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A joint team from GRC, Academia Sinica and NTUH achieved key breakthroughs in chronic hepatitis B research, publishing in Gut and Hepatology.

The issue contains 3 articles and 1 book review.

The newest issue of Academia Economic Papers has been published. Articles in this issue include:

Rad51 and meiosis-specific Dmc1 catalyze homologous recombination (HR) between maternal and paternal chromosomes during meiosis in many sexual eukaryotes, generating three interhomolog (IH) recombination products: non-crossovers (NCOs), class I interference-sensitive crossovers (COs), and class II non-interfering COs.

The DExD/H-box RNA helicase Prp22 catalyzes mRNA release from the spliceosome, and has also been implicated in proofreading the 3’ splice site, preventing exon ligation of mutant pre-mRNAs. We unveil an unexpected role for Prp22 in promoting exon ligation of both wild-type and mutant pre-mRNAs by stabilizing Slu7’s association with the. Notably, ATP binding, rather than hydrolysis, by Prp22 inhibits exon ligation.

Narrowband UVB (UVB) phototherapy is a standard clinical treatment for psoriasis and other inflammatory skin diseases, yet its immunoregulatory mechanisms have long remained unclear. A research team led by Dr. Yungling Leo Lee at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, in collaboration with the Departments of Dermatology at National Taiwan University Hospital and Shuang Ho Hospital, conducted an in-depth analysis of immune changes in psoriasis patients before and after phototherapy using single-cell sequencing and mass cytometry (CyTOF). The findings were further validated in mouse models of antigen-induced skin inflammation and allogeneic skin transplantation.

We live in a world full with life. The health and resilience of our ecosystems depend on their ability to perform multiple critical functions, such as mediating the nutrient cycles and toxin decomposition. However, have you ever wondered how nature keeps functioning in the face of climate change and environmental disruptions?

The newest issue of Disquisitions on the Past & Present has been published by the Institute of History and Philology. Articles in this issue (Vol. 44) include:

Bilaterally symmetrical animals are those with body structures exhibiting left–right symmetry, including species such as fruit flies, nematodes, and zebrafish. Despite this symmetry, their body plans vary significantly, with around 30 different animal phyla identified. A team led by Assistant Research Fellow Yi-Jyun Luo at the Biodiversity Research Center has analyzed chromosome-level genomes from 15 animal phyla, covering 54 classes. The study used a "rearrangement index" to quantify genome structural changes, finding that most bilaterian genomes have undergone extensive chromosomal rearrangements resulting from events such as fusion, fission, and translocation. In contrast, marine invertebrates such as sea urchins, amphioxus, and scallops exhibit relatively conserved genome structures, with little change over the past 500 million years.

The Bulletin of the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, Vol. 127 is now available

Journal of Social Sciences and Philosophy (Vol.37, No.2) has been published

The benefits to one's well-being due to nature contact have been addressed in various disciplines. The well-being benefits of enjoyment of nature elicited by exposure to natural environments, however, has received little research attention. A research team led by Dr. Pei-Shan Liao at the Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica, has explored the relationship between nature contact and subjective well-being (SWB) from a hedonic perspective, focusing on the often-overlooked role of enjoyment in natural settings. Using representative survey data combined with environmental data (e.g., weather and air quality), the study examines how both physical and perceptual (enjoyment-based) contact with nature relate to general happiness and life satisfaction. A two-stage estimation approach reveals that while enjoyment of nature is positively associated with SWB, physical contact with nature is not directly linked to SWB and may even negatively mediate the enjoyment–SWB relationship. The findings suggest that perceptual contact with nature is a more significant contributor to well-being than physical contact alone. The research has been published on May 10, 2025 in Journal of Environmental Psychology. The authors including Dr. Daigee Shaw and Dr. Le-Yu Chen (Institute of Economics), and Dr. Chuan-Yao Lin (Research Center for Environmental Changes).