Key Takeaways Researchers at Harvard and Northwestern have developed a machine learning method that can design intrinsically disordered proteins with custom properties, addressing nearly 30% of all human proteins that are currently out of reach of AI tools like AlphaFold. The new approach uses automatic differentiation, traditionally a deep learning tool, to optimize protein sequences for desired properties. The method opens new possibilities for engineering proteins, directly from physics-based models, that do not fold into a specific shape. In synthetic and structural biology, advances in artificial intelligence have led to an explosion of designing new proteins with ...

A world-first study has proven microbes essential for human health can survive the extreme forces of space launch. Space agencies are planning to send crews to Mars within decades but sustaining life on the red planet would be more difficult if important bacteria die during the flight. Now an Australian-led study has found the spores of Bacilus subtilis, a bacterium essential for human health, can survive rapid acceleration, short-duration microgravity and rapid deceleration. The spores of bacteria were launched high into ...

Wheat has a very large and complex genome. Researchers have found that different varieties can use their genes in different ways. By studying RNA—the molecules that carry out instructions from DNA—researchers can see which genes are active and when. By mapping this gene activity for the first time, researchers are able accelerate international wheat breeding programmes, developing new varieties of wheat which can adapt to the rapidly escalating climate emergency. Wheat is the most widely cultivated crop in the world, with over 215 million hectares grown annually. To meet the demands of a growing global population, plant breeders face ...

New research reveals that inflammatory responses may play a role in different types of fatigue experienced by many people with cancer. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Cancer-related fatigue can be a distressing and persistent burden that causes patients to feel physical, emotional, and/or cognitive tiredness or exhaustion. Activation of inflammatory responses by the tumor itself and/or by cancer treatment is thought to be a key biological driver of this symptom, but inflammatory activity across the cancer continuum has not been thoroughly ...

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in older adults are associated with new cases of dementia, use of home care services, and admission to long-term care, according to new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.250361. “One of the most common reasons for TBI in older adulthood is sustaining a fall, which is often preventable,” write Dr. Yu Qing Huang, ICES PhD student, and Dr. Jennifer Watt, associate professor and ICES scientist, both geriatricians at St. Michael’s ...

Results from a randomized clinical trial published in Pediatrics show that pediatricians who received targeted educational and clinical decision-support tools were significantly more likely to advise parents to introduce peanut-containing foods early – an approach recommended by national prevention guidelines but often underused in practice. About 8% of U.S. children have food allergies. Peanut allergy, the most common pediatric food allergy, affects more than 2% of children nationwide. “We found ...

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL OCT 6 at 12:01 a.m. ET Media Contact: media@pptaglobal.org New Survey: Most Americans Believe Plasma Donation Saves Lives, Yet Few Have Donated October 6 – Washington, D.C. – International Plasma Awareness Week (IPAW) takes place globally from October 6-10. The week encourages communities around the world to recognize the vital role of plasma in creating lifesaving medicines and honors those who donate. A new survey has found that 72% of respondents agree that plasma-derived medicines can save lives, yet most have not donated plasma. The survey asked over 1,000 American adults questions about their understanding of plasma donation and lifesaving plasma-derived ...

Doctors were nearly 15 times more likely to follow allergy-prevention guidelines with new tools Tools included a training video and health record prompts for doctors and handouts for families Randomized trial included 30 pediatric practices and 18,480 infant visits CHICAGO --- A few easy-to-implement tools — a training video, electronic health record prompts and handouts for families — greatly increased how often pediatricians recommended early peanut introduction to infants, reports a new clinical study led by Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. Since 2017, national guidelines have encouraged ...

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 00:01AM UK TIME ON MONDAY 6 OCTOBER 2025 Research unearths origins of Ancient Egypt’s Karnak Temple   Most complete study of the temple complex and its landscape establishes earliest occupation and hints at link to creation myth Researchers have carried out the most comprehensive geoarchaeological survey of Egypt’s Karnak Temple near Luxor – one of the ancient world’s largest temple complexes and a UNESCO World Heritage site welcoming millions of tourists every year. The study, published in Antiquity today [6 October] reveals new evidence on the ...

About The Study: In contrast to earlier studies, this meta-analysis found significantly higher treatment failure and major complication rates within a year with nonoperative management among children and adolescents. The meta-analysis provides pediatricians and pediatric surgeons with up-to-date data to inform shared decision-making with families and encourage individualized, patient-centered treatment.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Isabella Faria, MD, email imdefrei@utmb.edu. To access the embargoed ...

(Barcelona, Spain, Sunday 5 October 2025) High metabolic activity of visceral fat may be associated with more aggressive endometrial cancer, new research presented today at the 38th Annual Congress of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM'25) has shown.1 While obesity is a recognised risk factor for endometrial cancer,2-3 the findings indicate that disease aggressiveness may be driven not only by the amount of visceral fat but also by its metabolic activity. Visceral fat is the fat that surrounds the internal organs, and to a larger degree than subcutaneous ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a new structure determination method using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy which shows how different parts of complex molecular machinery like enzymes move while they help catalyze reactions. Focusing on an enzyme in yeast, they demonstrated how contrasts in atomic scale motions impact their function. The method promises unprecedented access to the mechanisms by which biomolecules work, and how they relate to illnesses.   Enzymes are indispensable to the function of all biological organisms, ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- The COVID-19 pandemic did not affect everyone equally. Communities of color, especially Latino (including undocumented persons), Black, and Native American groups, as well as people with low incomes, experienced much higher rates of infection, hospitalization, and death.  Research has shown that several key factors worsened health inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Crowded housing, dense neighborhoods, and location played a major role in how the virus spread. Systemic racism, discrimination, and unstable jobs made some communities even more at risk. A new report, published in Health Expectations, highlights how ...

NORMAN, Okla. – Researchers at the University of Oklahoma’s Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC) continue to lead the way in radar innovation. A $19.9 million award from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1 program will fund the development of two groundbreaking KaRVIR systems (Dual-Doppler 3D Mobile Ka-band Rapid-Scanning Volume Imaging Radars for Earth System Science). These state-of-the-art radars will provide unique capabilities to close critical observational gaps in the atmospheric ...

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive and hardest forms of breast cancer to treat, but a new study led by Weill Cornell Medicine suggests a surprising way to stop it from spreading. Researchers have discovered that an enzyme called EZH2 drives TNBC cells to divide abnormally, which enables them to relocate to distant organs. The preclinical study also found drugs that block EZH2 could restore order to dividing cells and thwart the spread of TNBC cells. “Metastasis is the main reason patients with triple negative breast cancer face poor survival odds,” said senior author Dr. Vivek Mittal, Ford-Isom Research Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and ...

Pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PNENs) are a rare form of cancer that affects hormone-producing cells in the pancreas. Although uncommon, their incidence has been rising steadily over the past few decades. Treatment options include chemotherapy and targeted therapies, but surgery remains the only chance for a cure. However, surgical decisions often depend on pathology results that can take hours or even days, delaying treatment and increasing the risk of incomplete tumor removal. Researchers at the University of Arizona have developed a new imaging method that could help surgeons identify cancerous tissue more quickly and accurately. The technique, called multiphoton microscopy ...

DETROIT — A Wayne State University study published in the Oct. 3, 2025, issue of Nature Communications revealed that Zika virus exposure during pregnancy causes long-term, sex-specific changes to a baby’s immune system, particularly affecting the frontline immune cells that fight infection. The study, “Prenatal exposure to Zika virus shapes offspring neutrophil function in a sex-specific manner,” was led by Dr. Jiahui Ding, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology in Wayne State’s School of Medicine. “We discovered that when a pregnant mother is infected with Zika virus, the resulting inflammatory ...

The symptoms come on quickly — acute fever, followed by debilitating joint pain that can last for months. Though rarely fatal, the chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne illness, can be particularly severe for high-risk individuals, including newborns and older adults. While the virus is common in tropical and subtropical regions, including Asia, Africa and South America, public health officials have been tracking reported infections in Europe and, in September, a confirmed case in Long Island, New York. Outbreaks ...

DENVER (Oct 1, 2025) Researchers at National Jewish Health have shown that subtle increases in lung scarring, detected by an artificial intelligence-based tool on CT scans taken one year apart, are associated with disease progression and survival in patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease. The findings, recently published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, suggest that computer-based image analysis may provide an earlier, more objective way to identify patients at highest risk for worsening disease. “We ...

Just like in yeast and animal cells, vacuoles in plants are responsible for breaking down unwanted cellular components. At the same time, vacuoles in seeds also serve the opposite role -storing large amounts of proteins that provide energy during germination. These storage proteins, accumulated in the vacuoles of seeds such as beans and wheat, are not only vital for plant growth but also represent an important agricultural resource closely tied to our daily diet. Until now, it was entirely unknown whether proteins could be transported from the vacuole to other organelles. In a study now published ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For people living near volcanoes, danger goes well beyond lava flows and clouds of ash. Some explosive eruptions can lead to dramatic collapses of the sides of a volcano, like those at Mount St. Helens, Washington, and Anak Krakatau, Indonesia. The latter triggered tsunamis blamed for most deaths from its historic eruptions in 1883. But the science and exact triggers behind such catastrophes remain largely unknown. To help scientists forecast collapse of volcano sides, also known as flanks or ...

Quantum technologies demand perfection: one photon at a time, every time, all with the same energy. Even tiny deviations in the number or energy of photons can derail devices, threatening the performance of quantum computers that someday could make up a quantum internet. While this level of precision is difficult to achieve, Northwestern University engineers have developed a novel strategy that makes quantum light sources, which dispense single photons, more consistent, precise and reliable. In a new study, the team coated an atomically thin semiconductor (tungsten diselenide) with a sheetlike organic molecule called PTCDA. The coating transformed ...

A key switch for cellular energy balance has been discovered in cells: it could potentially become the target of new therapies for diseases ranging from Parkinson's to rare disorders caused by defects in the cell's powerhouses, the mitochondria. The switch is called phosphatase B55 (PP2A-B55alpha) and regulates the balance of mitochondria. Experts from Università Cattolica, Rome campus, and Roma Tre Universty have observed that, by reducing its activity, it’s possible to attenuate the motor symptoms of Parkinson's in a preclinical model of the disease. This is ...

Depression is a serious disorder that disrupts daily life through lethargy, sleep disturbance, and social withdrawal, and also increases the risk of suicide. The number of depression patients has steadily increased over the years, affecting more than 280 million people worldwide as of 2025. Now, researchers have uncovered a new pathological mechanism that could provide clues for the diagnosis and treatment of depression. A research team led by C. Justin LEE and LEE Boyoung at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) has identified a new molecular pathway in the brain that directly links abnormal sugar modifications on proteins to depressive behaviors. Specifically, ...

Cervical epithelial cells are far from passive bystanders in the body’s immune system. New research shows they actually play an active and highly coordinated role in detecting and fighting infections. That’s the conclusion of an international research team led by Associate Professor Cindrilla Chumduri from Aarhus University, and now published in the journal Science Advances. Using patient-derived 3D mini-organs, so-called organoids, and single-cell mapping technologies, the team has, for the first time, shown how distinct epithelial cell types in the cervix ...