Group 1 - The article highlights seven research papers published in the prestigious journal Cell during the week of September 1 to September 7, 2025, with four of them authored by Chinese scholars [3] - The first study discusses a newly discovered gene SCREP that drives the diversification of rose scent, revealing a multi-step process of its origin and its role in inhibiting the synthesis of the key aromatic compound eugenol [5][8] - The second study presents a breakthrough in the reprogramming of microspore fate, establishing a new technique for efficient in vivo haploid induction without stress treatment, highlighting the roles of the transcription factors BBM and BAR1 [10][12][13] Group 2 - The third study uncovers how cancer cells hijack iron-rich macrophages to promote bone metastasis and anemia, providing insights into potential therapies to mitigate these conditions [15][18] - The fourth study introduces a high-throughput, high-precision single-cell DNA and RNA multi-omics technology called wellDR-seq, which decodes the mechanisms of breast cancer progression by integrating single-cell genomes and transcriptomes [20][23]

Core Viewpoint - The research reveals a conserved BBM-BAR1 regulatory module that can directly drive the fate reprogramming of microspores from gametophyte development to embryogenesis, providing a revolutionary new method for efficient in vivo haploid induction in various crops, overcoming the long-standing technical bottleneck of stress treatment [9]. Group 1 - The study demonstrates that stress treatment induces the specific expression of the transcription factor BABY BOOM (BBM) in microspores, which is sufficient to induce fate change and embryogenesis in tobacco and rice microspores, indicating BBM as a key regulatory factor in stress-induced reprogramming [5][6]. - BAR1 (BBM-activated Androgenesis Regulator 1) is identified as a new downstream effector of BBM, capable of independently initiating the embryogenesis process in microspores, similar to the role of BBM in promoting fate reprogramming [5][7]. Group 2 - Ectopic expression of BBM in microspores can trigger in vivo male gametophyte development within anthers [7]. - The expression of BBM and BAR1 can replace the need for stress treatment in inducing male gametophyte development [7]. - The conserved BBM-BAR1 module enables efficient in vivo haploid induction across various crops [7].