing insight into cancer prognosis — particularly in sarcomas — it demonstrates how genomic analysis is becoming an indispensable tool in precision medicine.

“The findings also suggest that oral cancer, in some cases, may be a close diagnostic consideration, further emphasizing the importance of comprehensive genomic profiling in clinical decision-making.”

Collaboration and funding

The project was led by UEA and involved researchers from multiple institutions, including the University of Leeds, the Quadram Institute, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, the Institute of Cancer Research, London, the University of Manchester, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, the University of Athens (Greece) the University of Liverpool, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University College London, the University of Southampton, the University of North Carolina (US) and the Earlham Institute.

Funding for the study was provided by the Big C Cancer Charity and Prostate Cancer UK.

Named Cryptotermes mobydicki, the termite was described by an international research team led by a University of Florida scientist. It features a long, rounded head and mandibles that are mostly hidden from view. Its shape closely resembles a sperm whale, the famous marine animal from Herman Melville’s novel, which inspired its name.

“This termite is unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” said Rudolf Scheffrahn, professor of entomology at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).

Whale-Like Head Shape Surprises Scientists

According to Scheffrahn, the insect’s appearance was so unusual that researchers initially believed they might be looking at an entirely new genus. His taxonomic research is based at the UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center.

“The lateral view of the soldier’s frontal prominence and elongated head resembles the head of a sperm whale, and in both organisms, the mandibles are eclipsed by the head,” he said. “The whale’s eye and soldier’s antennal socket are comparatively positioned. After I noticed the resemblance to a sperm whale, my coauthors thought the name to be appropriate and whimsical, much like ‘ghost orchid’ or ‘Dumbo octopus.'”

New Species Adds to Termite Evolution Puzzle

This discovery brings the number of known Cryptotermes species in South America to 16. Genetic analysis shows that Cryptotermes mobydicki is closely related to other species found across the Neotropics, including populations in Colombia, Trinidad and the Dominican Republic. These findings provide new insight into how this group of termites has evolved and spread.

The colony was located inside a dead tree standing about eight meters above the forest floor. Its unusual body structure highlights just how diverse termite species can be and points to how many organisms in tropical environments remain undocumented.

Biodiversity Gains and No Threat to Homes

“The discovery of this distinctive new termite species underscores the vast number of unnamed organisms yet to be discovered on our planet,” said Scheffrahn.

Each new species adds to scientists’ understanding of biodiversity, especially in groups like termites, which include only about 3,000 known species worldwide.

There is also reassuring news for Florida property owners. As a drywood termite, Cryptotermes mobydicki does not pose a risk to buildings or trade. Unlike invasive termites that damage structures in parts of the southeastern United States, this species is limited to its native rainforest habitat and does not spread beyond it.

“Until now, no clinical trial had tested a treatment for shift work disorder in early-morning shift workers, even though this is the most common type of shift schedule,” said senior author Charles A. Czeisler, PhD, MD, chief and senior physician of the Division of Sleep and Circadian Medicine in the Mass General Brigham Department of Medicine. “This study addresses a major gap by focusing on the workers who start their day when most people are still asleep.”

Why Early Shifts Disrupt the Body’s Clock

Roughly one in four workers operates outside the standard 9 to 5 schedule, including those who begin work very early in the morning. Many people with these schedules do not consider themselves shift workers and instead see their routine as simply starting the day earlier than usual. However, they may still face a high risk of shift work disorder, which involves disrupted sleep patterns and persistent daytime sleepiness.

“People who start work between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. are waking up at a time when the brain is biologically programmed to sleep. That makes staying alert extraordinarily difficult, even when they are highly motivated,” said first author Kirsi-Marja Zitting, PhD, an investigator with the Division of Sleep and Circadian Medicine in the Mass General Brigham Department of Medicine. “They are often dealing with a double burden — excessive sleepiness during work hours and difficulty sleeping enough when they have the chance to rest.”

Health and Safety Risks of Shift Work Disorder

Shift work disorder is linked to a range of serious concerns, including reduced mental sharpness, lower productivity, increased risk of car accidents, and more workplace injuries. Medications such as modafinil are sometimes used to promote wakefulness, but these drugs have mainly been studied in overnight workers and can interfere with sleep later in the day.

Solriamfetol, the drug evaluated in this study, is already approved for treating excessive sleepiness in people with obstructive sleep apnea and narcolepsy. Researchers considered it a promising option because it can promote alertness for extended periods without significantly disrupting later sleep.

Clinical Trial Shows Improved Alertness and Performance

The study included 78 early morning shift workers diagnosed with shift work disorder. Participants were randomly assigned to take either solriamfetol or a placebo on workdays over a four-week period. Researchers assessed their ability to stay awake in a controlled, low-stimulation setting during hours that matched their typical work schedule. Participants also reported on their daily functioning and met regularly with clinicians.

After four weeks, those who received solriamfetol showed clear improvements. They were less sleepy and could remain awake longer during simulated work hours. Both participants and their doctors noted better overall functioning, improved work performance, and greater ability to manage daily tasks.

“The improvement we saw is clinically meaningful. These workers were able to stay awake and alert throughout a full eight-hour shift, which has real implications for performance, safety, and quality of life,” Czeisler said. “Shift workers are essential to how our society functions, yet they often pay a hidden biological cost. This study shows we can do better for them.”

More Research Needed on Long-Term Effects

The researchers emphasized that early morning shift workers have not been widely studied, and the current trial lasted only four weeks and included otherwise healthy adults. More research will be needed to understand the long-term effects of the treatment. The team is now enrolling participants for a follow-up clinical trial to study solriamfetol in overnight shift workers, which could help support broader approval for treating shift work disorder.

In addition to Zitting and Czeisler, Mass General Brigham authors include Katherine R. Gilmore, Brandon J. Lockyer, Wei Wang, Nicolas C. Issa, Stuart F. Quan, Jonathan S. Williams, and Jeanne F. Duffy. Additional authors include Eileen B. Leary.

Funded by Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Axsome Therapeutics, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center for Clinical Investigation; NCT04788953(2021-03-09) https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04788953

Bennu is known as a carbonaceous asteroid, meaning it is rich in carbon-based material, including organic compounds. These compounds are important because they are similar to the chemical ingredients needed for life. The asteroid itself is made up of fragments from a much larger parent body that broke apart long ago. Because Bennu orbits relatively close to Earth, it became a prime target for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.

Pristine Samples From the Early Solar System

One of the most valuable aspects of Bennu samples is that they have remained untouched by Earth’s atmosphere and environment. This makes them especially useful for scientists studying conditions in the early Solar System. By examining these samples, researchers can see how water, minerals, and organic matter originally formed and interacted billions of years ago.

In this study, Mehmet Yesiltas and his team focused on a specific sample labeled OREX-800066-3. This material was collected directly from Bennu by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and returned to Earth in September 2023. Because the sample was carefully sealed and protected, it provides a rare and reliable record of Bennu’s original chemistry.

Studying Bennu at the Nanoscale

To investigate the sample, the researchers used advanced techniques called nanoscale infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. These methods allow scientists to identify chemical compounds by measuring how they interact with light. Importantly, they can do this at extremely small scales, down to about 20 nanometers. For comparison, a nanometer is one billionth of a meter, far smaller than anything visible to the human eye.

This level of detail revealed that Bennu’s internal chemistry is not uniform. Instead, the material forms three repeating types of organic-mineral regions, each with its own distinct composition.

Three Distinct Chemical Domains

The study identified three main types of regions within the sample. One type contains high amounts of aliphatic organic compounds, which are simple carbon-based molecules made of chains of carbon and hydrogen. Another region is rich in carbonate minerals, which often form in the presence of water and can provide clues about past watery environments. The third region contains organic compounds that include nitrogen, an element that plays a key role in biological molecules such as amino acids.

These differences show that Bennu’s chemistry varies significantly from place to place, even at extremely small scales.

Water’s Uneven Impact on Bennu

The uneven distribution of these chemical regions suggests that water did not affect Bennu in a single, uniform way. Instead, liquid water likely interacted with different parts of the asteroid under varying conditions, creating a patchwork of chemical environments. This process is known as nanoscale heterogeneity, meaning that the composition changes depending on the exact location being studied.

Despite this history of water interaction, the researchers found that fragile organic molecules were still preserved. This is an important discovery because it shows that key chemical ingredients can survive even when exposed to water-related changes.

Insights Into the Origins of Life’s Ingredients

Overall, the findings provide new insight into how water, minerals, and organic matter interacted on primitive asteroids like Bennu. These interactions are thought to have played a major role in shaping the early Solar System and may have contributed to the delivery of life’s building blocks to Earth.

By studying Bennu at such a fine scale, scientists are gaining a clearer picture of how complex chemistry developed in space long before planets like ours fully formed.

The research, published in the journal Advanced Materials, introduces a scalable method for producing these nanoscrolls from MXene precursors while precisely controlling their shape and chemical composition.

“Two-dimensional morphology is very important in many applications. However, there are applications where 1D morphology is superior,” said Yury Gogotsi, PhD, Distinguished University and Bach professor in Drexel’s College of Engineering, who was a corresponding author of the paper. “It’s like comparing steel sheets to metal pipes or rebar. One needs sheets to make car bodies, but to pump water or reinforce concrete, long tubes or rods are needed.”

From Flat Sheets to Tubular Nanostructures

The team created the nanoscrolls by rolling flat MXene flakes into tiny tubular structures that are about ten thousand times thinner than a water pipe. These tube-like materials can strengthen polymers and metals or guide the movement of ions in batteries and desalination systems with far less resistance.

“With standard 2D MXenes, the flakes lay flat on top of each other, which creates a confined-space and a difficult path for ions or molecules to navigate and move between the layers,” said Teng Zhang, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the College of Engineering and co-author of the study. “By converting 2D nanosheets into 1D scrolls, we prevent this nano-confinement effect. The open, tubular geometry effectively creates ‘highways’ for rapid transport, allowing ions to move freely.”

While similar structures made from graphene, such as carbon nanotubes, are already well known, producing consistent, high-quality MXene nanoscrolls has been difficult. MXenes offer advantages over graphene, including richer chemistry, easier processing, and higher conductivity, but earlier attempts to form scrolls often led to uneven results.

Scalable Method for Producing MXene Nanoscrolls

To make the nanoscrolls, researchers start with multilayer MXene flakes. By carefully adjusting the chemical environment, they use water to change the surface chemistry of the material. This triggers a structural imbalance called a Janus reaction, which creates internal strain within the layers. As this strain is released, the layers peel apart and curl into tight scrolls.

The team successfully applied this method to six types of MXenes, including two forms of titanium carbide, as well as niobium carbide, vanadium carbide, tantalum carbide, and titanium carbonitride. They were able to consistently produce 10 grams of nanoscrolls with controlled chemical and physical properties.

Improved Conductivity and Sensing Capabilities

The scroll-like structure not only improves electrical conductivity and mechanical strength, but also changes how the material interacts with molecules. This makes it especially promising for sensing applications and advanced composite materials.

“In a standard stacked 2D structure, the active sites for molecular adsorption are often hidden between layers, making it difficult for molecules, especially large biomolecules to reach them,” Gogotsi said. “The open, hollow structure of the scroll solves this by allowing the analytes easy access to the MXene surface. Combining with the material’s high conductivity and mechanical stiffness, this ensures we get a strong, stable signal. Thus, we envision the use of scrolls in biosensing. The same accessible surface of conductive scrolls may be useful for gas sensors, electrochemical capacitors and other devices that require access of ions and molecules to the surfaces.”

Applications in Wearable Electronics and Smart Textiles

The researchers also see strong potential for MXene nanoscrolls in wearable electronics, also known as ionotronic devices. In these systems, the scrolls could both reinforce materials and improve conductivity. Their rigid structure allows them to anchor within soft polymers, adding strength while maintaining a reliable conductive network.

This combination could lead to stretchable materials that continue to function even under repeated bending and movement.

The team also discovered that the orientation of nanoscrolls in solution can be controlled using an electric field. This means they can be aligned with fibers in textiles, creating more durable and conductive coatings for smart fabrics.

“Imagine manipulating millions of tubules 100 times thinner than a human hair to make them build a wire or stand up vertically to make a brush,” Zhang said. “This is real nanotechnology, as we can manipulate matter at the nanoscale. It is also a critical development for functional textiles, as the scrolls could be incorporated as reinforcement materials in synthetic fibers.”

Superconductivity and Future Quantum Applications

Looking ahead, the researchers plan to further investigate how these nanoscrolls behave at the quantum level, particularly their potential for superconductivity.

“Until now, superconductivity in this class of MXenes was limited to pressed pellets of particles and powders, having never been realized in solution-processed films with mechanical flexibility,” Gogotsi said. “By using niobium carbide scrolls, we observed the change of the material enough to enable superconductivity in free-standing, macroscopic films for the first time. The scrolling process introduces specific lattice strain and curvature that are absent in flat sheets. While the exact physical mechanism is still being explored, we hypothesize that this strain, combined with the continuous 1D structure, stabilizes the superconducting state.”

As interest in quantum materials grows, nanomaterials like MXenes are gaining attention for their ability to improve computing power and data storage. This work marks an important step forward by turning MXene superconductivity into a more practical and usable property.

“Using the methods described in this paper, we can now process superconducting MXenes into flexible films, coatings or wires at room temperature for potential superconducting interconnectors or quantum sensors,” Zhang said. “We expect many other interesting phenomena caused by scrolling and are going to study them.”