New York, NY, July 15, 2025—Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and collaborators have identified a previously overlooked protein, Epac1, as a key driver of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic and progressive lung-scarring disease. Their findings, demonstrated across cell cultures, preclinical models, and samples of human lung tissue, show that blocking Epac1 can slow the progression of the disease. Published in the July 7 online issue of European Respiratory ...

It turns out the Dark Ages weren’t all that dark! According to new research, medieval medicine was way more sophisticated than previously thought, and some of its remedies are trending today on TikTok.  A new international research project featuring faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York reveals that people in the Middle Ages weren’t cooped up in castles, wallowing in superstition. They were developing health practices based on the best knowledge they had at the time – some of which mirror modern wellness trends. “People were engaging with medicine on a much broader scale than had previously ...

Lucia Carvelli, Ph.D., associate professor of neuroscience at Florida Atlantic University’s Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College and a member of the FAU Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute, has received a $571,675 grant from the National Institutes of Health to advance critical research into how amphetamines affect brain function. Her work could pave the way for new therapies targeting substance use disorders and dopamine-related neurological conditions such as ADHD. Amphetamine and its derivatives – including methamphetamine – are among the most widely abused drugs worldwide. In the United States alone, more than 32,000 ...

Summary     Led by Assistant Professor Kou Li, a research group in Chuo University, Japan, has developed chemically enriched photo-thermoelectric (PTE) imagers using semiconducting carbon nanotube (CNT) films, resulting in the achievement of enhanced response intensity and noise reduction, that enables efficient remote and on-site inspections, according to a recent paper publication in Communications Materials. CNT film-based PTE imagers are crucial for multimodal non-destructive inspection, but conventional device ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Once upon a time – way back in the twentieth century – people got their laughs from reading comics in the newspaper.  Today, many of us get our chuckles by seeing (and sharing) humorous memes online.   But are these two cultural phenomena really that different? In a new article, comics scholar Michelle Ann Abate argues that memes are an important new type of digital comic.   “Memes use a lot of the same visual and verbal elements that go into a comic, and those elements function in a very similar way. So yes, memes ...

Sucrose is a vital energy source in plants. It also drives growth and serves as an important signaling molecule during stress and development. Sucrose is a key product of photosynthesis and the primary form of sugar used for long-distance transport in plants. As such, its movement through plant tissues reveals much about its internal state. Yet, despite its importance, tracking sucrose in real time within living plants remains a persistent challenge. One major challenge is the limited availability of in vivo sensors capable of capturing subtle physiological events, such as the movement of sucrose through plant tissues. Current ...

Immune checkpoints are regulatory proteins that prevent the immune system from attacking healthy tissues. Some cancer cells exploit these checkpoints to avoid immune detection. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)—a therapy that uses antibodies to block these deceptive signals—can unleash the immune system to destroy cancer. However, a major challenge in oncology remains: why do some tumors resist ICB? In a landmark study, researchers from Korea University have discovered a surprising answer: the protein WEE1, traditionally known as a cell cycle regulator and tumor suppressor, can paradoxically drive immune resistance when located in the cytoplasm of cancer ...

Ultrasound (US) imaging is a widely employed diagnostic tool used for real-time imaging of various organs and tissues using ultrasonic sound waves. The waves are sent into the body, and images are created based on how the waves reflect off internal tissues and organs. It is used for guiding many medical procedures, including biopsies and injections, and is important for dynamic monitoring of blood vessels. When the US is combined with photoacoustic (PA) imaging, where laser light pulses are used to produce sound waves in tissues, the resulting ...

Oak Brook, IL (July 11, 2025) – The Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) is pleased to announce the 2024 Journal Impact Factors (IF) for its two scientific journals, SLAS Discovery and SLAS Technology, as reported in the latest Journal Citation Reports (JCR) from Clarivate. SLAS Technology achieved a substantial increase, rising 1.2 points to 3.7, highlighting its growing influence in the fields of laboratory automation and technology. SLAS ...

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Bacteria that cause intestinal infections typically avoid a stinky chemical — one that can kill them at high enough concentrations — inside human intestines, but they may actually swim toward it when a hearty meal is the reward. “Imagine you’ve made a long journey and you’re starving,” said Arden Baylink, assistant professor. “You look for a place to eat, only to find it crowded with others and a line out the door. To make things worse, the crowd is hostile and pretty stinky. You face a dilemma: Is it worth staying to eat or should you leave?” This is the problem faced by disease-causing ...

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg and ETH Zürich have created the first integrated map detailing the metabolic and molecular changes in human blood stem cells as they age, specialize, or turn cancerous. Their innovative research, made possible by highly sensitive low-input techniques, identifies the nutrient choline, as a key player in preserving youthful stem cell traits. This work offers profound insights into stem cell health and disease, suggesting ...

Air pollution across the UK dropped between 2015 and 2024, but dangerous levels are still reached too often, shows new research published today (Tuesday, 15 July) in Environmental Science: Atmospheres. Scientists from the University of Reading studied pollution at more than 500 monitoring sites around the UK. They looked at three main types of air pollution which harm people's health. Two types of pollution got better over the decade. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is mainly produced by traffic, fell by 35% on average at monitoring sites. Fine particles called PM2.5, which are small enough to get deep into lungs, dropped ...

Magnetic hysteresis loss or iron loss is an important magnetic property that determines the efficiency of electric motors and is therefore critical for electric vehicles. It occurs when the magnetic field within the motor core, made up of soft magnetic materials, is repeatedly reversed due to the changing flow of current in the windings. This reversal forces tiny magnetic regions called magnetic domains to repeatedly change their magnetization direction. This change is, however, not perfectly efficient and results in energy loss. ...

New research explains how low levels of the electrolyte sodium in the blood can disrupt the timing of the heartbeat in patients taking widely used rhythm-control medications such as flecainide, which is commonly prescribed for atrial fibrillation and other fast or irregular heart rhythms. The study, by Virginia Tech researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in the journal Heart Rhythm, was conducted using guinea pig hearts and showed that blocking cardiac sodium channels with commonly prescribed medicine such as flecainide can make the heart’s electrical conduction unusually sensitive to even modest reductions ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Following a large-scale wildfire, more jaguars migrated to a study site in the Brazilian wetlands that already had the largest population density of jaguars in the world, a new study found. “Finding even more jaguars and other mammals in the study area following the 2020 wildfire and extreme drought suggests that it may serve as a climate refuge, buffering the effects of extreme climate events,” said Charlotte Eriksson, a post-doctoral scholar at Oregon State University. The 36,700-acre site is a seasonally ...

Can you imagine a life-saving molecule whose “twin” is a deadly poison? As surprising as it may seem, this chemical reality is known as “chirality”. Like a right hand and a left hand, two molecules can have the same composition, but a different shape and arrangement in space. And this difference can change everything. Understanding and controlling this phenomenon is crucial to drug design. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with the University of Pisa, has developed a new family of remarkably stable chiral molecules. This work opens up new prospects ...

A new paper in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, published by Oxford University Press, finds that efforts to eradicate invasive molluscs in Idaho’s Snake River may kill off valuable freshwater species. Dreissenid mussels such as zebra and quagga mussels are invasive aquatic species that disrupt freshwater ecosystems and cause major economic and social damage. In the United States, observers first found Dreissenid mussels in the Great Lakes, likely introduced via international shipping vessels, in 1988. In subsequent decades Dreissenid mussels spread to lakes and rivers throughout the eastern and central United States, causing dramatic shifts in food chains, collapsed fisheries, ...

Every day, your body replaces billions of cells—and yet, your tissues stay perfectly organized. How is that possible? A team of researchers at ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute and the University of Delaware believe they’ve found an answer. In a new study published today in the scientific journal Biology of the Cell, they show that just five basic rules may explain how the body maintains the complex structure of tissues like those in the colon, for example, even as its cells are constantly dying and being replaced. This research is the product of more than 15 years of collaboration between mathematicians and cancer biologists ...

NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands, 15 July 2025 – In a comprehensive Genomic Press perspective (peer-reviewed review) article, an international team of neuroscientists has outlined crucial validity standards that could transform how researchers use stem cell technology to study devastating brain disorders. The framework addresses a critical gap in translating laboratory discoveries into effective treatments for neuropsychiatric conditions that affect billions globally. Addressing the Translation Crisis Neuropsychiatric ...

Stroke is said to be the second leading cause of death worldwide after heart disease. To prevent the death of neurons in the brain, a research group led by Osaka Metropolitan University Associate Professor Hidemitsu Nakajima of the Graduate School of Veterinary Science has developed a drug that inhibits a protein involved in cell death.  The multifunctional protein GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) is linked to pathogenesis in many intractable brain and nervous system diseases. The team developed GAI-17, a GAPDH aggregation inhibitor. When this inhibitor was administered to model ...

by Rachael Frost Most people have heard of St John’s Wort and omega-3s. But did you know there are a lot more over-the-counter herbal products and supplements out there targeting depression? In our review of clinical trials of these products, we found 64 different over-the-counter (OTC) products that have been evaluated for depression – but with differing levels of evidence for each.   Why look at this topic?  Depression is increasingly common, to the extent that it is sometimes described as an ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2025 AT 12:01 AM ET  Survey Finds Americans Choose Short Term Relief for Neck and Back Pain Doctors say treatment should be individualized  ORLANDO, FL — New survey data from the Orlando Health Spine Center reveals a significant difference among Americans on how to manage neck and back pain. Respondents were split between relying on rest and reduced activity (44%), turning to over-the-counter pain relievers (42%), and hot/cold therapies (29%) — an uncertainty that may be discouraging some from seeking medical guidance. “We ...

A cancer diagnosis is a life-changing event for patients that can cause short- and long-term mental health concerns as they shift to living within a new timeline driven by weeks or months between medical follow-up appointments. A new survey conducted on behalf of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) highlights the widespread emotional impact of cancer, revealing what weighs heavy on the minds of adults when a loved one is diagnosed. Kevin Johns, MD, director ...

Scientists from the Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney have made a landmark discovery that could lead to safer and more effective gene therapies for a range of serious genetic disorders including Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Pompe disease and haemophilia. Published in the leading journal Cell, the study identifies a previously unknown gateway into human cells, a receptor called AAVR2, that gene therapy viruses use to deliver therapeutic genes. This newly uncovered pathway could allow lower ...

A research team has discovered an electrochemical method that allows highly selective para-position single-carbon insertion into polysubstituted pyrroles. Their approach has important applications in synthetic organic chemistry, especially in the field of pharmaceuticals. Their work is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on July 14. “We set out to address the longstanding challenge of achieving single-carbon insertion into aromatic rings with precise positional control,” said Mahito Atobe, Professor, Faculty of Engineering, YOKOHAMA National University. Transformations that modify ...