Miami (June 24, 2025) – Prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the disease’s burden varies significantly by state. Understanding this variation could help address public health gaps to ease the burden on people with COPD and the health care system, according to a new study. The study is published in the March 2025 issue of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal. COPD is an inflammatory lung disease, comprising several conditions, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and can ...

For the first time in the world, a Korean research team discovered how cellular aging can spread systemically through the bloodstream—offering new insights and a potential therapeutic strategy to combat aging-related decline.   Professor Ok Hee Jeon's research group at the Department of Convergence Medicine, Korea University's College of Medicine, discovered that High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1),a key extracellular senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) factor, plays a ...

The official results of the BRACELET-01 (PrECOG 0113) trial have been published in Clinical Cancer Research, detailing the safety and efficacy of pelareorep, an investigational oncolytic virus immunotherapy, when added to paclitaxel chemotherapy, both with and without the checkpoint inhibitor avelumab. The trial included 48 patients with unresectable metastatic hormone receptor-positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) tumors. All had experienced disease progression after receiving at least ...

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA [June 24, 2024] — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®)—an alliance of leading cancer centers—announces a new, interactive digital delivery format for the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®).  The NCCN Guidelines® are the recognized standard for clinical decision making and policy in cancer care and are the most thorough and frequently updated clinical practice guidelines available in any area of medicine. They assist in the decision-making process of individuals involved in cancer care and prevention—including ...

On the younger, black-rock islands of the Galápagos archipelago, wild-growing tomatoes are doing something peculiar. They’re shedding millions of years of evolution, reverting to a more primitive genetic state that resurrects ancient chemical defenses. These tomatoes, which descended from South American ancestors likely brought over by birds, have quietly started making a toxic molecular cocktail that hasn’t been seen in millions of years, one that resembles compounds found in eggplant, not the modern tomato. In a study published recently in Nature Communications, scientists at the University ...

Conservation, restoration, and ecosystem management can reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase carbon dioxide sequestration, in what frequently are referred to as “natural climate solutions.” Such natural climate solutions have  gained global attention in recent years as they could provide over one-third of the climate mitigation required to keep global warming under 2°C (3.6°F) by 2030. The authors mapped social, political, informational, and economic roadblocks that prevent implementation of natural climate solutions around the world, drawing ...

Is excessive wealth immoral? Most people do not think so, but members of societies that are more equal and wealthy than average are more likely to believe it is wrong to have too much money.  Currently, the world’s eight richest individuals have as much wealth as the bottom 50% of people worldwide. There are two distinct moral objections to such extreme wealth. One is that economic inequality is wrong, an opinion shared by a majority of people worldwide. The other is that extreme wealth itself is wrong. Jackson Trager and Mohammad Atari recruited survey samples mirroring demographics in terms of gender, education, and age for 20 nations, totaling 4,351 participants overall. Participants ...

Predicting cognitive abilities from brain imaging has long been a central goal in cognitive neuroscience. While machine learning has modestly improved predictions using brain MRI data, most studies rely on a single MRI modality. Narun Pat and colleagues integrated multiple MRI modalities through a technique called stacking. The method combines structural MRI (e.g., cortical thickness), resting-state and task-based functional connectivity, and task-evoked blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) contrasts to build a more robust neural marker of cognitive function. The authors analyzed data from 2,131 participants aged 22 to 100 from three ...

Overall, 46% of adults age 65 and older have taken steps to “age in place,” according to a new poll. This includes 31% who have made modifications to make their home more age-friendly and 26% who have already moved to a place that can meet their needs as they age. Some older adults have done both.  That’s even though most older adults polled – 84% – said it’s very or somewhat likely that they’ll live in their current home for the rest of their life. This includes 80% of those who have not yet taken any steps to age in place.  The new findings from the National Poll on ...

Bright colors, fruit imagery, and labels like “locally made” or “vegan” might seem harmless—but when used on cannabis edibles, they can send misleading messages to teens. That’s according to a new Washington State University-led study examining how adolescents perceive the packaging of cannabis-infused products such as gummies, chocolates and sodas. Despite regulations barring packaging that targets youth, many teens in the study found these products appealing— often likening them to everyday ...

People often delay returning to lost pleasures, according to a study. When people are unable to engage in enjoyable activities, from catching up with friends to going to the movies, one might think that they would jump at the chance to return. However, Linda Hagen and Ed O’Brien show in a series of surveys and experiments that people often delay returning to previously rewarding behaviors. After the end of COVID-19 shutdowns, surveyed Americans reported waiting additional time to return to restaurants, movie theaters, parties, vacations, and family visits so that their return would be especially ...

CLEVELAND—Researchers at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine have found that semaglutide, a popular diabetes and weight-loss drug, may lower the risk of dementia in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Dementia, a condition that slowly makes it harder for people to remember things and think clearly, occurs when brain cells are damaged and their connections stop working properly. This damage, which worsens over time, can be caused by various modifiable factors, including obesity, T2D, cardiovascular diseases, traumatic brain injury and stroke.   According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 6 million people in the United ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Most people who separate their plastic waste for recycling assume the bulk of it will in fact be recycled. But current recycling methods, which “require sorting, grinding, cleaning, remelting and extrusion to obtain plastic pellets, usually lead to lower value materials because of contamination and mechanochemical degradation,” the authors of a new study write. As a result, only about 10% of the plastic that makes it to recycling facilities is recycled. The rest is incinerated, sent to landfills or ends up in ...

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of death from cancer in the United States (US) and the most prevalent malignant tumor worldwide. CRC refers to cancer in the colon or rectum, the two parts that make up the large intestine. In the US, deaths from CRC in people under 55 have been increasing since the mid-2000s, highlighting the need for effective treatments.  New data published in The Journal of Immunology, reveal that cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell therapy improved overall survival and progression-free survival of patients ...

About this study: New research analyzes 103 scientific studies related to micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) from food packaging and other food contact articles (FCAs). The normal and intended use of FCAs is a source of MNPs in foodstuffs. The full dataset is freely available through an interactive dashboard.   Zurich, Switzerland – [June 17, 2025] – In a new research article being published in npj Science of Food, scientists led by the Food Packaging Forum show that the normal and intended use of plastic food packaging and other food contact articles (FCAs), such as opening a plastic bottle or chopping on a plastic cutting board, ...

Migration agreements between “transit countries”, such as Turkey or Libya, and Europe have in recent years become the norm as emergency measures to try to stop irregular migration. In 2024, for example, Egypt received over 5 billion euros to improve its border security measures. This kind of initiatives follow as a model the agreement signed in 2016 between the European Union and Turkey to prevent refugees and migrants from entering the EU: the main narrative is that such deals help to reduce overall irregular migration to Europe. A new study by researchers ...

A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identifies a possible way to slow or block progression of age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in people over age 50. The WashU Medicine researchers and their international collaborators implicated problems with cholesterol metabolism in this type of vision loss, perhaps helping to explain the links between macular degeneration and cardiovascular disease, which both worsen with age. The new findings — identified using human plasma samples and mouse models of macular degeneration — suggest that increasing ...

Climate change and habitat loss could cause more than 500 bird species to go extinct in the next 100 years, researchers from the University of Reading have found. Their study, published today (Tuesday, 24 June) in Nature Ecology & Evolution, reveals this number is three times higher than all bird extinctions recorded since 1500 CE. The extinction of vulnerable birds such as the bare-necked umbrellabird, the helmeted hornbill, and the yellow-bellied sunbird-asity would greatly reduce the variety of bird shapes and sizes worldwide, harming ecosystems ...

ENNA, Italy, 24 June 2025 – In a comprehensive Genomic Press Thought Leaders Invited Review, researchers have synthesized findings from dozens of studies examining how genetic markers for mood disorders influence treatment outcomes and clinical features across major psychiatric conditions. The analysis reveals that while polygenic scores currently show modest predictive power, they demonstrate consistent patterns that could eventually contribute to more personalized psychiatric care. Genetic Signatures Show Consistent Treatment Patterns Professor Alessandro Serretti from Kore University of Enna analyzed evidence spanning ...

Deep-sea mining in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean could harm ocean life including whales and dolphins, new research shows. The Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) of the Eastern Pacific is a vast area of deep ocean and seamounts. A Canadian firm – The Metals Company – is planning to explore parts of the CCZ for polymetallic nodules. In two new studies, researchers found whales and dolphins – including an endangered sperm whale – in the CCZ, and raise concerns about impacts on a wide range of marine species. “We ...

STANFORD, California, USA, 24 June 2025 – In a comprehensive Genomic Press interview, Stanford University researcher Eric Sun reveals how machine learning is revolutionizing our understanding of brain aging at an unprecedented cellular resolution. Dr. Sun, who will establish his independent laboratory at MIT's Department of Biological Engineering and the Ragon Institute in 2026, represents a new generation of computational scientists transforming aging research through innovative machine learning approaches. Breakthrough Discovery ...

Time-consuming testing and computer simulations are bottlenecks in the design of new materials. A thesis from the University of Gothenburg aims to develop an AI model that can efficiently determine the durability and strength of woven composite materials. Whether it is a floorball stick or a wind turbine blade to be constructed - often different composite materials are used. Composite means mixing several different materials, e.g., carbon fiber and polymers, to achieve the desired balance between different properties such as weight, durability and flexibility of the product. However, designing ...

Stress does no one — not even your insulin-producing cells — any good.  Researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University have identified a gene that, when activated by metabolic stress, damages pancreatic β-cells — the cells responsible for insulin production and blood sugar control — pushing them toward dysfunction. The findings highlight a promising new target for early intervention in type 2 diabetes. While many factors can contribute to type 2 diabetes, lifestyle, especially diet, plays a major role in its onset. Genetics matter, but poor eating habits can greatly ...

To save elephant populations from extinction, the international community banned the sale of their ivory — but selling mammoth ivory remains legal, and the two are difficult to tell apart, especially for non-experts. This leaves a possible loophole for sellers of poached ivory to exploit. Now stable isotope analysis could provide a cheap, rapid option to speed up sample screening and stop the sale of elephant ivory. “Smugglers routinely use mixed shipments — an illegal wildlife product mixed with a legal one of similar appearance — to fool law enforcement,” said Dr Pavel Toropov ...

In this April 2025 issue of Annals of Thoracic Surgery (JCR Q1, IF: 3.6), a retrospective study, led by Professors Jianxing He and Shuben Li from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, illustrated the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of extended sleeve lobectomy (ESL) after neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy in patients with centrally located non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The article entitled "Extended Sleeve Lobectomy After Neoadjuvant Immunochemotherapy for Centrally Located Non-small Cell Lung Cancer". It is the first study ...