Introduction – Company Background

GuangXin Industrial Co., Ltd. is a specialized manufacturer dedicated to the development and production of high-quality insoles.

With a strong foundation in material science and footwear ergonomics, we serve as a trusted partner for global brands seeking reliable insole solutions that combine comfort, functionality, and design.

With years of experience in insole production and OEM/ODM services, GuangXin has successfully supported a wide range of clients across various industries—including sportswear, health & wellness, orthopedic care, and daily footwear.

From initial prototyping to mass production, we provide comprehensive support tailored to each client’s market and application needs.

At GuangXin, we are committed to quality, innovation, and sustainable development. Every insole we produce reflects our dedication to precision craftsmanship, forward-thinking design, and ESG-driven practices.

By integrating eco-friendly materials, clean production processes, and responsible sourcing, we help our partners meet both market demand and environmental goals.

Core Strengths in Insole Manufacturing

At GuangXin Industrial, our core strength lies in our deep expertise and versatility in insole and pillow manufacturing. We specialize in working with a wide range of materials, including PU (polyurethane), natural latex, and advanced graphene composites, to develop insoles and pillows that meet diverse performance, comfort, and health-support needs.

Whether it's cushioning, support, breathability, or antibacterial function, we tailor material selection to the exact requirements of each project-whether for foot wellness or ergonomic sleep products.

We provide end-to-end manufacturing capabilities under one roof—covering every stage from material sourcing and foaming, to precision molding, lamination, cutting, sewing, and strict quality control. This full-process control not only ensures product consistency and durability, but also allows for faster lead times and better customization flexibility.

With our flexible production capacity, we accommodate both small batch custom orders and high-volume mass production with equal efficiency. Whether you're a startup launching your first insole or pillow line, or a global brand scaling up to meet market demand, GuangXin is equipped to deliver reliable OEM/ODM solutions that grow with your business.

Customization & OEM/ODM Flexibility

GuangXin offers exceptional flexibility in customization and OEM/ODM services, empowering our partners to create insole products that truly align with their brand identity and target market. We develop insoles tailored to specific foot shapes, end-user needs, and regional market preferences, ensuring optimal fit and functionality.

Our team supports comprehensive branding solutions, including logo printing, custom packaging, and product integration support for marketing campaigns. Whether you're launching a new product line or upgrading an existing one, we help your vision come to life with attention to detail and consistent brand presentation.

With fast prototyping services and efficient lead times, GuangXin helps reduce your time-to-market and respond quickly to evolving trends or seasonal demands. From concept to final production, we offer agile support that keeps you ahead of the competition.

Quality Assurance & Certifications

Quality is at the heart of everything we do. GuangXin implements a rigorous quality control system at every stage of production—ensuring that each insole meets the highest standards of consistency, comfort, and durability.

We provide a variety of in-house and third-party testing options, including antibacterial performance, odor control, durability testing, and eco-safety verification, to meet the specific needs of our clients and markets.

Our products are fully compliant with international safety and environmental standards, such as REACH, RoHS, and other applicable export regulations. This ensures seamless entry into global markets while supporting your ESG and product safety commitments.

ESG-Oriented Sustainable Production

At GuangXin Industrial, we are committed to integrating ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) values into every step of our manufacturing process. We actively pursue eco-conscious practices by utilizing eco-friendly materials and adopting low-carbon production methods to reduce environmental impact.

To support circular economy goals, we offer recycled and upcycled material options, including innovative applications such as recycled glass and repurposed LCD panel glass. These materials are processed using advanced techniques to retain performance while reducing waste—contributing to a more sustainable supply chain.

We also work closely with our partners to support their ESG compliance and sustainability reporting needs, providing documentation, traceability, and material data upon request. Whether you're aiming to meet corporate sustainability targets or align with global green regulations, GuangXin is your trusted manufacturing ally in building a better, greener future.

Let’s Build Your Next Insole Success Together

Looking for a reliable insole manufacturing partner that understands customization, quality, and flexibility? GuangXin Industrial Co., Ltd. specializes in high-performance insole production, offering tailored solutions for brands across the globe. Whether you're launching a new insole collection or expanding your existing product line, we provide OEM/ODM services built around your unique design and performance goals.

From small-batch custom orders to full-scale mass production, our flexible insole manufacturing capabilities adapt to your business needs. With expertise in PU, latex, and graphene insole materials, we turn ideas into functional, comfortable, and market-ready insoles that deliver value.

Contact us today to discuss your next insole project. Let GuangXin help you create custom insoles that stand out, perform better, and reflect your brand’s commitment to comfort, quality, and sustainability.

🔗 Learn more or get in touch:
🌐 Website: https://www.deryou-tw.com/
📧 Email: shela.a9119@msa.hinet.net
📘 Facebook: facebook.com/deryou.tw
📷 Instagram: instagram.com/deryou.tw

Innovative pillow ODM solution in Taiwan

Are you looking for a trusted and experienced manufacturing partner that can bring your comfort-focused product ideas to life? GuangXin Industrial Co., Ltd. is your ideal OEM/ODM supplier, specializing in insole production, pillow manufacturing, and advanced graphene product design.

With decades of experience in insole OEM/ODM, we provide full-service manufacturing—from PU and latex to cutting-edge graphene-infused insoles—customized to meet your performance, support, and breathability requirements. Our production process is vertically integrated, covering everything from material sourcing and foaming to molding, cutting, and strict quality control.Graphene insole OEM factory Taiwan

Beyond insoles, GuangXin also offers pillow OEM/ODM services with a focus on ergonomic comfort and functional innovation. Whether you need memory foam, latex, or smart material integration for neck and sleep support, we deliver tailor-made solutions that reflect your brand’s values.

We are especially proud to lead the way in ESG-driven insole development. Through the use of recycled materials—such as repurposed LCD glass—and low-carbon production processes, we help our partners meet sustainability goals without compromising product quality. Our ESG insole solutions are designed not only for comfort but also for compliance with global environmental standards.Breathable insole ODM innovation factory Taiwan

At GuangXin, we don’t just manufacture products—we create long-term value for your brand. Whether you're developing your first product line or scaling up globally, our flexible production capabilities and collaborative approach will help you go further, faster.Insole ODM factory in China

📩 Contact us today to learn how our insole OEM, pillow ODM, and graphene product design services can elevate your product offering—while aligning with the sustainability expectations of modern consumers.Breathable insole ODM development Taiwan

A groundbreaking study maps the genetic relationships of over 9,500 flowering plant species, creating an advanced tree of life that enhances our understanding of their evolutionary history and potential uses in various scientific fields. Credit: SciTechDaily.com The largest-ever tree of life for flowering plants has been constructed by sequencing the DNA of more than 9,500 species, charting the evolutionary and genetic connections among these plants. A recent study published in the journal Nature, authored by an international team of 279 researchers, including three scientists from the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), offers the latest insights into the evolutionary and genetic relationships among flowering plants. These plants account for approximately 90 percent of all known plant species. Using 1.8 billion letters of genetic code from over 9,500 species covering almost 8,000 plant genera (groups of closely related species), the research team was able to create the most detailed tree of life—a graphic depiction of species relationships similar to a genealogical family tree—to date for this group of plants, shedding new light on the evolutionary history of flowering plants and their rise to ecological dominance on Earth. The study’s authors believe the data will aid future attempts to identify new species, refine plant classification, uncover new medicinal compounds, and conserve plants in the face of the dual biodiversity and climate crises. Contributing to this major milestone in plant science were Fabián Michelangeli, Ph.D., Abess Curator of Tropical Botany and Director of NYBG’s Institute of Systematic Botany; Gregory M. Plunkett, Ph.D., Director and Curator of NYBG’s Cullman Program for Molecular Systematics; and John D. Mitchell, NYBG Affiliated Scientist. An international team of researchers, including three New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) scientists, used genetic code from more than 9,500 flowering plant species to create the most detailed evolutionary tree of life for this group of plants to date. Credit: RBG Kew “While the main goals of this large-scale project were to understand the relationships of all flowering plant genera, it also sheds light on the timing of major events in the evolution of complex flower forms and life histories,” Dr. Michelangeli said. “Large analyses such as this can provide context for conservation strategies, sustainable agriculture, and many other applications that need basic biodiversity knowledge. Understanding how organisms are related is the building block of all biodiversity science and applications.” The research team—led by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and involving 138 organizations internationally—used 15 times more data than any comparable studies of the flowering plant tree of life. Among the species included in the study, the DNA of more than 800 had never been sequenced before. The sheer amount of data unlocked by this research, which would take a single computer 18 years to process, is a huge stride towards building a tree of life for all 330,000 known species of flowering plants. Drs. Michelangeli and Plunkett and Mr. Mitchell provided expertise on the plant families they study as well as expertly identified samples for a variety of plant groups, with a large proportion coming from the Melastomataceae family of tropical plants, which is Dr. Michelangeli’s specialty, and the Apiaceae (parsley or carrot) and Araliaceae (ginseng) families, which Dr. Plunkett studies. Unlocking Historic Herbarium Specimens for Cutting-Edge Research The flowering plant tree of life, much like a family tree, enables scientists to understand how different species are related to each other. The tree of life is uncovered by comparing DNA sequences between different species to identify changes (mutations) that accumulate over time like a molecular fossil record. Science’s understanding of the tree of life is improving rapidly in tandem with advances in DNA-sequencing technology. For this study, new genomic techniques were developed to magnetically capture hundreds of genes and hundreds of thousands of letters of genetic code from every sample, orders of magnitude more than earlier methods. A key advantage of the team’s approach is that it enables a wide diversity of plant material, old and new, to be sequenced, even when the DNA is badly damaged. The vast treasure troves of dried, preserved plants in the world’s herbarium collections, which comprise nearly 400 million specimens, can now be studied genetically. Using such specimens, the team successfully sequenced a sandwort (Arenaria globiflora) collected nearly 200 years ago in Nepal and, despite the poor quality of its DNA, were able to place it on the tree of life. The team even analyzed extinct plants, such has the Guadalupe Island olive (Hesperelaea palmeri), which has not been seen alive since 1875. In fact, 511 of the species sequenced are already at risk of extinction, according to the Red List, the authoritative compilation of the world’s threatened plant, fungal, and animal species maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Across all 9,506 species sequenced, over 3,400 came from material sourced from 163 herbaria in 48 countries. Additional material from plant collections around the world such as DNA banks, seeds, and living collections have been vital for filling key knowledge gaps to shed new light on the history of flowering plant evolution. The team also benefited from publicly available data for over 1,900 species, highlighting the value of the open-science approach to future genomic research. Illuminating Darwin’s “Abominable Mystery” Flowering plants account for about 90 percent of all known plant life on land and are found virtually everywhere on the planet—from the steamiest tropics to the rocky outcrops of the Antarctic Peninsula. And yet our understanding of how these plants came to dominate the scene soon after their origin has baffled scientists for generations, including Charles Darwin. Flowering plants originated over 140 million years ago after which they rapidly overtook other vascular plants, including their closest living relatives—the gymnosperms, non-flowering plants that have naked seeds such as cycads, conifers, and ginkgo. Darwin was mystified by the seemingly sudden appearance of such diversity in the fossil record. In an 1879 letter to Joseph Dalton Hooker, his close confidant and Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, he wrote, “The rapid development as far as we can judge of all the higher plants within recent geological times is an abominable mystery.” Using 200 fossils, the researchers scaled their tree of life to time, revealing how flowering plants evolved across geological time. They found that early flowering plants exploded in diversity, giving rise to over 80 percent of the major lineages that exist today shortly after their origin. However, this trend then declined to a steadier rate for the next 100 million years until another surge in diversification about 40 million years ago, coinciding with a global decline in temperatures. These new insights would have fascinated Darwin and will surely help today’s scientists grappling with the challenges of understanding how and why species diversify. Assembling a tree of life this extensive would have been impossible without the collaboration of scientists across the globe. In total, 279 authors were involved in the research, representing many different nationalities from 138 organizations in 27 countries. International collaborators shared their unique botanical expertise as well as many invaluable plant samples from around the world that could not be obtained without their help. The comprehensive nature of the tree is in no small part a result of this wide-ranging partnership. “Efforts like this show how the international scientific community can come together to collaborate and produce something that no one research group or institution can do alone,” Dr. Michelangeli said. Putting the Flowering Plant Tree of Life to Good Use The flowering plant tree of life has enormous potential in biodiversity research. This is because, just as one can predict the properties of an element based on its position in the periodic table, the location of a species in the tree of life allows scientists to predict its properties. The new data will thus be invaluable for enhancing many areas of science and beyond. To enable this, the tree and all of the data that underpin it have been made openly and freely accessible to both the public and scientific community, including through the Kew Tree of Life Explorer. The study’s authors believe such open access is key to democratizing access to scientific data across the globe. Open access will also help scientists to make the best use of the data such as combining it with artificial intelligence to predict which plant species may include molecules with medicinal potential. Similarly, the tree of life can be used to better understand and predict how pests and diseases might affect the world’s plants in the future. Ultimately, the authors note, the applications of the data will be driven by the ingenuity of scientists. Reference: “Phylogenomics and the rise of the angiosperms” by Alexandre R. Zuntini, Tom Carruthers, Olivier Maurin, Paul C. Bailey, Kevin Leempoel, Grace E. Brewer, Niroshini Epitawalage, Elaine Françoso, Berta Gallego-Paramo, Catherine McGinnie, Raquel Negrão, Shyamali R. Roy, Lalita Simpson, Eduardo Toledo Romero, Vanessa M. A. Barber, Laura Botigué, James J. Clarkson, Robyn S. Cowan, Steven Dodsworth, Matthew G. Johnson, Jan T. Kim, Lisa Pokorny, Norman J. Wickett, Guilherme M. Antar, Lucinda DeBolt, Karime Gutierrez, Kasper P. Hendriks, Alina Hoewener, Ai-Qun Hu, Elizabeth M. Joyce, Izai A. B. S. Kikuchi, Isabel Larridon, Drew A. Larson, Elton John de Lírio, Jing-Xia Liu, Panagiota Malakasi, Natalia A. S. Przelomska, Toral Shah, Juan Viruel, Theodore R. Allnutt, Gabriel K. Ameka, Rose L. Andrew, Marc S. Appelhans, Montserrat Arista, María Jesús Ariza, Juan Arroyo, Watchara Arthan, Julien B. Bachelier, C. Donovan Bailey, Helen F. Barnes, Matthew D. Barrett, Russell L. Barrett, Randall J. Bayer, Michael J. Bayly, Ed Biffin, Nicky Biggs, Joanne L. Birch, Diego Bogarín, Renata Borosova, Alexander M. C. Bowles, Peter C. Boyce, Gemma L. C. Bramley, Marie Briggs, Linda Broadhurst, Gillian K. Brown, Jeremy J. Bruhl, Anne Bruneau, Sven Buerki, Edie Burns, Margaret Byrne, Stuart Cable, Ainsley Calladine, Martin W. Callmander, Ángela Cano, David J. Cantrill, Warren M. Cardinal-McTeague, Mónica M. Carlsen, Abigail J. A. Carruthers, Alejandra de Castro Mateo, Mark W. Chase, Lars W. Chatrou, Martin Cheek, Shilin Chen, Maarten J. M. Christenhusz, Pascal-Antoine Christin, Mark A. Clements, Skye C. Coffey, John G. Conran, Xavier Cornejo, Thomas L. P. Couvreur, Ian D. Cowie, Laszlo Csiba, Iain Darbyshire, Gerrit Davidse, Nina M. J. Davies, Aaron P. Davis, Kor-jent van Dijk, Stephen R. Downie, Marco F. Duretto, Melvin R. Duvall, Sara L. Edwards, Urs Eggli, Roy H. J. Erkens, Marcial Escudero, Manuel de la Estrella, Federico Fabriani, Michael F. Fay, Paola de L. Ferreira, Sarah Z. Ficinski, Rachael M. Fowler, Sue Frisby, Lin Fu, Tim Fulcher, Mercè Galbany-Casals, Elliot M. Gardner, Dmitry A. German, Augusto Giaretta, Marc Gibernau, Lynn J. Gillespie, Cynthia C. González, David J. Goyder, Sean W. Graham, Aurélie Grall, Laura Green, Bee F. Gunn, Diego G. Gutiérrez, Jan Hackel, Thomas Haevermans, Anna Haigh, Jocelyn C. Hall, Tony Hall, Melissa J. Harrison, Sebastian A. Hatt, Oriane Hidalgo, Trevor R. Hodkinson, Gareth D. Holmes, Helen C. F. Hopkins, Christopher J. Jackson, Shelley A. James, Richard W. Jobson, Gudrun Kadereit, Imalka M. Kahandawala, Kent Kainulainen, Masahiro Kato, Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Graham J. King, Beata Klejevskaja, Bente B. Klitgaard, Ronell R. Klopper, Sandra Knapp, Marcus A. Koch, James H. Leebens-Mack, Frederic Lens, Christine J. Leon, Étienne Léveillé-Bourret, Gwilym P. Lewis, De-Zhu Li, Lan Li, Sigrid Liede-Schumann, Tatyana Livshultz, David Lorence, Meng Lu, Patricia Lu-Irving, Jaquelini Luber, Eve J. Lucas, Manuel Luján, Mabel Lum, Terry D. Macfarlane, Carlos Magdalena, Vidal F. Mansano, Lizo E. Masters, Simon J. Mayo, Kristina McColl, Angela J. McDonnell, Andrew E. McDougall, Todd G. B. McLay, Hannah McPherson, Rosa I. Meneses, Vincent S. F. T. Merckx, Fabián A. Michelangeli, John D. Mitchell, Alexandre K. Monro, Michael J. Moore, Taryn L. Mueller, Klaus Mummenhoff, Jérôme Munzinger, Priscilla Muriel, Daniel J. Murphy, Katharina Nargar, Lars Nauheimer, Francis J. Nge, Reto Nyffeler, Andrés Orejuela, Edgardo M. Ortiz, Luis Palazzesi, Ariane Luna Peixoto, Susan K. Pell, Jaume Pellicer, Darin S. Penneys, Oscar A. Perez-Escobar, Claes Persson, Marc Pignal, Yohan Pillon, José R. Pirani, Gregory M. Plunkett, Robyn F. Powell, Ghillean T. Prance, Carmen Puglisi, Ming Qin, Richard K. Rabeler, Paul E. J. Rees, Matthew Renner, Eric H. Roalson, Michele Rodda, Zachary S. Rogers, Saba Rokni, Rolf Rutishauser, Miguel F. de Salas, Hanno Schaefer, Rowan J. Schley, Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn, Alison Shapcott, Ihsan Al-Shehbaz, Kelly A. Shepherd, Mark P. Simmons, André O. Simões, Ana Rita G. Simões, Michelle Siros, Eric C. Smidt, James F. Smith, Neil Snow, Douglas E. Soltis, Pamela S. Soltis, Robert J. Soreng, Cynthia A. Sothers, Julian R. Starr, Peter F. Stevens, Shannon C. K. Straub, Lena Struwe, Jennifer M. Taylor, Ian R. H. Telford, Andrew H. Thornhill, Ifeanna Tooth, Anna Trias-Blasi, Frank Udovicic, Timothy M. A. Utteridge, Jose C. Del Valle, G. Anthony Verboom, Helen P. Vonow, Maria S. Vorontsova, Jurriaan M. de Vos, Noor Al-Wattar, Michelle Waycott, Cassiano A. D. Welker, Adam J. White, Jan J. Wieringa, Luis T. Williamson, Trevor C. Wilson, Sin Yeng Wong, Lisa A. Woods, Roseina Woods, Stuart Worboys, Martin Xanthos, Ya Yang, Yu-Xiao Zhang, Meng-Yuan Zhou, Sue Zmarzty, Fernando O. Zuloaga, Alexandre Antonelli, Sidonie Bellot, Darren M. Crayn, Olwen M. Grace, Paul J. Kersey, Ilia J. Leitch, Hervé Sauquet, Stephen A. Smith, Wolf L. Eiserhardt, Félix Forest and William J. Baker, 24 April 2024, Nature. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07324-0

Artistic reconstruction of Utaurora comosa from the Wheeler Formation, Utah, USA (Cambrian: Drumian). Credit: Artwork by F. Anthony Utaurora comosa has been reclassified from a radiodont to an opabiniid, revealing new insights into Cambrian arthropod diversity and evolution. In his book Wonderful Life, the late Stephen Jay Gould, former professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, popularized the “weird wonder” stem-group arthropods Opabinia and Anomalocaris, discovered in the Cambrian Burgess Shale, turning them into icons in popular culture. While the “terror of the Cambrian’ Anomalocaris – with its radial mouth and spiny grasping appendages – is a radiodont with many relatives, the five-eyed Opabinia – with its distinctive frontal proboscis – remains the only opabiniid ever discovered. That is, until now. An international team of researchers led by Harvard University confirm that a specimen previously considered a radiodont is in fact an opabiniid. The new study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B used novel and robust phylogenetic methods to confirm Utaurora comosa as only the second opabiniid ever discovered and the first in over a century. Utaurora comosa from the Wheeler Formation, Utah, USA (Cambrian: Drumian). Holotype and only known specimen, accessioned at the Division of Invertebrate Paleontology in the Biodiversity Institute at the University of Kansas. Credit: Photograph by S. Pates Utaurora comosa, found in the 500 million-year-old middle Cambrian Wheeler Formation of Utah, was first described in 2008 as a radiodont. Co-lead author Stephen Pates, former postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB) at Harvard, first encountered the specimen at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute & Natural History Museum while a graduate student. Pates was studying the diversity of radiodonts and felt this specimen did not exactly fit with a true radiodont. Upon joining senior author Professor Javier Ortega-Hernández’s lab in OEB, Pates worked with co-lead author Jo Wolfe, postdoctoral fellow in OEB who studies the relationships of fossil and living arthropods, to determine where Utaurora best fit in the tree of life. Morphological Characteristics of Utaurora Opabiniids are the first group to have a posterior-facing mouth. Their dorsal intersegmental furrows are precursors to full body segmentation and their lateral swimming flaps precursors to appendages. Utaurora shares characters and morphology with both radiodonts and Opabinia. While Utaurora’s anterior structure and eyes were poorly preserved – Opabinia is most recognizable from its frontal proboscis and five eyes, the intersegmental furrows along the back and the paired serrated spines on the tail were fully observed.  Limited morphological observations led Pates and Wolfe to use phylogenetic analysis comparing Utaurora with 43 fossils and 11 living taxa of arthropods, radiodonts, and other panarthropods. “The initial phylogenetic analysis showed it was most closely related to Opabinia,” Wolfe said. “We followed up with more tests to interrogate that result using different models of evolution and data sets to visualize the different kinds of relationships this fossil may have had.” Unlike Opabinia, which was discovered in the Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia in Canada, Utaurora was found in Utah and, though still Cambrian, is a few million years younger than Opabinia. “This means Opabinia was not the only opabiniid, Opabinia was not as unique a species as we thought,” Pates said. Revisiting the Dinocarid Concept and Evolutionary Insights When Utaurora was first described as a radiodont in 2008 scientists thought opabiniids and radiodonts formed a monophyletic group called ‘dinocarids.’ But over the past 10 to 15 years scientists have discovered over 10 new species of radiodonts, making it possible to see that opabiniids and radiodonts are slightly different. “We also have more phylogenetic tools to interrogate our results,” Pates said. “Based on the morphology alone you could make a case for Utaurora being a weird radiodont and also for bringing back the ‘dinocarid’ concept. But our phylogenetic dataset and analyses supported Utaurora as an opabiniid in 68% of the trees retrieved by analyzing the data, but only in 0.04% for a radiodont.” “Wonderful Life and the description of these fossils happened before current evolutionary paradigms. The similarities between Opabinia and Anomalocaris weren’t really understood yet,” Wolfe said. “Now we know that these animals represent extinct stages of evolution that are related to modern arthropods. And we have tools beyond qualitatively comparing morphological features for a more definitive placement within the  animal tree of life.” Reference: “New opabiniid diversifies the weirdest wonders of the euarthropod stem group” by Stephen Pates, Joanna M. Wolfe, Rudy Lerosey-Aubril, Allison C. Daley and Javier Ortega-Hernández, 9 February 2022, Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2093 Funding was provided by the Alexander Agassiz Postdoctoral Fellowship (Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard) and a Herchel Smith Postdoctoral Fellowship (University of Cambridge). Additional support was provided by the National Science Foundation (DEB-1856679). This study highlights the exceptional value of museum collections for facilitating new scientific discoveries. Co-lead authors Pates and Wolfe would like to thank the Division of Invertebrate Paleontology in the Biodiversity Institute at the University of Kansas. “We are blessed to have been the home to professors Dick Robison and Bert Rowell and their student Margaret (Peg) Rees, who are experts on rocks and fossils of the Cambrian system; they along with the Gunther family collected numerous important fossils now housed here. These specimens are an invaluable resource for paleontologists to study and can lead to exciting results and discoveries of the type presented here in this important new paper by Pates, Wolfe et al.” Said Professor Bruce Lieberman, Senior Curator.

An immune signal promotes the production of energy-burning beige fat, potentially leading to new ways to treat obesity and metabolic disorders. Cytokine increases production of “beige fat” to burn more cellular energy. An immune signal promotes the production of energy-burning “beige fat,” according to a new study published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Zhonghan Yang of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China, and colleagues. The finding may lead to new ways to reduce obesity and treat metabolic disorders. The beige color in beige fat comes from its high concentration of mitochondria, the cell’s powerhouses. Mitochondria burn high-energy molecules like fats and sugars with oxygen, releasing energy. Normally, that energy is stored as ATP, the energy currency that the cell uses for almost all its activities. But in beige fat, mitochondria accumulate a protein called “uncoupling protein-1” that limits ATP production, generating heat instead. Babies are born with “brown fat,” a similar tissue concentrated in the shoulder region, which helps them stay warm, but brown fat is gradually lost with age. Not-so-beige fat is more widely distributed and can be generated throughout life in response to both cold and neuronal or hormonal stimulation. Recent work, including by the authors of the new study, has revealed that cytokines—immune system signaling molecules—play a role in regulation of beige fat. To explore that regulation further, the authors manipulated levels of the cytokine interleukin-25, and showed that an increase in the cytokine could mimic the effects of both cold and stimulation of a hormone receptor in increasing the production of beige fat in mice. They traced the signaling chain further, showing that IL-25 exerted its effects through two other cytokines, which in turn regulated immune cells called macrophages. Those cells acted on neurons that terminate in the beige fat tissue, promoting an increase in production of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which was already known to promote beige fat production. Thus, the authors’ work revealed the sequence of regulatory signals that begins with IL-25 and ends with release of norepinephrine and an increase in beige fat. Finally, the authors showed that administering IL-25 to mice that were eating a high-fat diet prevented them from becoming obese and improved their ability to maintain their responsiveness to insulin, which is impaired in chronic obesity. “Our results show that interleukin-25 plays a key role in production of beige fat,” Yang said, “and point toward increasing interleukin-25 signaling as a potential treatment for obesity.” Reference: “IL-25–induced shifts in macrophage polarization promote development of beige fat and improve metabolic homeostasis in mice” by Lingyi Li, Lei Ma, Zewei Zhao, Shiya Luo, Baoyong Gong, Jin Li, Juan Feng, Hui Zhang, Weiwei Qi, Ti Zhou, Xia Yang, Guoquan Gao and Zhonghan Yang, 5 August 2021, PLOS Biology. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001348 Funding: This work was funded by the National Nature Science Foundation of China(grant number No: 81570764, 81770808, 81701414, 81872165 and 81871211), National Key R&D Program of China (grant number No. 2018YFA0800403), Guangdong Provincial Key R&D Program (grant number No: 2018B030337001 and 2019B020227003), Key Project of Nature Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (grant number No. 2019B1515120077), Guangdong Natural Science Fund (grant number No: 2019A1515011810 and 2020A1515010365), Guangdong Science and Technology Project (grant number No. 2017A020215075), Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Clinical Translation Research of Hakka Population (grant number No. 2018B030322003KF01), Guangzhou Science and Technology Project (grant number No: 201807010069, 201803010017 and 202002020022) and Shenzhen Science and Technology Project (grant number No. JCYJ20190807154205627) received by Weiwei Qi, Ti Zhou, Xia Yang, Guoquan Gao and Zhonghan Yang. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

DVDV1551RTWW78V