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Research Topics

10 most viewed research topics in 2023.

This year, researchers explored a wide range of topics, including:

cancer combinational immunotherapy

COVID-19 research

the physiology of breathing during exercise

and the future of animal experimentation

With over 1.8 million views, the following Research Topics sought answers to your biggest research questions from 2023.

1 | Towards a New 3Rs Era in Experimental Research

36 articles │ 177,000 views

With the persisting need of animal experimentation for fundamental and applied research, the relevance and importance of the 3Rs Principle cannot be ignored. The 3Rs Principle of Replace, Reduce, Refine provides an essential framework for more humane animal experimentation in research.

This multi-disciplinary research review is a pan-European initiative supported by all EU 3R centers exploring the 3Rs Principle advances, challenges, and opportunities. The Research Topic draws upon multiple scientific disciplines, including biomedical, veterinary, biostatistical, biotechnology, and computer science, as well as perspectives from education, social, political, and ethical research in the 3Rs field.

2 | Combinational Immunotherapy of Cancer: Novel Targets, Mechanisms, and Strategies

84 articles │ 176,000 views

Cancer immunotherapy, including immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, has revolutionized the paradigm in cancer treatment. However, the clinical outcome of immunotherapy varies considerably among patients, and only a minority of patients achieve long-term clinical benefits.

This Research Topic gathers novel insights into the cancer immunity mechanisms, novel therapeutic targets, and effective combinational strategies of cancer immunotherapies. It also addresses the fundamental understanding of mechanisms underlying cancer immunotherapy and the therapeutic potential of novel combinational therapy.

3 | Breathing in Sport and Exercise: Physiology, Pathophysiology and Applications

37 articles │ 180,000 views

The respiratory system has long been considered overbuilt for exercise as it is usually not the limiting factor for maximal oxygen uptake. However, growing evidence suggests that ventilatory variables such as respiratory frequency (ƒR) especially are closely associated with perceived exertion and exercise tolerance in different populations and exercise conditions, with important implications for endurance physiology and performance.

This Research Topic advances our understanding of the physiology and pathophysiology of breathing during exercise to advance the field of respiratory monitoring in applied settings. It also bridges the gap between the physiology/pathophysiology of breathing and respiratory monitoring.

4 | Multidisciplinary COVID-19 research

91 articles │ 148,000 views

The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has seriously impacted mental and physical health worldwide. New and emerging solutions to global health threats posed by COVID-19 are urgently needed.

This second volume brings together scientists and clinicians in artificial intelligence, mathematics and statistics, neural science, neurorobotics, social sciences, computational biology, medical health care, psychiatry, and psychology to promote COVID-19 research and stimulate collaboration between researchers in these diverse fields.

5 | Sustainable Career Development in the Turbulent, Boundaryless and Internet Age

40 articles │ 115,000 views

Government’s social policies, such as school-to-work transitional regulations, and the extended retirement age, suggest that people today may face a different labor market situation, compared to other generations.

Career sustainability is a key issue, and it is particularly the case for vulnerable groups, such as the underemployed, (re) employment of laidoff workers, and those who strive to balance between work and personal life. Therefore, this research topic investigates the antecedents and outcomes of career sustainability in different social contexts.

6 | The Nobel collection, Volume 2 - Frontiers for Young Minds

10 articles │ 673,000 views

This second Volume of our unique Nobel Collection brings you more articles by Nobel Prize winners written specifically for young minds. These amazing research leaders explain their ground-breaking discoveries and how they achieved them, and also share their thoughts on making a career path in science with advice for becoming a successful researcher and having a happy life.

7 | Psychiatrization of society

17 articles │104,000 views

Worldwide, there have been consistently rising incidences of people classified as mentally ill, paired with increasing mental healthcare service utilization over the last decades. This process can be described as the psychiatrization of society.

Individuals or groups might well benefit from aspects of psychiatrization. Yet psychiatrization can be potentially harmful to individuals and to public healthcare, through overdiagnosis and overtreatment, the psychological burden of being labeled, and, in the Global North, exploding costs to meet the needs of the ‘worried well’.

This article collection seeks to theoretically and empirically assesses the causes, mechanisms, and effects of psychiatrization, as well to understand, prevent, and manage its negative aspects.

8 | Patterns, Functions, and Processes of Alpine Grassland Ecosystems under Global Change

76 articles │ 102,000 views

Alpine grassland ecosystems provide important ecological services and functions, such as biodiversity conservation, carbon storage, and water resource regulation, and critical ecosystem services, such as pastoral production, cultural inheritance, tourism, and recreation. In recent decades, some of these regions have experienced rapid climatic warming and changes in precipitation regimes.

This Research Topic elucidates the patterns, functions, processes, and mechanisms of alpine grassland ecosystems responding to changing environments. The goal is to influence the development of adaptive management practices for alpine grassland ecosystems under future environmental change.

9 | Abiotic Stress-Induced Responses and Tolerance Mechanisms in Plants : Molecular, Cellular, Physiological and Biochemical Levels

59 articles │ 99,000 views

In nature, plants are constantly facing adverse environmental conditions, including abiotic stresses caused by extreme low and high temperature, salinity, drought, flood, heavy metal toxicity and oxidative stress. These stresses, especially drought, salinity, and high temperature, are the major causes of crop loss around the globe.

This Research Topic advances our understanding of the fundamental processes, stress signaling, and adaptation mechanisms that develop in plants in response to various abiotic stresses.

10 | Serving Vulnerable and Marginalized Populations in Social and Educational Contexts

26 articles │ 97,000 views

There is evidence that the global COVID-19 crisis is exacerbating existing inequalities and marginalization of vulnerable groups. These multi-sectoral and intersecting challenges require multi- and interdisciplinary interventions to inform inclusive responses.

This Research Topic addresses the educational and socio-emotional needs of marginalized, vulnerable, at-risk, and exceptional learners during and after crises. It also addresses the psychological, educational, sociological, health, gender, cultural, and economic aspects of vulnerable and marginalized children and adolescents in developed and developing countries.

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November 30, 2023

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1000+ FREE Research Topics & Title Ideas

If you’re at the start of your research journey and are trying to figure out which research topic you want to focus on, you’ve come to the right place. Select your area of interest below to view a comprehensive collection of potential research ideas.

Research Topic FAQs

What (exactly) is a research topic.

A research topic is the subject of a research project or study – for example, a dissertation or thesis. A research topic typically takes the form of a problem to be solved, or a question to be answered.

A good research topic should be specific enough to allow for focused research and analysis. For example, if you are interested in studying the effects of climate change on agriculture, your research topic could focus on how rising temperatures have impacted crop yields in certain regions over time.

To learn more about the basics of developing a research topic, consider our free research topic ideation webinar.

What constitutes a good research topic?

A strong research topic comprises three important qualities : originality, value and feasibility.

• Originality – a good topic explores an original area or takes a novel angle on an existing area of study.
• Value – a strong research topic provides value and makes a contribution, either academically or practically.
• Feasibility – a good research topic needs to be practical and manageable, given the resource constraints you face.

To learn more about what makes for a high-quality research topic, check out this post .

What's the difference between a research topic and research problem?

A research topic and a research problem are two distinct concepts that are often confused. A research topic is a broader label that indicates the focus of the study , while a research problem is an issue or gap in knowledge within the broader field that needs to be addressed.

To illustrate this distinction, consider a student who has chosen “teenage pregnancy in the United Kingdom” as their research topic. This research topic could encompass any number of issues related to teenage pregnancy such as causes, prevention strategies, health outcomes for mothers and babies, etc.

Within this broad category (the research topic) lies potential areas of inquiry that can be explored further – these become the research problems . For example:

• What factors contribute to higher rates of teenage pregnancy in certain communities?
• How do different types of parenting styles affect teen pregnancy rates?
• What interventions have been successful in reducing teenage pregnancies?

Simply put, a key difference between a research topic and a research problem is scope ; the research topic provides an umbrella under which multiple questions can be asked, while the research problem focuses on one specific question or set of questions within that larger context.

How can I find potential research topics for my project?

There are many steps involved in the process of finding and choosing a high-quality research topic for a dissertation or thesis. We cover these steps in detail in this video (also accessible below).

How can I find quality sources for my research topic?

Finding quality sources is an essential step in the topic ideation process. To do this, you should start by researching scholarly journals, books, and other academic publications related to your topic. These sources can provide reliable information on a wide range of topics. Additionally, they may contain data or statistics that can help support your argument or conclusions.

Identifying Relevant Sources

When searching for relevant sources, it’s important to look beyond just published material; try using online databases such as Google Scholar or JSTOR to find articles from reputable journals that have been peer-reviewed by experts in the field.

You can also use search engines like Google or Bing to locate websites with useful information about your topic. However, be sure to evaluate any website before citing it as a source—look for evidence of authorship (such as an “About Us” page) and make sure the content is up-to-date and accurate before relying on it.

Evaluating Sources

Once you’ve identified potential sources for your research project, take some time to evaluate them thoroughly before deciding which ones will best serve your purpose. Consider factors such as author credibility (are they an expert in their field?), publication date (is the source current?), objectivity (does the author present both sides of an issue?) and relevance (how closely does this source relate to my specific topic?).

By researching the current literature on your topic, you can identify potential sources that will help to provide quality information. Once you’ve identified these sources, it’s time to look for a gap in the research and determine what new knowledge could be gained from further study.

How can I find a good research gap?

Finding a strong gap in the literature is an essential step when looking for potential research topics. We explain what research gaps are and how to find them in this post.

How should I evaluate potential research topics/ideas?

When evaluating potential research topics, it is important to consider the factors that make for a strong topic (we discussed these earlier). Specifically:

• Originality
• Feasibility

So, when you have a list of potential topics or ideas, assess each of them in terms of these three criteria. A good topic should take a unique angle, provide value (either to academia or practitioners), and be practical enough for you to pull off, given your limited resources.

Finally, you should also assess whether this project could lead to potential career opportunities such as internships or job offers down the line. Make sure that you are researching something that is relevant enough so that it can benefit your professional development in some way. Additionally, consider how each research topic aligns with your career goals and interests; researching something that you are passionate about can help keep motivation high throughout the process.

How can I assess the feasibility of a research topic?

When evaluating the feasibility and practicality of a research topic, it is important to consider several factors.

First, you should assess whether or not the research topic is within your area of competence. Of course, when you start out, you are not expected to be the world’s leading expert, but do should at least have some foundational knowledge.

Time commitment

When considering a research topic, you should think about how much time will be required for completion. Depending on your field of study, some topics may require more time than others due to their complexity or scope.

Additionally, if you plan on collaborating with other researchers or institutions in order to complete your project, additional considerations must be taken into account such as coordinating schedules and ensuring that all parties involved have adequate resources available.

Resources needed

It’s also critically important to consider what type of resources are necessary in order to conduct the research successfully. This includes physical materials such as lab equipment and chemicals but can also include intangible items like access to certain databases or software programs which may be necessary depending on the nature of your work. Additionally, if there are costs associated with obtaining these materials then this must also be factored into your evaluation process.

Potential risks

It’s important to consider the inherent potential risks for each potential research topic. These can include ethical risks (challenges getting ethical approval), data risks (not being able to access the data you’ll need), technical risks relating to the equipment you’ll use and funding risks (not securing the necessary financial back to undertake the research).

If you’re looking for more information about how to find, evaluate and select research topics for your dissertation or thesis, check out our free webinar here . Alternatively, if you’d like 1:1 help with the topic ideation process, consider our private coaching services .

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 113 great research paper topics.

General Education

One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

• Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
• Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
• How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
• How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
• How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
• How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

Current Events

• What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
• How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
• How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
• Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
• What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
• What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
• How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
• How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
• How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
• What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
• What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
• What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
• Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies  (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
• Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
• Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
• Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
• Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
• Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
• How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
• Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
• What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
• How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
• What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
• Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
• Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
• Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
• How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
• Should graduate students be able to form unions?

• What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
• How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
• Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
• Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
• How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
• How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
• Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
• Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
• Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
• Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
• Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
• Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
• Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
• Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
• Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
• How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
• How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
• What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
• What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
• Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
• What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
• What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
• Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
• Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
• How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
• Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
• What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
• How does stress affect the body?
• Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
• What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
• Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
• How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
• What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
• What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
• Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
• What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
• What were the causes of the Civil War?
• How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
• Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
• What caused Hitler's rise to power?
• Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
• What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
• How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
• What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

• Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
• Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
• How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
• How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
• What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
• What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
• How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

• How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
• How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
• Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
• Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
• How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
• How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
• What are the pros and cons of fracking?
• What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
• What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
• How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
• Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
• Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
• What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
• What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
• How are black holes created?
• Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
• How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
• Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
• How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
• Has social media made people more or less connected?
• What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
• Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
• What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
• How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
• When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
• Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

What's Next?

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Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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<span lang="EN-US">The popularity of social media has drawn the attention of researchers who have conducted cross-disciplinary studies examining the relationship between personality traits and behavior on social media. Most current work focuses on personality prediction analysis of English texts, but Indonesian has received scant attention. Therefore, this research aims to predict user’s personalities based on Indonesian text from social media using machine learning techniques. This paper evaluates several machine learning techniques, including <a name="_Hlk87278444"></a>naive Bayes (NB), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), and support vector machine (SVM), based on semantic features including emotion, sentiment, and publicly available Twitter profile. We predict the personality based on the big five personality model, the most appropriate model for predicting user personality in social media. We examine the relationships between the semantic features and the Big Five personality dimensions. The experimental results indicate that the Big Five personality exhibit distinct emotional, sentimental, and social characteristics and that SVM outperformed NB and KNN for Indonesian. In addition, we observe several terms in Indonesian that specifically refer to each personality type, each of which has distinct emotional, sentimental, and social features.</span>

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New mRNA cancer vaccine triggers fierce immune response to fight malignant brain tumor

In a first-ever human clinical trial of four adult patients, an mRNA cancer vaccine developed at the University of Florida quickly reprogrammed the immune system to attack glioblastoma, the most aggressive and lethal brain tumor.

The results mirror those in 10 pet dog patients suffering from naturally occurring brain tumors whose owners approved of their participation, as they had no other treatment options, as well as results from preclinical mouse models. The breakthrough now will be tested in a Phase 1 pediatric clinical trial for brain cancer.

Reported May 1 in the journal Cell , the discovery represents a potential new way to recruit the immune system to fight notoriously treatment-resistant cancers using an iteration of mRNA technology and lipid nanoparticles, similar to COVID-19 vaccines, but with two key differences: use of a patient's own tumor cells to create a personalized vaccine, and a newly engineered complex delivery mechanism within the vaccine.

"Instead of us injecting single particles, we're injecting clusters of particles that are wrapping around each other like onions, like a bag full of onions," said senior author Elias Sayour, M.D., Ph.D., a UF Health pediatric oncologist who pioneered the new vaccine, which like other immunotherapies attempts to "educate" the immune system that a tumor is foreign. "And the reason we've done that in the context of cancer is these clusters alert the immune system in a much more profound way than single particles would."

Among the most impressive findings was how quickly the new method, delivered intravenously, spurred a vigorous immune-system response to reject the tumor, said Sayour, principal investigator of the RNA Engineering Laboratory within UF's Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy and a UF Health Cancer Center and McKnight Brain Institute investigator who led the multi-institution research team.

"In less than 48 hours, we could see these tumors shifting from what we refer to as 'cold' -- immune cold, very few immune cells, very silenced immune response -- to 'hot,' very active immune response," he said. "That was very surprising given how quick this happened, and what that told us is we were able to activate the early part of the immune system very rapidly against these cancers, and that's critical to unlock the later effects of the immune response."

Glioblastoma is among the most devastating diagnoses, with median survival around 15 months. Current standard of care involves surgery, radiation and some combination of chemotherapy.

The new publication is the culmination of promising translational results over seven years of studies, starting in preclinical mouse models and then in a clinical trial of 10 pet dogs that had spontaneously developed terminal brain cancer and had no other treatment options. That trial was conducted with owners' consent in collaboration with the UF College of Veterinary Medicine. Dogs offer a naturally occurring model for malignant glioma because they are the only other species that develops spontaneous brain tumors with some frequency, said Sheila Carrera-Justiz, D.V.M., a veterinary neurologist at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine who is partnering with Sayour on the clinical trials. Gliomas in dogs are universally terminal, she said.

After treating pet dogs that had spontaneously developed brain cancer with personalized mRNA vaccines, Sayour's team advanced the research to a small Food and Drug Administration-approved clinical trial designed to ensure safety and test feasibility before expanding to a larger trial.

In a cohort of four patients, genetic material called RNA was extracted from each patient's own surgically removed tumor, and then messenger RNA, or mRNA -- the blueprint of what is inside every cell, including tumor cells -- was amplified and wrapped in the newly designed high-tech packaging of biocompatible lipid nanoparticles, to make tumor cells "look" like a dangerous virus when reinjected into the bloodstream and prompt an immune-system response. The vaccine was personalized to each patient with a goal of getting the most out of their unique immune system.

"The demonstration that making an mRNA cancer vaccine in this fashion generates similar and strong responses across mice, pet dogs that have developed cancer spontaneously and human patients with brain cancer is a really important finding, because oftentimes we don't know how well the preclinical studies in animals are going to translate into similar responses in patients," said Duane Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the UF Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program and a co-author of the paper. "And while mRNA vaccines and therapeutics are certainly a hot topic since the COVID pandemic, this is a novel and unique way of delivering the mRNA to generate these really significant and rapid immune responses that we're seeing across animals and humans."

While too early in the trial to assess the clinical effects of the vaccine, the patients either lived disease-free longer than expected or survived longer than expected.

The 10 pet dogs lived a median of 139 days, compared with a median survival of 30 to 60 days typical for dogs with the condition.

The next step, through support from the Food and Drug Administration and the CureSearch for Children's Cancer foundation, will be an expanded Phase I clinical trial to include up to 24 adult and pediatric patients to validate the findings. Once an optimal and safe dose is confirmed, an estimated 25 children would participate in Phase 2, said Sayour, an associate professor in the Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery and the department of pediatrics in the UF College of Medicine, part of UF Health.

For the new clinical trial, Sayour's lab will partner with a multi-institution consortium, the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium, to send the immunotherapy treatment to children's hospitals across the country. They will do this by receiving an individual patient's tumor, manufacturing the personalized vaccine at UF and sending it back to the patient's medical team, said Sayour, co-leader of the Immuno-Oncology and Microbiome research program at the UF Health Cancer Center.

Despite the promising results, the authors said one limitation is continued uncertainty about how best to harness the immune system while minimizing the potential for adverse side effects.

"I am hopeful that this could be a new paradigm for how we treat patients, a new platform technology for how we can modulate the immune system," Sayour said. "I am hopeful for how this could now synergize with other immunotherapies and perhaps unlock those immunotherapies. We showed in this paper that you actually can have synergy with other types of immunotherapies, so maybe now we can have a combination approach of immunotherapy."

Sayour and Mitchell hold patents related to the vaccine which are under option to license by iOncologi Inc., a biotech company born as a "spin out" from UF in which Mitchell holds interest.

• Brain Tumor
• Immune System
• Diseases and Conditions
• Neuroscience
• Brain-Computer Interfaces
• Mental Health
• Immune system
• Monoclonal antibody therapy
• Renal cell carcinoma
• Malignant melanoma

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Florida . Original written by Michelle Jaffee. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

• Hector R. Mendez-Gomez, Anna DeVries, Paul Castillo, Christina von Roemeling, Sadeem Qdaisat, Brian D. Stover, Chao Xie, Frances Weidert, Chong Zhao, Rachel Moor, Ruixuan Liu, Dhruvkumar Soni, Elizabeth Ogando-Rivas, Jonathan Chardon-Robles, James McGuiness, Dingpeng Zhang, Michael C. Chung, Christiano Marconi, Stephen Michel, Arnav Barpujari, Gabriel W. Jobin, Nagheme Thomas, Xiaojie Ma, Yodarlynis Campaneria, Adam Grippin, Aida Karachi, Derek Li, Bikash Sahay, Leighton Elliott, Timothy P. Foster, Kirsten E. Coleman, Rowan J. Milner, W. Gregory Sawyer, John A. Ligon, Eugenio Simon, Brian Cleaver, Kristine Wynne, Marcia Hodik, Annette M. Molinaro, Juan Guan, Patrick Kellish, Andria Doty, Ji-Hyun Lee, Tara Massini, Jesse L. Kresak, Jianping Huang, Eugene I. Hwang, Cassie Kline, Sheila Carrera-Justiz, Maryam Rahman, Sebastian Gatica, Sabine Mueller, Michael Prados, Ashley P. Ghiaseddin, Natalie L. Silver, Duane A. Mitchell, Elias J. Sayour. RNA aggregates harness the danger response for potent cancer immunotherapy . Cell , 2024; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.04.003

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MIT scientists tune the entanglement structure in an array of qubits

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Entanglement is a form of correlation between quantum objects, such as particles at the atomic scale. This uniquely quantum phenomenon cannot be explained by the laws of classical physics, yet it is one of the properties that explains the macroscopic behavior of quantum systems.

Because entanglement is central to the way quantum systems work, understanding it better could give scientists a deeper sense of how information is stored and processed efficiently in such systems.

Qubits, or quantum bits, are the building blocks of a quantum computer. However, it is extremely difficult to make specific entangled states in many-qubit systems, let alone investigate them. There are also a variety of entangled states, and telling them apart can be challenging.

Now, MIT researchers have demonstrated a technique to efficiently generate entanglement among an array of superconducting qubits that exhibit a specific type of behavior.

Over the past years, the researchers at the Engineering Quantum Systems ( EQuS ) group have developed techniques using microwave technology to precisely control a quantum processor composed of superconducting circuits. In addition to these control techniques, the methods introduced in this work enable the processor to efficiently generate highly entangled states and shift those states from one type of entanglement to another — including between types that are more likely to support quantum speed-up and those that are not.

“Here, we are demonstrating that we can utilize the emerging quantum processors as a tool to further our understanding of physics. While everything we did in this experiment was on a scale which can still be simulated on a classical computer, we have a good roadmap for scaling this technology and methodology beyond the reach of classical computing,” says Amir H. Karamlou ’18, MEng ’18, PhD ’23, the lead author of the paper.

The senior author is William D. Oliver, the Henry Ellis Warren professor of electrical engineering and computer science and of physics, director of the Center for Quantum Engineering, leader of the EQuS group, and associate director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics. Karamlou and Oliver are joined by Research Scientist Jeff Grover, postdoc Ilan Rosen, and others in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and of Physics at MIT, at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and at Wellesley College and the University of Maryland. The research appears today in Nature .

Assessing entanglement

In a large quantum system comprising many interconnected qubits, one can think about entanglement as the amount of quantum information shared between a given subsystem of qubits and the rest of the larger system.

The entanglement within a quantum system can be categorized as area-law or volume-law, based on how this shared information scales with the geometry of subsystems. In volume-law entanglement, the amount of entanglement between a subsystem of qubits and the rest of the system grows proportionally with the total size of the subsystem.

On the other hand, area-law entanglement depends on how many shared connections exist between a subsystem of qubits and the larger system. As the subsystem expands, the amount of entanglement only grows along the boundary between the subsystem and the larger system.

In theory, the formation of volume-law entanglement is related to what makes quantum computing so powerful.

“While have not yet fully abstracted the role that entanglement plays in quantum algorithms, we do know that generating volume-law entanglement is a key ingredient to realizing a quantum advantage,” says Oliver.

However, volume-law entanglement is also more complex than area-law entanglement and practically prohibitive at scale to simulate using a classical computer.

“As you increase the complexity of your quantum system, it becomes increasingly difficult to simulate it with conventional computers. If I am trying to fully keep track of a system with 80 qubits, for instance, then I would need to store more information than what we have stored throughout the history of humanity,” Karamlou says.

The researchers created a quantum processor and control protocol that enable them to efficiently generate and probe both types of entanglement.

Their processor comprises superconducting circuits, which are used to engineer artificial atoms. The artificial atoms are utilized as qubits, which can be controlled and read out with high accuracy using microwave signals.

The device used for this experiment contained 16 qubits, arranged in a two-dimensional grid. The researchers carefully tuned the processor so all 16 qubits have the same transition frequency. Then, they applied an additional microwave drive to all of the qubits simultaneously.

If this microwave drive has the same frequency as the qubits, it generates quantum states that exhibit volume-law entanglement. However, as the microwave frequency increases or decreases, the qubits exhibit less volume-law entanglement, eventually crossing over to entangled states that increasingly follow an area-law scaling.

Careful control

“Our experiment is a tour de force of the capabilities of superconducting quantum processors. In one experiment, we operated the processor both as an analog simulation device, enabling us to efficiently prepare states with different entanglement structures, and as a digital computing device, needed to measure the ensuing entanglement scaling,” says Rosen.

To enable that control, the team put years of work into carefully building up the infrastructure around the quantum processor.

By demonstrating the crossover from volume-law to area-law entanglement, the researchers experimentally confirmed what theoretical studies had predicted. More importantly, this method can be used to determine whether the entanglement in a generic quantum processor is area-law or volume-law.

“The MIT experiment underscores the distinction between area-law and volume-law entanglement in two-dimensional quantum simulations using superconducting qubits. This beautifully complements our work on entanglement Hamiltonian tomography with trapped ions in a parallel publication published in Nature in 2023,” says Peter Zoller, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Innsbruck, who was not involved with this work.

“Quantifying entanglement in large quantum systems is a challenging task for classical computers but a good example of where quantum simulation could help,” says Pedram Roushan of Google, who also was not involved in the study. “Using a 2D array of superconducting qubits, Karamlou and colleagues were able to measure entanglement entropy of various subsystems of various sizes. They measure the volume-law and area-law contributions to entropy, revealing crossover behavior as the system’s quantum state energy is tuned. It powerfully demonstrates the unique insights quantum simulators can offer.”

In the future, scientists could utilize this technique to study the thermodynamic behavior of complex quantum systems, which is too complex to be studied using current analytical methods and practically prohibitive to simulate on even the world’s most powerful supercomputers.

“The experiments we did in this work can be used to characterize or benchmark larger-scale quantum systems, and we may also learn something more about the nature of entanglement in these many-body systems,” says Karamlou.

Additional co-authors of the study are   Sarah E. Muschinske, Cora N. Barrett, Agustin Di Paolo, Leon Ding, Patrick M. Harrington, Max Hays, Rabindra Das, David K. Kim, Bethany M. Niedzielski, Meghan Schuldt, Kyle Serniak, Mollie E. Schwartz, Jonilyn L. Yoder, Simon Gustavsson, and Yariv Yanay.

This research is funded, in part, by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S. Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation, the STC Center for Integrated Quantum Materials, the Wellesley College Samuel and Hilda Levitt Fellowship, NASA, and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

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Chemistry articles from across Nature Portfolio

Chemistry is a branch of science that involves the study of the composition, structure and properties of matter. Often known as the central science, it is a creative discipline chiefly concerned with atomic and molecular structure and its change, for instance through chemical reactions.

Dynamic crystal structure of a molecular framework

X-ray diffraction analysis typically affords the static 3D structures of given compounds or materials, but to understand chemical processes, the visualization of fast structural changes is desirable. Time-resolved femtosecond crystallography has now been used to monitor the structural dynamics of a photoactive metal–organic framework.

• Lauren E. Hatcher
• Paul R. Raithby

Precision synthesis and closed-loop recycling of ultrahigh-molar-mass cyclic polymers

The precision synthesis of cyclic polymers with ultrahigh molar mass (UHMM) and circularity is challenging. Now, a method that involves superbase-mediated living linear-chain growth followed by macromolecular cyclization triggered by protic quenching enables the on-demand production of UHMM cyclic polymers with a narrow dispersity and closed-loop chemical recyclability.

Tailored for semi-hydrogenation

Ethylene, despite being a cornerstone of the modern petrochemical industry, continues to pose challenges during its production. Now, a dual single-atom catalyst design emerges as a remarkable solution for the efficient semi-hydrogenation of acetylene.

• Haisong Feng

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Detectable quorum signaling molecule via PANI-metal oxides nanocomposites sensors

• Walaa S. Gado
• Abdalrahman G. Al-Gamal
• Khalid I. Kabel

Large-scale analysis of small molecule-RNA interactions using multiplexed RNA structure libraries

Targeting RNA with small molecules represents an attractive medicinal approach, and profiling the small molecule-binding landscapes of various types of RNA structures is critical. Here, the authors develop a large-scale approach for investigating small molecule-RNA structure interaction profiles using a multiplexed pull-down assay with various RNA structure libraries, and validate the assay using G-clamp and thiazole orange derivatives.

• Ryosuke Nagasawa
• Kazumitsu Onizuka
• Fumi Nagatsugi

Diastereo-divergent synthesis of chiral hindered ethers via a synergistic calcium(II)/gold(I) catalyzed cascade hydration/1,4-addition reaction

Developing an efficient method for the stereocontrolled synthesis of all stereoisomers of chiral hindered ethers is highly desirable but challenging. Here, the authors report an asymmetric cascade reaction catalyzed by a bimetallic catalytic system with control over the configuration of the stereocenters of tetra-aryl substituted ethers.

• Xiangfeng Lin

Challenges for exploiting nanomagnet properties on surfaces

Molecular complexes with single-molecule magnet or qubit properties are great candidates for quantum information storage and processing, however, device implementation requires controlled surface deposition and property retention, which is a challenge. This Perspective gives a brief overview of molecular properties on a surface relevant for magnetic molecules and how they are affected by surface deposition, pointing out possible ways of overcoming the problems encountered so far.

• Guillem Gabarró-Riera
• E. Carolina Sañudo

Magnetic field responses in Drosophila

• Charalambos P. Kyriacou

A human-machine interface for automatic exploration of chemical reaction networks

Automated reaction exploration is the key to systematic elucidation of chemical mechanisms. Here, the authors introduce a generally applicable algorithm to steer an automated exploration towards region of interest in chemical reaction space.

• Miguel Steiner
• Markus Reiher

News and Comment

Cobalt catalysis for double dehydrogenation

• Thomas West

Allen J. Bard obituary: electrochemist whose techniques underpin clinical diagnostics, materials discovery and more

Innovator who pioneered scanning electrochemical microscopy, bioassays and solar fuels.

• Michael Rose
• Henry S. White

Molecular CO 2 reduction

• Alexandra R. Groves

The power of putting education first

From high school to distinguished professor of chemistry at Rhodes University, Tebello Nyokong discusses her inspiration and ambitions to promote science in South Africa.

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Enzymatic radical fluorine transfer

• Jan-Stefan Völler

Bubble trouble

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Slow Learning

This paper investigates what features of an economy determine whether convergence under learning is fast or slow. In all of the models that we consider, people's beliefs about model outcomes are central determinants of those outcomes. We argue that under certain circumstances, convergence of a learning equilibrium to the rational expectations equilibrium can be so slow that policy analysis based on rational expectations is very misleading. We also develop new analytic results regarding rates of convergence in learning models.

The analysis and conclusions set forth are those of the authors and do not indicate concurrence by the Board of Governors or anyone else. The authors thank Klaus Adam, George-Marios Angeletos, Ed Herbst, Albert Marcet, Damjan Pfajfar, Bruce Preston, Tom Sargent, Robert Tetlow, Ivan Werning and participants in a number of seminars for helpful comments and suggestions. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research or anyone associated with the Federal Reserve System.

I am a consultant at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, as well as the Central Bank of the Peru, the Phillipines and Uganda.

MARC RIS BibTeΧ

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More than 80% of Americans believe elected officials don’t care what people like them think

Americans are more likely than people in many other countries to believe that most elected officials don’t care what people like them think. More than eight-in-ten U.S. adults said this in a spring 2023 Pew Research Center survey , compared with a median of 74% of adults across the 24 countries surveyed.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to further explore Americans’ discontent with elected officials, following a Center report finding widespread discontent with the country’s political system .

This analysis is based on recent Center surveys as well as data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Duke University. Links to these data sources are available in the text. The links to the Center surveys include information about the field dates, sample sizes and other methodological details.

The U.S. public doubled down on this view in a separate Center survey conducted in July 2023 , when 85% said most elected officials don’t care what people like them think. In the early 2000s, by comparison, a much smaller majority of Americans felt this way .

There are only modest demographic and political differences in these views among Americans today.

Why do Americans feel this way?

We also asked a broader series of questions about the U.S. political system in Center surveys conducted in June and July 2023. Overall, Americans broadly distrust the system and question whose interests it’s serving.

For example, only 4% of Americans think the political system is working extremely or very well today, and an equally tiny share have a lot of confidence in its future. Americans have long felt “frustrated” toward the federal government, and just 16% trust the government to do the right thing most or just about all of the time.

In part, these feelings are related to Americans’ perceptions of elected officials and their reasons for serving. Seven-in-ten Americans say ordinary people have too little influence over the decisions members of Congress make. And majorities say that large employers in their districts, lobbyists and special interest groups, and wealthy donors have too much influence.

When it comes to what Americans think motivates today’s elected officials , 63% say that most or all of them ran for office because they wanted to make a lot of money; by comparison, only 15% say most or all wanted to serve the public. And a large majority of Americans (85%) say that the cost of political campaigns can make it hard for good people to run for office.

Who becomes state legislators?

Elected officials have a different demographic profile than the U.S. public as a whole. For example, women have long been underrepresented in Congress, according to Center research.

At the state level, Duke University researchers recently gathered demographic data for lawmakers serving in 2023 and 2024. That data shows that several groups are currently underrepresented in state politics relative to their shares of the U.S. population . Those groups include women and Americans without bachelor’s degrees, as well as Hispanic and Asian Americans.

However, Americans who belong to these groups are not necessarily the most likely to say that elected officials don’t care what people like them think. For example, women are as likely as men to say this.

And in the July 2023 Center survey , most Americans said it’s not too or not at all important to them that the political candidates they support are from the same racial and ethnic background or are the same gender as them. By far, what’s most important to them is that candidates share their political views.

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Jenn Hatfield is a writer/editor at Pew Research Center .

From Businesses and Banks to Colleges and Churches: Americans’ Views of U.S. Institutions

7 facts about americans’ views of money in politics, americans’ dismal views of the nation’s politics, public trust in government: 1958-2023, favorable views of supreme court fall to historic low, most popular.

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