Springer Nature

In this episode, Geoff speaks to Early Career Investigators, Dr. Caroline Kelsey from the University of Illinois. They discuss her recent paper, 'Bidirectional relations between the maternal and infant gut microbiome and behaviour'.

In this episode, Geoff speaks to Early Career Investigators, Dr. Caroline Kelsey from the University of Illinois. They discuss her recent paper, 'Bidirectional relations between the maternal and infant gut microbiome and behaviour'.

A team from universities in Connecticut tell us about their use of pangenomes to examine the status of mink populations in Florida, and an innovative programme that's training the next generation of researchers.

In this episode, Geoff speaks to Professor Clifford Bogue who was President of the American Pediatric Society between 2024 and 2025, during which time the APS Issue of the Year centred on firearm-related injuries and deaths in children and adolescents.

There are a number of theories that have been studied to try to explain addiction and drug use escalation, and thus to also create animal models of that behavior that can then serve to help develop treatments. One theory for escalation is that people feel worse and worse over time and so they take the drug to feel better. Another is that they just don’t get as much of a reaction to the drug and so need more and more of it to get the euphoria. And then there’s something called incentive salience, which is a craving for the drug.

Read the full study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-026-02350-0

Genetics Society Vice President Jonathan Pettitt discusses what Heredity's publication revenue is used for, and the scientific community benefits of publishing in society journals.

The Student Paper Prize for 2025 was won by Eléonore Lavanchy. Eléonore discusses her work, the winning paper and inbreeding in European Barn Owls.

This episode features a conversation with Professor Alistair Gunn at the University of Aukland, about his pivotal role in the preclinical development of therapeutic hypothermia as a treatment for hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy and its subsequent translation into routine care.

Episode 2/2 from the 59th Popgroup meeting in Lille. Plenary speakers Claire Mérot and Denis Roze discuss their experience of the conference and the content of their talks.

Oxytocin has become known for having anti-anxiety and affiliative behavioral effects. That’s why clinicians and researchers are excited about using oxytocin as a potential therapeutic.

Brian Trainor is a professor at UC Davis, and his lab has been studying this complexity for the past decade. For an animal model, they work with a territorial, aggressive, monogamous rodent species called California mice. If the male is removed and the female is forced to defend their nest, she will experience what’s known as social defeat, and she will exhibit what’s called inhibited affiliative behavior, the type that can be affected by oxytocin — and this effect can be studied in a mouse’s brain.

Read the full study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-026-02352-y