A new UC Berkeley study shows that the so-called love hormone, oxytocin, is also critical for the formation of friendships. Oxytocin is released in the brain during sex, childbirth, breastfeeding and social interactions and contributes to feelings of attachment, closeness and trust. Never mind that it’s also associated with aggression; the hormone is commonly referred to as the "cuddle" or "happy" hormone, and people are encouraged to boost their oxytocin levels for better well-being by touching friends and loved ones, listening to music and exercising. But recent studies involving the prairie vole have ...

Tampa, FL, USA – The Global Virus Network (GVN), a coalition of leading human and animal virologists from 80+ Centers of Excellence and Affiliates in more than 40 countries dedicated to advancing pandemic preparedness, is unequivocally committed to the continued development and deployment of mRNA vaccines and the global scientific collaboration that makes such innovation possible. Vaccination remains one of public health’s greatest achievements, preventing an estimated 4.4 million deaths ...

Images    To help manage agricultural practices with fewer or no pesticides, University of Michigan researchers say they need to understand how ecological systems work on agricultural lands.   Now, U-M researchers John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto have used two ecological theories to describe a tangle of interactions between three ant species and a recently introduced fly that preys on one of the ant species. Their work on a coffee farm in Puerto Rico shows that the interaction between the ants and the predator fly creates chaotic patterns—chaos in ...

Water is essential for life on Earth. So, the liquid must be a requirement for life on other worlds. For decades, scientists’ definition of habitability on other planets has rested on this assumption.  But what makes some planets habitable might have very little to do with water. In fact, an entirely different type of liquid could conceivably support life in worlds where water can barely exist. That’s a possibility that MIT scientists raise in a study appearing this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  From lab experiments, the researchers found that a type of fluid known as an ionic liquid can readily ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – When cells expire, they leave behind an activity log of sorts: RNA expelled into blood plasma that reveal changes in gene expression, cellular signaling, tissue injury and other biological processes. Cornell University researchers developed machine-learning models that can sift through this cell-free RNA and identify key biomarkers for myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The approach could lead to the development of diagnostic testing for a debilitating disease that has proved challenging ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA – The cost of solar panels has dropped by more than 99 percent since the 1970s, enabling widespread adoption of photovoltaic systems that convert sunlight into electricity. A new MIT study drills down on specific innovations that enabled such dramatic cost reductions, revealing that technical advances across a web of diverse research efforts and industries played a pivotal role. The findings could help renewable energy companies make more effective R&D investment decisions and aid policymakers in identifying areas to prioritize to spur growth in manufacturing and deployment. The ...

Groundbreaking research led by a Swansea University academic has revealed a synthetic glycosystem — a sugar-coated polymer nanoparticle — that can block Covid-19 from infecting human cells, reducing infection rates by nearly 99%. The glycosystem is a specially designed particle that mimics natural sugars found on human cells. These sugars, known as polysialosides, are made of repeating units of sialic acid — structures that viruses often target to begin infection. By copying this structure, the synthetic molecule acts as a decoy, binding to the virus’s spike protein and preventing it from attaching to real cells. Unlike vaccines, which trigger immune responses, ...

Rice University computer scientist Luay Nakhleh, who also serves as the dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, has received a $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation to build a powerful new software infrastructure that could significantly expand how scientists study evolution. The project, titled PhyNetPy, aims to bring the next generation of evolutionary modeling tools into the hands of researchers around the world by enabling the widespread use of phylogenetic networks — complex, ...

A research team at McMaster University has discovered a new drug class that could someday lead to breakthrough treatments for dangerous fungal infections. The new molecules, dubbed coniotins, were isolated from a plant-dwelling fungus called Coniochaeta hoffmannii — the samples of which were collected from the McMaster greenhouse, located on the university’s campus. Detailed recently in the journal Nature Communications, the discovery responds to a critical need for new antifungal medicines.    “There is a huge, growing clinical need for new drugs that target fungal infections,” says Gerry Wright, a ...

Scientists have created new way to characterise graphene oxide (GO) cheaper and quicker than ever before, helping get the emerging technology out of the lab and into the market.  Researchers at King’s College London have designed an ‘interactional fingerprinting’ method that creates a unique identity of individual samples. By mimicking humans’ sense of taste and smell, the method can create a qualitative snapshot of the material without relying on inaccessible gold-standard measurement machinery manned by teams of specialists.   By promising a faster and cheaper way to quality control graphene oxide, the scientists ...

From lifelong farmers to backyard gardeners, most plant-lovers know that adding organic matter to a field, vegetable plot or flowerpot increases the soil’s moisture. Now, for the first time, Northwestern University scientists have uncovered the molecular mechanisms that enable organic matter to boost soil’s ability to retain water — even in desert-like conditions. Carbohydrates — key components of plants and microbes — act like a molecular glue, using water to form sticky bridges between organic molecules and soil minerals, the team found. These bridges lock in moisture that ...

A researcher at The University of Texas at Arlington is helping a leading national cancer center explore how wearable devices could help childhood cancer survivors avoid long-term health complications such as diabetes and heart disease. Yue Liao, assistant professor of kinesiology at UT Arlington, was invited by researchers at City of Hope, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, to contribute to a review article published in Cancer. The article examines how survivors of childhood cancer face elevated risks of chronic conditions such as diabetes and how digital health tools could help detect—and possibly prevent—these ...

A new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found big increases in the use of continuous glucose monitoring and insulin delivery devices by children and adults with type 1 diabetes over a 15-year period, with corresponding jumps in optimal blood-sugar control. For their study, the researchers used a large national database of de-identified electronic health records to analyze nearly 200,000 individuals with type 1 diabetes across five three-year periods from 2009 to 2023. The research team tracked individuals’ adoption of continuous ...

PHILADELPHIA – Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are tiny fat bubbles that are used to deliver medicines, genes, and RNA into cells. However, in some cases LNPs can cause harmful inflammation as a result of the process of RNA delivery. Now, two new solutions can help alleviate inflammation while still getting RNA where it needs to be in the cell. One discovery found that inflammation could be reduced with the addition of a unique biodegradable lipid to the treatment; another solution identified a common drug, called thiodigalactoside (TG), which blocked inflammation when added to the LNP. Today’s Nature Nanotechnology features this research from the Perelman ...

“These findings highlight that, in PC, RSPO2 functions as a unique member of the R-spondin family by promoting genes and signaling pathways associated with aggressive PC, and RSPO2 amplifications are associated with poor outcomes in PC patients.” BUFFALO, NY – August 11, 2025 – A new research paper was published in Volume 16 of Oncotarget on July 25, 2025, titled “Dissecting the functional differences and clinical features of R-spondin family members in metastatic prostate cancer.” In this study, researchers led by first ...

Oxytocin promotes social behaviors and helps maintain relationships. But clinical trials in patients with autism show variability in how consistently oxytocin improves these behaviors. Steve Chang, from Yale University, led a study to explore how oxytocin influences brain activity to shape social behavior in rhesus monkeys and why its effects are so variable. This work is featured in JNeurosci’s Central Questions for Social Neuroscience Research Special Collection.  The researchers focused on the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) because these brain areas process reward and integrate ...

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) released an update of its 2021 Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation today. The targeted update addresses significant advances in the development and application of human stem cell-based embryo models (SCBEMs) and recommendations for research oversight outlined in a white paper from the ISSCR Embryo Models Working Group published in June. SCBEMs are three-dimensional stem cell-derived structures that replicate key aspects of early embryonic development. ...

Building upon the success of the first in utero brain surgery for Vein of Galen Malformation (VOGM) reported in 2023, new data published today in JAMA provides further evidence for the potential use of fetal embolization for this condition. VOGM is the most common type of congenital blood vessel abnormality, in which the earliest arteries that develop in the brain connect directly with the dominant vein in the young brain, rather than nourishing the brain tissue. This causes a tremendous rush of high-pressure, high-flow blood into the veins, putting the fetus at high risk for mortality, heart failure, brain ...

Using dollar stores for food purchases may be a common practice for Americans looking to free up funds for the rest of their grocery list, researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine, the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, and the USDA-Economic Research Service report on August 11 in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.   Their multi-year analysis of where households buy their non-restaurant calories found that dollar store food purchases are rising. Although the food purchased is less healthy compared with other food outlets, families are balancing this ...

Two new national Reproducibility Networks have been launched in Georgia and Ukraine with support from the TIER2 project – a step towards strengthening open, transparent, and high-quality research practices in Horizon Europe Widening participation countries. The TIER2 Reproducibility Network (RN) Award supported the creation of three RNs in Horizon Europe Widening Participation countries. In 2023 and 2024, research consortia from Georgia, Ukraine, and Serbia were selected through two open award calls, recognising their strong engagement in advancing Open Science and reproducibility, research integrity, and collaboration. The Georgian Reproducibility ...

New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London in partnership with the Mayo Clinic and UNEEG medical, has found that an electronic device placed under the scalp is an effective and feasible means of accurately tracking epilepsy.   In a landmark study, published in Epilepsia and funded by the Epilepsy Foundation of America, researchers demonstrated that seizures can be tracked in the home environment, giving clinicians access to data that could have a dramatic impact on the way in which epilepsy is treated in the future.   Tracking epileptic seizures over time is challenging ...

To the point Role of livestock in spreading the plague: Yersinia pestis has been identified in a 4,000-year-old sheep, indicating that livestock played a role in spreading an early form of plague that once circulated throughout Eurasia during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age (LNBA) periods. Spillover from unknown reservoir: Genetic analysis reveals that humans and sheep were infected by nearly identical plague strains. The disease was contracted through spillover from an unknown wild animal reservoir, and sheep ...

About The Study: This study analyzes use of online asynchronous telemedicine abortion services for the period July 2023 through September 2024 via data from a nonprofit asynchronous telemedicine service that provides abortion medications throughout the U.S. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Abigail R. A. Aiken, PhD, email araa2@utexas.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2025.11420) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions ...

About The Study: In this cohort study of individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D), glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) use was associated with a modestly increased risk of incident diabetic retinopathy (DR); however, fewer patients experienced sight-threatening DR complications, including blindness, even among those with preexisting DR. These findings suggest that all patients with T2D treated with GLP-1 RAs, regardless of preexisting DR, should be regularly screened and monitored for potential complications of T2D. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Sarju Ganatra, ...

About The Study: In this study of patients with type 2 diabetes who had no prior eye disorders, patients prescribed semaglutide or tirzepatide had an increased risk of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and other optic nerve disorders, although the overall risk was low. These findings highlight the need for close monitoring of these conditions. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rong Xu, PhD, email rxx@case.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.26327) Editor’s ...