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Putting Science into Standards – 3D Bioprinting: Towards Standards in Biomedicine
No full text3D Bioprinting stands at the forefront of biomedical innovation, offering transformative potential for creating functional tissues, thereby advancing regenerative medicine and in vitro testing methods. However, challenges such as reproducibility, scalability, and bioink standardisation remain. The PSIS workshop, with 56 experts from 17 countries, highlighted the importance of standardisation in overcoming key challenges to reproducibility, quality, and safety. Participants focused on standardisation needs for bioinks, biomaterials, printing equipment, and quality and safety assessments, paving the way for impactful advancements. This collaborative approach underscores the need for updated regulatory frameworks to safely integrate 3D Bioprinting into healthcare, enhancing personalised medicine and fostering groundbreaking biomedical applications. In particular, the need for standards regarding 3D Bioprinting process and materials (bioinks) emerged, together with the demand of adapting standards for cells and tissues from nearby sectors, as well as for quality and safety assessment.JRC.F.2 - Technologies for Healt
Stress and resilience in northern European marine ecosystems
No full textIn the field of resilience, there is a current debate between those that find evidence of hysterical regimes shifts (i.e., a sudden change of state, where the path of return is different from the path of departure) in every marine ecosystem they investigate and those who are skeptical about this ubiquity. Here, we used the same technique of the first group but taking a precautionary approach. We let the data tell us whether a folded stability landscape adequately described the development of the ecosystem or not. We applied this approach to four data-rich northern European ecosystems and found evidence in two of them, the Baltic and the North Sea, but not in the Icelandic Waters and the Barents Sea. Marine ecosystems are facing multiple pressures from human activities, such as fishing and nutrient inputs from farming and agriculture, compounded by the global effects of climate change. As a result, the ecosystem services that societies depend on are at risk from the cumulative impact of these pressures. To better understand how different ecosystems respond, it is essential to assess their resilience. While predicting ecosystem resilience remains challenging, significant progress has been made in developing methods to measure it. In this study, we assessed resilience in four northern European marine ecosystems: the Icelandic Waters, the Barents Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the North Sea, spanning 3 to 5 decades. “Folded stability landscapes” were constructed for the Baltic and North Sea. This region provides a unique setting, with a south-north gradient from temperate to subarctic environments and a southeast-northwest gradient from open to semienclosed topographies. The Icelandic Waters and Barents Sea evolved relatively continuously, while the Baltic Sea and North Sea underwent more drastic changes. By comparing results across these gradients, we explore the role of isolation, level of pressures, and food web complexity in shaping resilience patterns and discuss the implications for managing resilient marine ecosystems in the future.JRC.D.6 - Nature Conservation and Observation
Mapping the transition of the EU glass manufacturing industry to carbon neutrality
Full text linkThis factsheet provides an overview of sectoral emission sources, emissions breakdowns, decarbonisation trajectories, and estimated technology-specific CO₂ abatement costs. It further examines the evolution of decarbonisation technology maturity (from research and innovation to demonstration and deployment) in the timeline from 2025 to 2050 and evaluates the extent to which this evolution aligns with relevant policy targets and objectives.JRC.B.5 - Circular Economy and Sustainable Industr
Mapping the transition of the EU pulp and paper industry to carbon neutrality
Full text linkThis factsheet provides an overview of sectoral emission sources, emissions breakdowns, decarbonisation trajectories, and estimated technology-specific CO₂ abatement costs. It further examines the evolution of decarbonisation technology maturity (from research and innovation to demonstration and deployment) in the timeline from 2025 to 2050 and evaluates the extent to which this evolution aligns with relevant policy targets and objectives.JRC.B.5 - Circular Economy and Sustainable Industr
Genomic analysis in chemotherapy-naïve prostate cancer prior to PSMA-targeted treatment
No full textIntroduction: Chemotherapy is typically administered prior to consideration of tandem [225Ac]Ac-/[177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 therapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), making chemotherapy-naïve patients who undergo tandem radionuclide treatment extremely rare. The genomic mechanisms dictating response and resistance to prostate-specific membrane antigen–radiopharmaceutical therapy (PSMA-RPT) in this setting remain unclear. While tandem therapy is expanding for aggressive disease, baseline genomic predictors of treatment outcomes are not well defined. We present rare chemotherapy-naïve mCRPC cases treated with tandem PSMA-RPT and explore their molecular characteristics through plasma circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).
Methods: Blood samples were obtained from mCRPC patients receiving [225Ac]Ac-/[177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 therapy. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) was isolated and analyzed using ultra-low pass whole-genome sequencing (ULP-WGS). Genome-wide copy number alterations (CNAs) and tumor fraction (TFx) were inferred with the ichorCNA algorithm.
Results: This case series included five chemotherapy-naïve patients—four with baseline characterization and one with longitudinal follow-up—providing a rare window into cfDNA CNAs at treatment initiation. Recurrent alterations included amplifications in chromosomes 1q, 7q, and 8q, and losses in 8p. Additional events such as 12q amplification and partial 9q gain were also observed. In Patient 5, serial cfDNA analysis demonstrated stable 8p loss and 8q gain across multiple treatment cycles, despite clinical progression, suggesting clonally persistent genomic drivers.
Discussion: Baseline cfDNA CNA profiling in chemotherapy-naïve mCRPC reveals recurrent chromosomal imbalances—particularly 8p loss and 8q gain—that may represent intrinsic, stable features of advanced disease. These findings highlight the exploratory potential of cfDNA-based genomics in rare PSMA-RPT cohorts.JRC.G.5 - Nuclear Science and Innovation for Energy and Healt
Grab sampling or passive samplers? A comparative approach to water quality monitoring
No full textPesticide contamination poses significant threats to both humans and the environment, with residues frequently detected in surface waters worldwide. This study compares the effectiveness of passive samplers (POCIS and Chemcatcher) and grab sampling coupled with Stir-Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) and Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE) for monitoring pesticides in surface waters. The comparative study was conducted at three sites in Victoria, Australia, representing different land uses. A total of 230 pesticides were screened, with 79 different pesticides detected overall. SBSE extracted the highest number of pesticides from grab samples, followed by SPE and passive samplers. The study highlights the complementarity of different sampling and extraction techniques in detecting a wide range of pesticides. The study also explores the suitability of these techniques for citizen science applications, emphasizing the importance of selecting appropriate methods based on specific research objectives and available resources. The findings underscore the need for a tiered approach, combining passive samplers for initial screening and grab sampling for quantitative analysis, to develop a robust monitoring strategy for protecting water quality.JRC.D.2 - Ocean and Wate
Towards Harmonized Soil Monitoring in the EU: An Inventory of Existing International and European Standards
Full text linkThe directive on soil monitoring and resilience (Soil Monitoring Law) was included in the Official Journal of the European Union (EU 2025/2360) on November 26th, 20225. After water and air, this Directive puts forward the first EU legislation on the soil environmental compartment. The directive establishes a harmonised soil monitoring framework for assessing the health of soils throughout the EU. A harmonised approach implies that standards become important to ensure intercomparability among, and within, Member States. The directive prescribes reference methodologies and requires transfer functions for other methods. The Directive also includes some standards for the monitoring and measuring of soil descriptors based on those being used through the LUCAS topsoil surveys from 2009 to 2022. The present technical report provides an inventory of 574 soil-related standards from international and European standard bodies including the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) and the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), as well as standards from other well-recognised international institutions including the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-GLOSOLAN). There is a need for harmonisation of soil-related standards to ensure consistency and comparability of soil data and to support effective soil management and protection efforts.JRC.D.1 - Land and Climat
Taxing Fairly or Failing Badly? Reduced VAT Rates and Redistribution
Full text linkThe application of reduced VAT rates in the EU generally aims to alleviate the regressivity of consumption taxation. However, while these measures generate redistribution across income groups, they also create redistribution effects within income groups, leading to arbitrary redistribution among households with similar incomes but different consumption patterns. Using the Analysis of Gini (ANOGI) decomposition, we evaluate the redistributive impact of reduced VAT rates across EU Member States. Our results indicate that, while reduced VAT rates lower the regressivity of VAT taxation, their total redistributive effect is modest. That is because the between-group pro-redistributive effect is largely offset by the within-group anti-redistributive one. This analysis highlights the limited effectiveness of reduced VAT rates as a tool for redistributionJRC.B.2 - Fiscal Policy Analysi
European Code Against Cancer, 5th edition – tobacco and nicotine containing products, second-hand smoke, alcohol and cancer
No full textTobacco use, second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS) exposure, and alcohol consumption are well-established carcinogens and major public health concerns. In the European Union (EU), tobacco and alcohol use are the leading preventable causes of cancer and four other major non-communicable diseases (NCDs), significantly contributing to NCD-related morbidity and mortality. Despite declining prevalence, consumption of these substances is still high in the region, especially among the most deprived. There is strong evidence that quitting smoking, minimizing exposure to SHS, and eliminating or reducing alcohol intake substantially lowers the risk of cancer. Comprehensive public health strategies both at the individual and population-level are crucial to prevent cancer and other NCDs. Scientific evidence leads to two recommendations for individual action on tobacco in the European Code Against Cancer, 5th edition: (1) ‘“Do not smoke. Do not use any form of tobacco, or vaping products. If you smoke, you should quit”; and (2) Keep your home and car free of tobacco smoke”; and one on alcohol: (3) “Avoid alcoholic drinks”.JRC.F.1 - Disease Preventio
Strategic Defense against Hybrid Threats under Emerging Disruptive Technologies: A Stochastic Modeling Framework
No full textThe fundamental unpredictability of Emerging Disruptive Technologies creates profound strategic asymmetries in hybrid threats, as defenders must prepare for unknown capabilities while attackers exploit breakthroughs. This research introduces a new model to analyze how technological uncertainty transforms optimal strategies for defensive actors, proving essential for developing robust strategies as the pace of technological innovation accelerates and the window between innovation and weaponization narrows.
In this work, technological uncertainty is modelled as a stochastic evolutionary process, focusing on the defender's challenge of resource allocation. Through a parametrized model design, the framework provides high customisability for different scenarios and technology-specific insights relevant for developing optimized allocations of defense resources. We compare a naive baseline resource allocation against an optimized allocation in a simulated scenario, showcasing the need for differentiated defense postures and providing actionable insights for national security planners facing unprecedented technological uncertainty. The experiments show a significant superiority of technology-tailored resource allocations, reducing overall attack impact and planning uncertainty.JRC.E.2 - Space, Connectivity and Economic Securit