The fluid and abstract forms in nature have the power to inspire both scientific breakthroughs and avant-garde art. This month’s Snapshot straddles precisely that boundary; an image depicting a key discovery in the regulation of human fertility, yet one which, to the artistic eye, evokes the organic growth of Jean Arp’s sculptures.

To analyse this snapshot, which forms part of a study published in the journal Science, we draw on a combination of artistic and scientific perspectives. The scientific focus is provided by Eva González Suárez, the study’s director, researcher and Leader of the Transformation and Metastasis Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO),

The weather’s getting warmer so you step outside and spring’s in the air; everything’s green, bright and blooming. You take a deep breath and… you sneeze. With the arrival of the new season, one word is on everyone’s lips wherever you go: allergy. 

But what many people experience as a seasonal nuisance is actually a condition afflicting an increasing number of people all year round. The fact is that allergies have risen dramatically in recent decades and are still far from reaching their peak. Today, it’s estimated that allergic rhinitis affects 32% of Europe’s population, whilst the World Health Organisation estimates this figure could reach 50% of the global population by 2050.

Held in Barcelona, the two-day event gathered foundations and research leaders to discuss governance, sustainability, and the role of philanthropy in research centres.

A Research Forum organised by Philea (Philanthropy Europe Association) took place in Barcelona on 26–27 March 2026, bringing together representatives from foundations and research organisations across Europe to reflect on the governance of philanthropy-funded research centres and share experiences from different institutional models. Held at CosmoCaixa Science Museum and just ahead of the inauguration of the CaixaResearch Institute, the event provided a particularly relevant setting for Fundación ”la Caixa” to contribute to this European conversation — both as host and participant — sharing its experience in supporting research and opening a dialogue around the development of the CaixaResearch Institute as one of its most recent initiatives.

More than 190 million women worldwide, and over a million in Spain, suffer from endometriosis. However, despite affecting 1 in 10 women of reproductive age, this chronic, systemic and inflammatory condition remains one of the least understood, with significant delays in its diagnosis. In many cases, it can take up to ten years for patients to obtain an explanation for symptoms that have a profound impact on their physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health.

Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the inner lining of the uterus, the endometrium, grows outside it, particularly on the ovaries, the uterine ligaments, the bladder or the intestine. Although it’s in the wrong place, this tissue still responds to the hormones of the menstrual cycle,

Every day we make hundreds of decisions: choosing a certain path, stopping at a traffic light, trusting someone or not… And the curious thing is that many of these decisions are made before we’re even aware of them. It’s as if our brain had a kind of autopilot that enables us to act quickly, guiding our choices almost imperceptibly. But do we know how it works and why it decides what it does? Are we truly free, or are we dependent on it?

Behind every decision lie invisible, complex processes that researchers such as Joseph Paton, Director of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme and Principal Investigator at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon,