May eNews

Welcome to the latest edition of AlphaGalileo eNews.

In this edition, we feature April's most-read articles, our Editor's Choice published by the University of Vienna, and this beautiful image of corn snakes is our Image of the Month, published by Université de Genève

For questions or feedback, reach us at news@alphagalileo.org

We hope you enjoy this issue.

The AlphaGalileo News Team

Top 5 in April

1. DAFM Press Release: Minister Heydon and Minister of State Grealish launch €26.2 million VistaMilk Phase II Research Centre, published by Teagasc on 3/04/25
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD and Minister of State with special responsibility for research Noel Grealish TD today launched Phase 2 of the VistaMilk Research Ireland Centre at a special event hosted at Teagasc Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork. This marks a significant step forward in the Centre’s mission to enhance sustainability and innovation in Ireland’s agri-food sector through pioneering research and technology.
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2. CapsiBreed Secures Landmark Commercial Deal to Accelerate Gene-Edited Crop Market Entry, published by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on 7/04/25
CapsiBreed, an AgriTech startup, has signed a landmark commercial agreement with Dutch seed company Erma Zaden to apply its proprietary technology for gene-editing elite pepper varieties. This first-of-its-kind partnership positions CapsiBreed for rapid market entry, enabling precise enhancement of high-value traits such as shelf life, flavor, yield, and disease resistance. The deal marks a significant commercial validation of CapsiBreed’s platform and services, and a major step toward scalable, sustainable agricultural innovation.
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3. Distinguished appointment to LSE Global School of Sustainability, published by the London School of Economics (LSE) on 10/04/25
The London School of Economics and Political Science is delighted to announce the appointment of Sir Andrew Steer, a distinguished world leader on sustainability, to a role in its new Global School of Sustainability.
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4. New Book: Handbook of Service Experience, published by Karlstad University on 10/04/25
Per Kristensson and Lars Witell, together with Mohamed Zaki from the Cambridge Service Alliance, are the editors of the new book "Handbook of Service Experience", which provides a comprehensive perspective on service experiences in business contexts. The book brings together current research and empirical case studies, focusing on customer experience, service design, innovation, and management in the digital era.
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5. Citizen science to fight marine plastic pollution and improve environmental management, published by Universidad de Barcelona on 4/04/25
Plastics are becoming more present in the seas and oceans around the world. The Mediterranean — a semi-enclosed marine basin — is one of the seas that accumulates more plastic waste from the continent, a situation that is endangering biodiversity and marine ecosystems. Now, the University of Barcelona is working on a citizen science project to better understand the origins and final destination of the plastics that reach the sea and thus improve the marine environment conservation strategies in the north-western Mediterranean.
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Editor's choice

Perceiving One’s Own Body – Already Babies Sense Their Heartbeat and Breathing, published by University of Vienna on 07/04/2025

Body signals such as heartbeat and breathing accompany us constantly, often unnoticed as background noise of our perception. Even in the earliest years of life, these signals are important as they contribute to the development of self-awareness and identity. However, until know little has been known about whether and how babies can perceive their own body signals. A recent study from Wiener Kinderstudien Lab at the University of Vienna demonstrates for the first time that babies as young as 3 months can perceive their own heartbeat. In addition, the team, headed by researchers from the University of Vienna, together with colleagues from the University of Potsdam and Royal Holloway University of London, also investigated for the first-time infants’ perception of their own breathing and found developments during the first two years of life.

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Image caption: A Baby is watching a figure. C: Wiener Kinderstudien

Image of the month

One gene defines the many patterns of snake skin, published by Université de Genève on 24/04/2025

In many animals, skin colouration and its patterns play a crucial role in camouflage, communication, or thermoregulation. In the corn snake, some morphs display red, yellow, or pink blotches, and their dorsal spots can merge or turn into stripes. But which genetic and cellular mechanisms determine these colourful patterns? A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) discovered that a single gene, CLCN2, is involved in these variations. The study, published in Genome Biology, opens new perspectives on the evolution and genetics of animal colouration.

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Image caption: In corn snakes, certain lineages have red, yellow or pink colours, and their dorsal spots can merge or form stripes. © LANEVOL