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How the mole-rat lost its pain Pain alerts our bodies that something is amiss and typically we stop the pain-causing activity. Numerous species of plants and prey animals take advantage of this response by producing pain-causing substances that are released during predation attempts. In turn, species that encounter these substances often evolve ways of turning off the pain-producing mechanism. Eigenbrod et al. searched RNA transcripts in eight species of subterranean rodents related to pain-resistant naked mole-rats. They found multiple changes to ion channels involved in pain across the different species. Understanding such adaptations could elucidate pain mechanisms and help us develop approaches for pain relief. Science , this issue p. 852

Safe anaerobic metabolism Naked mole-rats live in large colonies deep underground in hypoxic conditions. Park et al. found that these animals fuel anaerobic glycolysis with fructose by a rewired pathway that avoids tissue damage (see the Perspective by Storz and McClelland). These results provide insight into the adaptations that this strange social rodent has to make for life underground. They also have implications for medical practice, particularly for understanding how to protect tissues from hypoxia. Science , this issue p. 307 ; see also p. 248

On 30 November 2016, over 70 junior researchers in computational biology from diverse countries met in Mainz, Germany, for the 1st Student Symposium on Computational Genomics. Overall, the symposium was a great success and featured four outstanding keynote lectures, nine selected student talks, and over 38 poster presentations. This report briefly highlights the scientific outcomes and activities of this student-driven event.