Researchers at VIB, Ghent University, and VUB have uncovered how two proteins essential for immune cell development work together at the molecular level. The findings provide important insights into a critical mechanism that mediates the integration of molecular signals received from immunological threats. Their work appears in Nature Communications.

T cells undergo a strict selection process in the thymus before they become fully functional. This ensures that healthy T cells can recognize immunological threats while avoiding attacks against the body’s own tissues. Dysregulation of this process can contribute to autoimmune diseases or immune deficiencies.

For nearly two decades, scientists have known that a protein called Themis is essential for this developmental checkpoint. However, exactly how Themis worked at the molecular level remained unclear.

In 2023, philosopher Philip Goff posed a deceptively simple question on X (formerly known as Twitter): “Do electrons exists?” Physicists, philosophers, and a wide range of commentators responded in droves. Their reactions ranged from curt dismissals to insightful reflections on the nature of scientific knowledge. Against this lively backdrop, three academics conducted a formal investigation into how physicists might answer the question.

Céline Henne is a philosopher working on the epistemology and philosophy of language at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Hannah Tomczyk, a physicist at HighFinesse in Germany, specialized in the history and philosophy of science at the University of Cambridge in the UK. Christoph Sperber is a data scientist at Tübingen University Hospital in Germany. Together, they surveyed 384 physicists, publishing their findings under the title “Physicists’ Views on Scientific Realism” [1]. Henne and Tomczyk spoke to Physics Magazine about scientific realism—a philosophical position embraced by many physicists—and about alternative viewpoints.

All interviews are edited for brevity and clarity.