(ORLANDO, Dec. 6, 2025) Taking the sickle cell drug hydroxyurea during or shortly before pregnancy does not appear to cause specific issues in newborns, according to the first prospective study of pregnancies involving hydroxyurea exposure. Since there may yet be undocumented effects, the authors still recommend discontinuing the drug before pregnancy, if possible. However, the findings offer reassurance that hydroxyurea exposure may not cause harm when unplanned pregnancies occur or when the drug is the only or best option ...

(ORLANDO, Dec. 6, 2025) Patients who underwent hematopoietic cell transplantation for sickle cell disease saw high rates of survival without disease symptoms and low rates of severe side effects or complications years after their procedure, according to a new study. The study included over 1,000 patients, representing the largest and most comprehensive analysis of long-term transplant outcomes to date in people living with sickle cell disease. “A majority of patients in this cohort are alive; the transplant worked so they no longer show symptoms of their sickle cell disease, and most have had no late effects post-transplant,” said lead study author Elizabeth Stenger, ...

(ORLANDO, Dec. 6, 2025) The first study assessing the real-world commercial roll-out of gene therapies for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia offers lessons learned to inform best practices as manufacturers and medical centers prepare to meet growing demand for gene therapies in the coming years. “Gene therapy requires system-level coordination and close collaboration across patients, treatment centers, payers, and manufacturers,” said study author Joanne Lager, MD, chief medical officer at Genetix Biotherapeutics Inc. “The demand for these one-time durable gene ...

(ORLANDO, Dec. 6, 2025) Preliminary results from two trials of the gene therapy exagamglogene autotemcel (exa-cel) suggest the therapy offers an effective cure for beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease in children younger than 12. Researchers say the therapy’s potential to offer a cure at an early age – before organ damage accumulates – could make exa-cel even more beneficial in children than adults. “All younger patients with sufficient follow-up met the primary endpoint of being transfusion independent in those with beta thalassemia and free of vaso-occlusive crises for those with sickle cell disease,” said ...

East Hanover, NJ – December 5, 2025 – The December 2025 National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) report shows that employment outcomes for working-aged people with disabilities remain near historic highs, despite broader economic uncertainty. nTIDE reporting was on hiatus while the federal government shutdown delayed the release of employment data, which only recently became available. Although employment and labor force participation edged down slightly in September, both measures continue to outperform year-to-year trends for workers without disabilities. Overall, the findings point to sustained labor market engagement among people with disabilities, ...

Interactions among viruses can help them succeed inside their hosts or impart vulnerabilities that make them easier to treat. Scientists are learning the ways viruses mingle inside the cells they infect, as well as the consequences of their socializing.  Ph.D. student Alexander J. Robertson in the Molecular & Cellular Biology program at the University of Washington is among those scientists.  “I study the evolution of antimicrobial resistance through mechanisms which require interaction between microbes,” he explained. This week he is the lead author of a paper in Nature Ecology & Evolution on that topic. Polioviruses ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – An international collaboration led by Cornell University researchers used a combination of psilocybin and the rabies virus to map how – and where – the psychedelic compound rewires the connections in the brain. Specifically, they showed psilocybin weakens the cortico-cortical feedback loops that can lock people into negative thinking. Psilocybin also strengthens pathways to subcortical regions that turn sensory perceptions into action, essentially enhancing sensory-motor responses. The ...

In November, The Lancet, one of the world’s most esteemed medical journals, launched a new monthly series of case studies that goes beyond clinical diagnoses to illuminate the social and cultural forces that contribute to each patient’s condition.  Clinical case studies have long been a fixture in medical journals and are a primary way doctors and other health professionals continue learning after their initial training. Typically, case studies are short summaries of a patient’s predicament alongside a clinician’s assessment, diagnosis, ...

Barrow Neurological Institute, University of Calgary study urges “major change” to migraine treatment in Emergency Departments Advises that injectable treatments must be offered, reducing reliance on opioids  PHOENIX – A new study by Phoenix’s Barrow Neurological Institute and the University of Calgary has found which injectable treatments showed the most benefit for migraine patients and should be routinely offered by Emergency Departments (ED) when feasible. The findings from the study will update the guidelines for the American Headache Society.  Based on a systematic review of clinical trial data, the study ...

HONOLULU, Dec. 5, 2025 — When a natural disaster strikes, time is of the essence if people are trapped under rubble. Conventional search-and-rescue methods use radar-based detection or employ acoustics that rely on sounds made by victims. Since most people carry their phones with them every day, Shogo Takada, a student at the University of Tokyo, is working on a way to use smartphone microphones to assist in locating disaster victims. Takada will present his results Friday, Dec. 5, at 11:45 a.m. HST as part of the Sixth Joint Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and Acoustical Society of Japan, running Dec. 1-5 in Honolulu, ...

A new study highlights a promising path toward sustainable hydrogen peroxide production using sunlight, oxygen, and water, offering a cleaner alternative to the energy-intensive anthraquinone process that dominates global manufacturing today. In a commentary published in Sustainable Carbon Materials, researchers Bing Han of North China Electric Power University and Yin Zhang of Nanyang Technological University discuss a recent advancement in covalent organic framework technologies that could reshape photocatalytic chemical synthesis. The featured work, led by Yang and colleagues, demonstrates how a rational redesign of catalyst structures can dramatically boost the efficiency ...

Researchers have developed a new material that captures harmful PFAS chemicals from water in a matter of seconds, offering a promising pathway to address one of today’s most persistent environmental threats. The study reports that a nitrate-intercalated layered double hydroxide can remove perfluorooctanoic acid, a widely detected PFAS contaminant, with an exceptional capacity of 1,702 milligrams per gram. PFAS, often called forever chemicals because of their extreme persistence, are commonly found in drinking water, soils, and even human blood. Traditional adsorbents such as activated carbon and biochar often struggle with limited ...

Plant derived phenolic acids can dramatically enhance the activity of existing antibiotics against multidrug resistant E. coli, offering a promising new tool in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance. In laboratory and insect models, these natural compounds helped an older antibiotic kill resistant bacteria more efficiently and reduced the chance that new resistance would emerge.​ “Instead of waiting many years and spending enormous resources to develop brand new antibiotics, we show that small molecules already present in plants can breathe new life into the drugs we rely on today,” ...

A new study from UNC-Chapel Hill researchers shows that advanced artificial intelligence tools, specifically large language models (LLMs), can accurately determine the locations where plant specimens were originally collected, a process known as georeferencing. This task has traditionally been slow, expensive and dependent on significant manual effort. The team found that LLMs can complete this work with near-human accuracy while being significantly faster and more cost-effective.  “Our ...

CROWN POINT, Ind. — OYE Therapeutics Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class intravenous caffeine-based therapies for anesthesia recovery and opioid-induced respiratory depression, has announced the successful close of its $5 million convertible note financing, positioning the company to enter clinical development. The company is headquartered at the Purdue Technology Center of Northwest Indiana. CEO Brett Dines said the round drew strong new investor participation and was oversubscribed to $5.6 million, reflecting sustained confidence ...

(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – December 5, 2025) When a cell receives a message from outside, it generates a molecule called cyclic AMP (cAMP) to relay this message. To ensure the signal reaches the correct effector without triggering pathways accidentally, cAMP levels must be maintained around their point of origin and at the right level. ABCC4, a protein that transports cAMP out of cells and also contributes to drug resistance, helps with this local control. Yet, how ABCC4 is held in place at the right spot to perform these functions was not clear. Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital revealed that global elevation ...

A Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) physics doctoral student has just been presented with a prestigious award for his pioneering research in quantum sensing using a unique atomic fountain. U.S. Navy Cmdr. Jens Berdahl, a former naval aviator and F/A-18 pilot currently pursuing his doctorate through the service’s Permanent Military Professor (PMP) program, was recently presented with the highly competitive Margaret Burbidge Award for Best Experimental Research by a Graduate Student.  Presented by the American Physical Society, Far West Section, Berdahl received the award while presenting his research on NPS’s ...

Astronomers have captured unprecedented, detailed images of two stellar explosions—known as novae—within days of their eruption. The breakthrough provides direct evidence that these explosions are more complex than previously thought, with multiple outflows of material and, in some cases, dramatic delays in the ejection process. The international study, published in Nature Astronomy, used a cutting-edge technique called interferometry at the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy, or CHARA, Array in California. This approach allowed scientists, including Michigan State University researcher Laura Chomiuk, to combine the light from multiple ...

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researchers have created a new carbon-negative building material that could transform sustainable construction. The breakthrough, published in the high-impact journal Matter, details the development of enzymatic structural material (ESM), a strong, durable, and recyclable construction material produced through a low-energy, bioinspired process. Led by Nima Rahbar, the Ralph H. White Family Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, the research team engineered ESM by using an enzyme that helps convert carbon dioxide into solid mineral particles. ...

Why does plastic turn brittle and paint fade when exposed to the sun for long periods? Scientists have long known that such organic photodegradation occurs due to the sun’s energy generating free radicals: molecules that have lost an electron to sunlight-induced ionization and have been left with an unpaired one, making them very eager to react with other molecules in the environment. However, the exact mechanisms for how and why the energy from the sun’s photons get stored and released in the materials over very long ...

***Under strict embargo until 14:00 (2:00 pm) U.S. Eastern Time Friday, 05 December 2025 *** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  New Research Highlights Syntax Bio’s Platform for Simple Yet Powerful Programming of Human Stem Cells The Science Advances publication details Cellgorithm™, a CRISPR-based technology that gives researchers greater control over gene activity and sets the stage for future applications in stem cell programming for research and therapeutic development. CHICAGO, Dec. 8, 2025 – Syntax Bio, a synthetic biology company programming the next generation of cell therapies, today announced the publication of new research in Science Advances detailing ...

Psycholinguists from the Center for Language and Brain found that phonological processing skills continue to influence text reading fluency in 15-to-18-year-old adolescents. This finding argues the long-held belief that in this age group the phonological processing skills are not involved in reading. The study was published in PLOS One.   Phoneme – is the smallest phonetic unit that helps to distinguish one word from another. Previously, it was stated that phonological processing skills (i.e., the ability to operate with phonemes) are required for early stages of reading development. However, researchers from the Center for Language and ...

Hospitals struggling to attract and retain enough registered nurses at the bedside are implementing alternative strategies to ensure patients get needed nursing care. This includes virtual nursing programs, a model of care in which nurses use video and messaging technologies to assess, monitor, educate, and coordinate care for hospitalized patients from an off-site location. A new study from the Penn Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR)—published in JAMA Network Open today—surveyed 880 in-hospital nurses about their experiences working alongside ...

On December 5, 2025, the Trump administration’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), whose members were handpicked by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary and vaccination critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is scheduled to determine whether it should recommend that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) change the recommendation in place since 1991 that newborns be vaccinated against hepatitis B. Infection with hepatitis B can cause liver damage (cirrhosis), liver cancer, and even death. Kennedy fired the members of ACIP ...

The University of Texas at Arlington and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport are expanding a multi-year partnership to improve stormwater management, environmental protection and long-term operational resilience at one of the world’s busiest airports. After completing the first phase of the project, DFW has extended its partnership with UTA’s Water Engineering Research Center (WERC) with a $2.38 million investment to build on its previous work by shifting from assessment to solutions. In total, DFW has committed more than $4 million to UTA under the interlocal agreement ...