🐦 COVER STORY — Magnetic Macrophages in Pigeon Livers Unlock Navigation Mystery

Research Article · pp. 985–991 · DOI: 10.1126/science.ady2486

It has long been known that birds rely, at least in part, on magnetoreception to orient their movements. Lisowski et al. identified the presence of superparamagnetic macrophages in the liver of homing pigeons. On cloudy days when they could not see the sun, pigeons whose magnetic macrophages had been depleted were unable to navigate home. The authors conclude that these liver-based macrophages are required for navigation when the sun doesn't shine. The finding upends prior assumptions that magnetoreception was located in the beak or eyes, and reveals an unexpected immunological role in sensory biology. Science

🧠 Disembodied Human Brains Used for Drug Testing — Sara Reardon (News Feature, pp. 906–907)

https://www.science.org/content/article/not-alive-not-dead-disembodied-human-brains-used-drug-testing

By restoring some functions to whole brains from deceased donors, the startup Bexorg hopes to better test drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. Hours after the donor's death, the brain sits on a cart of tubes pumping liters of blood substitute and other fluids through the organ — supplying oxygen and removing waste. With most of its key functions intact but electrical activity quenched by anesthesia, the brain hovers between life and death. As it metabolizes experimental drugs, sensors record hundreds of data points on cells, proteins, and physiology, after which it is sliced into hundreds of pieces for further study. A potential revolution in preclinical neurological drug development. Science

🦠 Selective Autophagy as a Plant Immune Rheostat During Viral Infection — Clavel, Papareddy, Dagdas et al. (Research Article)

DOI: 10.1126/science.adu9554

RNA viruses co-opt host endomembranes to form replication complexes, often triggering cellular stress and immune responses. In Arabidopsis thaliana, selective autophagy is activated to respond to viruses targeting mitochondria, chloroplasts, and the endoplasmic reticulum. Rather than degrading viral components, autophagy selectively removes the immune regulator Enhanced Disease Susceptibility 1 (EDS1) to prevent cell death. This mechanism is mediated by oligomeric metabolic enzymes that moonlight as selective autophagy receptors, linking organelle stress to immune homeostasis — establishing selective autophagy as an essential immune rheostat that fine-tunes defense responses and safeguards cellular integrity during viral infections. Broadly relevant to understanding immunity–survival tradeoffs across kingdoms. Science

🩸 Immunothrombosis Cascade in Sepsis Visualized — Nguyen, Hassanabad, Hiroki, Yipp et al. (Research Article)

DOI: 10.1126/science.adv0377

Sepsis is an immune paradox in which host defense is necessary for survival but also contributes to organ damage and death. The authors defined an immunothrombosis cascade of neutrophils and platelets in the lung microcirculation of Escherichia coli–septic mice. Cathelicidin, an antimicrobial peptide, localized neutrophils to E. coli and initiated immunothrombi through formyl-peptide receptors. This high-resolution visualization clarifies why early bacterial clearance in sepsis can paradoxically accelerate organ failure. Science

🦇 Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Noise Disrupts Bat Navigation — Schneider, Marggraf, Holland et al. (Research Article, pp. 977–979)

DOI: 10.1126/science.adq4418

How anthropogenic electromagnetic noise can affect living systems is a poorly understood impact of an increasingly urbanized natural environment. This study investigated the impacts of weak broadband radiofrequency noise on migratory bat navigation, finding disruptive effects even from brief exposures. The work has implications for wildlife conservation policy in cities and near telecommunications infrastructure, and complements the cover story's theme of magnetic sensing in animals. Science

Issue theme in brief: The 28 May issue clusters around sensing, immunity, and biological interfaces — from pigeon magnetoreception to plant antiviral autophagy, ex vivo human brains, and sepsis immunobiology. There are no articles in this issue with a direct AI/computational biology focus comparable to last week's 19-amino-acid cell paper, though the ex vivo brain platform (Bexorg) has strong implications for AI-assisted drug screening and neuroscience data generation going forward.