Fixate on the cross and you will see the moving grey circle become purple. Credit: Communications Psychology (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s44271-025-00331-5

Rabies research unlocks how viruses do so much with so few proteins

New antivirals and vaccines could follow the discovery by  researchers of strategies used by viruses to control our cells. Published in Nature Communications, the study reveals how rabies virus manipulates so many cellular processes despite being armed with only a few proteins.

Researchers think other dangerous viruses like Nipah and Ebola may also work the same way, possibly enabling the development of antivirals or vaccines to block these actions.

Viruses such as rabies can be incredibly lethal because they take control of many aspects of life inside the cells they infect.  They hijack the machinery that makes proteins, disrupt the 'postal service' that sends messages between different parts of the cell, and disable the defenses that normally protect us from infection.

A major question for scientists has been: how do viruses achieve this with so few genes? Rabies virus, for example, has the genetic material to make only five proteins, compared with about 20,000 in a human cell.

Understanding how these few viral proteins performed so many tasks could unlock new ways to stop infection.

Scientists now discovered that one of the rabies virus's key proteins, called P protein, gains a remarkable range of functions through its ability to change shape and to bind to RNA.

RNA is the same molecule used in new-generation RNA vaccines, but it plays essential roles inside our cells, carrying genetic messages, coordinating immune responses, and helping make the building blocks of life.

 By targeting RNA systems, the viral P protein could switch between different physical "phases" inside the cell. This allows it to infiltrate many of the cell's liquid-like compartments, take control of vital processes, and turn the cell into a highly efficient virus factory.

Although this study focused on rabies, the same strategy is likely used by other dangerous viruses such as Nipah and Ebola. Understanding this new mechanism opens exciting possibilities for developing antivirals or vaccines that block this remarkable adaptability.

 Stephen M. Rawlinson et al, Conformational dynamics, RNA binding, and phase separation regulate the multifunctionality of rabies virus P protein, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65223-y

Researchers discover an 'all-body brain' in sea urchins

An international team of researchers has uncovered a surprisingly complex nervous system in sea urchins. The animals appear to possess an "all-body brain" whose genetic organization resembles that of the vertebrate brain. The team also identified light-sensitive cells distributed across the entire body—comparable to structures found in the human retina.

Using state-of-the-art single-cell and gene expression analyses, the researchers mapped the cell types of young post-metamorphic sea urchins. They found that the adult body plan is largely "head-like."

The body is made entirely of head-like organs Genes that in other animals define trunk structures are active only in internal organs such as the gut and the water vascular system. In sea urchins, a true trunk region is missing altogether.

Most striking is the extraordinary diversity of neuronal cell types. Hundreds of different neurons express both echinoderm-specific "head" genes and highly conserved genes otherwise found in the vertebrate central nervous system. These findings suggest that sea urchins do not possess a simple decentralized nerve net, but rather an integrated, brain-like system that extends throughout the entire body.

The team also discovered numerous light-sensitive cells (photoreceptors) expressing different opsins—proteins that respond to light.
One particular cell type combines melanopsin and go-opsin, suggesting a complex ability to detect and process light stimuli, and hinting at a previously underestimated visual capacity. In addition, large parts of the sea urchin nervous system appear to be light-sensitive and may even be regulated by light cues.

The findings challenge long-standing assumptions about the simplicity of echinoderm nervous systems and open up new perspectives on how complex neural and visual systems can evolve—even in animals without a centralized brain or true eyes.

Periklis Paganos et al, Single-nucleus profiling highlights the all-brain echinoderm nervous system, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adx7753