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scBaseCount: An AI agent-curated, standardized, auto-updated single-cell data repository scBaseCount is presently the largest public single-cell RNA-seq repository, containing over 502 million cells across 27 organisms and 75 tissues. An AI agent autonomously discovers, annotates, and uniformly reprocesses all 10× Genomics datasets in the SRA, creating a harmonized, continually updated resource for studying the diversity of cell biology and training AI models. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00998-0?rss=yes cell.com
Changing minds: How AI is transforming the life sciences Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way biomedical research is conducted by making it possible to integrate diverse types of biological data and tackle questions that were previously difficult to address. At the same time, its growing use also raises important questions about data quality, reliability, interpretability, and how computational predictions should be combined with biological knowledge and experimental validation. In this Voices piece, researchers from diverse disciplines share their perspectives on how AI is advancing their respective fields and highlight both the transformative opportunities and the key challenges that will shape the future of the life sciences. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00946-3?rss=yes cell.com
Tahoe-100M: Mapping drug-induced molecular phenotypes at single-cell resolution Tahoe-100M is an atlas of 100 million single-cell transcriptomes, capturing how 50 cancer cell lines respond to ∼1,100 drug-dose treatments. By pairing single-cell and molecular phenotypes at scale, the resource links drug mechanisms to cellular responses and provides an openly available substrate for training predictive models of cell behavior. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)01008-1?rss=yes cell.com
Avoiding common failures in AI for health and medicine Salaudeen et al. review common reliability failures in predictive and generative AI for healthcare, including erroneous model outputs, clinically unjustified performance differences, and deployment-time degradation. They examine why existing technical solutions fall short and argue for lifecycle-aware evaluation, continuous monitoring, and institutional governance. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00823-8?rss=yes cell.com
Evolving Cell with evolving science I know what you think about papers in Cell. They are long. Mechanistic. “Complete.” They report deep biological insights. I know this because I hear it a lot from researchers. There is truth to it. Cell has published thousands of papers that fit these descriptors, and we will continue to. They have incredible value. But we don’t publish papers in Cell because they are long and mechanistic. We publish them because they are exciting. Cool. Awe-inspiring. We publish them because we think they provide something that our readers will want to learn about and will benefit from. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)01013-5?rss=yes cell.com
An open benchmark and language models for AI in aging biology LongevityBench, Longevity-LLMs, and Longevity Claw evaluate the readiness of the state-of-the-art AI systems for spearheading aging research. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00999-2?rss=yes cell.com
A world model of the virtual cell The virtual cell is envisioned as a multi-modal, multi-scale, and stateful world model that can simulate, perturb, and ultimately program cellular systems. This perspective outlines how this paradigm could transform cell biology from experimental trial-and-error toward simulation-driven discovery, counterfactual exploration, and rational intervention design. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)01015-9?rss=yes cell.com
World models for biomedicine Biological processes continuously adapt in response to intervention. Unlike static predictive models, biomedical world models support action-conditioned simulations for counterfactual reasoning, intervention design, and sequential planning. This perspective defines the key properties of biomedical world models and discusses the data, modeling, and evaluation challenges required to build them across biological and clinical scales. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)01005-6?rss=yes cell.com
4D spatiotemporal landscape of mitochondrial phenotypes across cellular states unlocked through representation learning Agarwal et al. introduce MitoSpace, a self-supervised model trained on 4D lattice light-sheet microscopy data. The model resolves drug-induced mitochondrial phenotypes without labels, predicts membrane potential from morphology and dynamics, generalizes to unseen perturbations and lung organoids, and shows that representation quality improves progressively from 2D to 4D. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)01001-9?rss=yes cell.com
The organization of visual pathways in the Drosophila brain Tracing visual signals through the fly connectome provides a brain-wide view of visual organization, linking visual inputs to more than half of central-brain cell types through multisynaptic pathways. Estimates of the information available to each type generate testable hypotheses for thousands of physiologically uncharacterized cell types. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00941-4?rss=yes cell.com
The regulatory logic linking inflammation and fibrosis Fibrosis is a major contributor to disease and mortality yet lacks effective therapies. This review proposes that fibrotic states are maintained by chromatin-regulated circuits in fibroblasts and macrophages shaped by immune-stromal crosstalk and that rewiring this upstream regulatory logic offers a path beyond current antifibrotic approaches. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00928-1?rss=yes cell.com
Genomics and social practices at Mogou and other Gansu sites during prehistoric trans-Eurasian exchange Ancient DNA from 149 individuals at 11 sites in Gansu, China, dated to around 4,700–3,000 years ago, reveals human population history during early transcontinental exchanges of agriculture and technology, as well as contemporary social practices, at the large Mogou cemetery. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00919-0?rss=yes cell.com
J. Michael Bishop: A remembrance—Not a hagiography It is with no small measure of sadness that we reflect on the life of Professor J. Michael Bishop, who passed away in March at age 90. Mike was a towering figure in biomedical science whose scientific leadership and discoveries had enormous and lasting impact on the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)—his home institution for over 50 years—and on the biomedical sciences nationally and internationally. Indeed, Mike and Harold Varmus’ 1976 co-discovery of the cellular origins of the avian retroviral oncogene v-Src reshaped our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of cancer and led to safe and effective treatment strategies for numerous human malignancies. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00925-6?rss=yes cell.com
The complete gustatory connectome of adult Drosophila reveals how taste guides feeding, foraging, and social behavior The complete gustatory system and the full set of feeding motor neurons of adult Drosophila are mapped at synaptic resolution, enabling the identification of taste neuron types and their likely tastants and showing how valence-specific circuit motifs route taste to generate distinct feeding, neuroendocrine, and social outputs. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00943-8?rss=yes cell.com
Enteric glial serotonin signaling drives anti-tumor immunity in colorectal cancer Peripheral serotonergic signaling has been implicated in diverse physiological processes, yet its role in coordinating glial-immune interactions remains poorly understood. In this issue of Cell, Wen and colleagues identify enteric glial cells as critical effectors of peripheral 5-HT2AR agonism, uncovering a serotonergic neuroimmune circuit that drives cytotoxic T cell-mediated immunity against colorectal cancer. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00935-9?rss=yes cell.com
Metabolite buffering of labile iron governs ferroptosis Iron abundance alone does not determine ferroptosis sensitivity. In this issue of Cell, Sharma and colleagues identify polyamines as endogenous metabolic buffers that reduce the chemical accessibility of labile iron, revealing an unexpected function for one of the cell’s most abundant metabolite classes while raising new questions about the organization of intracellular iron metabolism. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00869-X?rss=yes cell.com
Sexual dimorphism in the complete Drosophila male central nervous system connectome The Drosophila whole male central nervous system connectome enables end-to-end analysis of sensorimotor circuits. Comparison with existing female datasets shows that brain-wide wiring differences between the sexes are concentrated in higher centers. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00942-6?rss=yes cell.com
Predicting cellular responses to perturbation across diverse contexts with State Modeling perturbation effects across large single-cell populations requires flexibility to capture heterogeneity. By training over sets of cells in a shared embedding space, State outperforms baselines at generalizing effects to new contexts. Cell-Eval, the framework used for this comparison, provides a comprehensive benchmark for future models. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00921-9?rss=yes cell.com
Virtual Cell Challenge 2026: Benchmarking zero-shot generalization across cellular contexts The Virtual Cell Challenge returns in 2026 with a more demanding test of biological generalization: zero-shot prediction across multiple independent cellular contexts. Participants will build models to predict gene knockdown responses in a new Arc-generated dataset comprising unseen cell lines. The goal is to determine whether the best models can meaningfully close the gap between preclinical experimental predictions and human biology. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00931-1?rss=yes cell.com
Lymphatic vessels invade bone in disease but are absent in health and regeneration Multiple lines of evidence argue against the presence of LECs inside bone during homeostasis or repair after injury, in contrast to a previous study published in Cell (Biswas et al. 2023). Instead, LECs actively invade bone in disease models of GLA/GSD. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00639-2?rss=yes cell.com
Modern science outreach: A guide for scientists This paper outlines six actionable practices to help scientists effectively reach and engage broad audiences, with a focus on leveraging modern media and emerging dissemination channels. We encourage scientists at all levels and across disciplines to implement these strategies to engage broad audiences and contribute positively to public discourse. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00812-3?rss=yes cell.com
Neurodegeneration as a dysregulation of neuroimmune crosstalk This perspective provides an overview of the growing literature on the role of the immune system in driving neurodegeneration and argues that restoring neuroimmune dialogue, rather than simply clearing protein aggregates, is the next frontier for therapeutic development. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00813-5?rss=yes cell.com
Protein condensate as a plant sunscreen Plant photosynthesis generates singlet oxygen (1O2), a powerful oxidant that can inhibit photosynthesis in return. In this issue of Cell, Shao et al. demonstrate that a small zinc-finger protein, MBS1, via 1O2-induced oxidation and consequent condensate formation on the chloroplast surface, can screen light penetration into chloroplast and confer photoprotection of plants under high light stresses. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00868-8?rss=yes cell.com
Cuproptosis enters the cancer-immunity circuit In this issue of Cell, Lei et al. reveal a reciprocal circuit in which cuproptotic tumor cells promote dendritic cell activation and CD8⁺ T cell priming, whereas T cell-derived IFN-γ sensitizes tumor cells to FDX1-dependent cuproptosis. This self-reinforcing interaction provides a mechanistic rationale for combining cuproptosis induction with PD-L1 blockade to overcome immunotherapy resistance. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00874-3?rss=yes cell.com
Multimodal evidence for bone lymphatics in skeletal health and repair Spatial transcriptomics, single-cell transcriptomics, and high-resolution imaging support bone lymphatics as integral components of the skeletal microenvironment and provide a framework for resolving their identity and detection. This paper is a response to the Matters Arising article by Meng et al. in this issue of Cell. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00746-4?rss=yes cell.com
Synthetic transcription factors designed by domain recombination enhance CAR T cell antitumor function Recombining domains across an entire protein family, rather than relying on natural sequences shaped by evolution, generates synthetic “DESynR” transcription factors with enhanced function. DESynR AP-1 TFs reprogram CAR T cells into non-natural, therapeutically optimized states and outperform natural AP-1 factors in antitumor immunity. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00923-2?rss=yes cell.com
Sequencing-free whole-genome spatial transcriptomics at single-molecule resolution (Cell 188, 6953–6970.e1–e8; November 26, 2025) https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00948-7?rss=yes cell.com
Fifteen challenges for generative AI applications to cell biology Drawing inspiration from Hilbert’s list of 23 mathematical problems that have focused the mathematical community’s attention for more than a century, we propose fifteen grand AI challenges to focus the biomedical community’s attention on critically relevant questions, most of which still lack effective predictive methodologies. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00802-0?rss=yes cell.com
Polyamines buffer labile iron to suppress ferroptosis Polyamines buffer labile iron, restraining its reactivity to suppress ferroptosis. Their depletion raises labile iron and creates synthetic lethality with GPX4 loss, revealing polyamine metabolism as an endogenous regulator of iron homeostasis. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00872-X?rss=yes cell.com
Trans-regulatory gene mapping prioritizes disease drivers in asthma DANDELION is a causal mediation-inspired framework enabling the identification of disease-driving genes missed by existing approaches. Applied to asthma, DANDELION prioritizes two protein palmitoylation enzymes, revealing a therapeutically tractable pathway that is an important and previously unexplored mechanism underlying asthma pathogenesis. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00866-4?rss=yes cell.com
Hierarchical and context-dependent encoding of actions in human posterior parietal and motor cortex Interpreting others' actions is widely thought to rely on mirroring, yet direct neurophysiological evidence in humans remains scarce. Using single-neuron recordings from motor and posterior parietal cortex in tetraplegic participants, this study reveals hierarchical, context-dependent action coding: motor cortex encodes intentions, while posterior parietal cortex links observed actions to goals. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00864-0?rss=yes cell.com
Breathing new life into the rational design of Alzheimer’s therapeutics (Cell 184, 296-298; January 21, 2021) https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00915-3?rss=yes cell.com
Reshaping Antibody Diversity (Cell 153, 1379–1393; June 6, 2013) https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00916-5?rss=yes cell.com
Pangenome-guided breeding restores high-altitude adaptation and improves yield in Tartary buckwheat A Tartary buckwheat pangenome is constructed, allowing identification of the wild-specific gene FtRNH conferring high-altitude adaptation, as well as FtPLATZ structural variants controlling seed size. By combining these superior alleles, buckwheat lines are developed with enhanced high-altitude adaptability and improved field yields. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00867-6?rss=yes cell.com
The sex and reproductive plasticity of intestinal muscles instruct gut size Adult intestinal size plasticity is driven not only by epithelial stem cells but also by remodeling of the surrounding visceral musculature. Sex- and reproduction-dependent muscle remodeling controls gut size and transit, revealing the intestinal muscle as an active regulator of adult organ adaptation. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00822-6?rss=yes cell.com
Why studying females reveals more about aging: The reproductive resilience hypothesis for the evolution of sex-specific aging Why do females often outlive males despite greater reproductive investment? The reproductive resilience hypothesis proposes that when reproductive success depends on prolonged survival and caregiving, evolution couples reproduction to somatic maintenance. Loss of reproductive resilience is proposed as a sex-specific hallmark of aging that drives age-related changes and disease vulnerability. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00811-1?rss=yes cell.com
A complete diploid human genome benchmark for personalized genomics A complete, near-perfect diploid assembly of the HG002 benchmark provides a ground truth for the entire genome rather than a subset of variants. This fully annotated genome benchmark enables quality assessments in previously excluded regions and supports a transition toward the routine sequencing of complete, personalized genomes. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00703-8?rss=yes cell.com
Reverse transcriptases challenge the central dogma of biology, again In this issue of Cell, Wang et al. reveal the mechanism of a bacterial antiphage system that contains two reverse transcriptases. Through an unprecedented process, the enzymes synthesize double-stranded DNA; one uses a noncoding RNA template and the other uses its amino acid residues to template and prime DNA synthesis. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00828-7?rss=yes cell.com
Complex subtelomeric architectures in a complete rhesus macaque reference genome A complete and near-perfect rhesus macaque reference genome, enabled by technological improvements, resolves complex subtelomeric architecture and reveals novel repeats, genes, and regulatory elements that were previously inaccessible. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00225-4?rss=yes cell.com
Human acrocentric chromosome short-arm de novo mutation and recombination Analysis of haplotype-resolved human acrocentric chromosomes across four generations reveals unique patterns of allelic recombination, mutation signatures, and an elevated mutation rate. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00635-5?rss=yes cell.com
A complete genome for the common marmoset The common marmoset is a key primate model for human disease, yet large regions of its genome have remained unresolved until now. A complete, end-to-end assembly reveals centromere organization, a ribosomal-DNA-driven mechanism of cross-chromosome recombination, and over 500 previously unknown marmoset-specific genes, advancing our understanding of primate genome evolution. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00815-9?rss=yes cell.com
Structure-based design of non-hypertrophic apelin receptor modulator (Cell 187, 1460–1475.e1–e8; March 14, 2024) https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00918-9?rss=yes cell.com
The complete genome of a songbird A phased diploid telomere-to-telomere reference genome for the zebra finch fully resolves its complete somatic chromosome set, recovering 2,710 previously missing or unannotated genes. The assembly also reveals distinctive dot chromosome and pseudoautosomal region architecture, along with evidence for a CENP-B-like centromere system in birds. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00816-0?rss=yes cell.com
Filling the holes in whole genomes: A vision for personalized genomics from telomere to telomere Two decades after the Human Genome Project, we finally have the ability to read the complete genome of any human and (nearly) any species. These sequences provide the ideal foundation for training predictive models of the genome that will accelerate basic research, enable accurate diagnostics, and guide precision medicine. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00817-2?rss=yes cell.com
Spatial biology reveals altered macrophage states in immunosuppressed non-melanoma skin cancer Spatial multi-omics reveals macrophage states that constrain adaptive immunity in immunosuppressed non-melanoma skin cancer. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00863-9?rss=yes cell.com
Distinct cellular phenotypes of language and executive decline in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Beyond its motor dimension, ALS can also involve cognitive impairment, with affected domains varying across individuals. Rather than a single common disease process, this heterogeneity reflects regionally and cellularly distinct alterations in the prefrontal cortex that are only partially predicted by TDP-43 neuropathology. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00806-8?rss=yes cell.com
Targeting peripheral 5-HT2AR enhances antitumor immunity in colorectal cancer By selectively targeting peripheral 5-HT2AR without inducing psychedelic effects, a non-brain-penetrant agonist boosts antitumor CD8+ T cell immunity and improves immunotherapy responses in preclinical models of colorectal cancer. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00826-3?rss=yes cell.com
Spatial atlas of the human brain vasculature reveals specialized cell ensembles An integrative cell and spatial atlas defines the organizing logic of the adult human cerebrovasculature, providing a framework for studying how vascular cell states support brain function and shape neurological disease vulnerability. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00805-6?rss=yes cell.com
Basement membrane turnover controls cell shape Basement membranes are scaffolds of proteins, like collagen, that give organs shape. During development, basement membranes must adapt to the growing organ. We infer how fast the basement membrane adapts by measuring collagen turnover. We find that perlecan, another basement membrane protein, regulates collagen turnover to control organ shape. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00808-1?rss=yes cell.com
Dietary arginine drives codon-dependent MHC class I translation and improves immunity in colon tumorigenesis and respiratory viral infection Arginine availability regulates arginyl tRNA levels and codon-dependent translation of MHC class I, tuning antigen presentation and shaping anti-viral and anti-tumor immunity. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00818-4?rss=yes cell.com
