Press releases

Overcoming a genetic disorder that leads to serious diseases, and examining the relationship between political party systems and social conflicts in the MENA region — these are the goals of two ERC Synergy Grants awarded to researchers from the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS). Each grant provides €9.8 million in funding over six years.

A research team led by Lukáš Čermák, in collaboration with Hana Polášek-Sedláčková’s group, has identified a previously unknown mechanism by which cells monitor the quality of DNA replication. When this control fails, the cell begins to replicate its DNA recklessly, leading to genome instability — a key early step in the development of cancer. The study was published on October 27, 2025, in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.

A fungus that spreads from domestic guinea pigs causes skin infections in children, especially in Europe. A new study by a team from the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IMIC CAS) reveals why it is so successful: the fungal skin pathogen apparently helps itself by producing toxin-like substances that facilitate infection of new hosts. These substances, secondary metabolites, can suppress the immune response and thus accelerate the spread of the pathogen among humans.

Scientists have identified an unusual type of brain cell that may play a vital role in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), likely contributing to the persistent inflammation characteristic of the disease. The discovery, reported last week in Neuron, is a significant step towards understanding the complex mechanisms that drive the disease and provides a promising new avenue for research into more effective therapies for this debilitating condition.

An important task of volcanologists is predicting volcanic eruptions, which, however, is usually very unreliable. Scientists writing in Nature Reviews argue that in order to improve forecasts, it is necessary to study the entire magmatic system of volcanoes as a so-called complex system—similar to the way weather is studied. Improved models of volcanic systems could also help in the search for new deposits of raw materials.

Fendrych, a group leader at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, received the award in honor of his impact on the auxin field at large, including his contributions at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) when he was a postdoc. He is the fourth recipient of the award.

New international research conducted by a team including scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IVB CAS), Gorilla Doctors, and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, with support from the Rwanda Development Board and Uganda Wildlife Authority, reveals long-term shifts in parasite communities that may help explain rising health threats faced by mountain gorillas.

Ecosystem Engineers at Risk: New data reveal a major conservation gap for networks of underground fungi that sustain plants, carbon flows, and soil health.

Understanding whether lakes are fed predominantly by groundwater or rainwater is critical to managing our water resources in the face of droughts and shortages, new research has found.

The scientific team of Dr. Miloslav Polášek at IOCB Prague has developed a new method of separating the rare earth elements, or lanthanides, which are widely used in the electronic, medical, automotive, and defense industries. The unique method allows metals such as neodymium or dysprosium to be purified from used neodymium magnets. The environmentally friendly process precipitates the rare earths from water without organic solvents or toxic substances. The results were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) at the end of June.