BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Retinitis pigmentosa retinal degeneration is caused by a family of hereditary mutations in nearly 100 genes that slowly lead to blindness over years or decades. One of those genes encodes the enzyme DHDDS, part of the pathway that glycosylates proteins in higher cells. Retinitis pigmentosa from DHDDS mutations is called RP59. This is a recessive genetic disease, meaning mutations must be present on both copies of the DHDDS gene to cause disease. To better understand and potentially treat RP59, Steven Pittler, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have created novel mouse models with mutations in the mouse gene for DHDDS. Their first model, ...

Some might say it looks like a finger. Others might see a worm. Scientists in the field often liken it to an antenna. The technical name is primary cilium. This slender, microscopic appendage juts out from the surface of most cells in the human body — and yet for many years, it was completely missing from textbook illustrations. Scientists began paying more attention to primary cilia around 2003. That’s when a scientist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), the late Kathryn Anderson, PhD, discovered that primary cilia play a hugely ...

The microscopic alliance between algae and bacteria offers rare, step-by-step snapshots of how bacteria lose genes and adapt to increasing host dependence. This is shown by a new study led by researchers from Stockholm University, in collaboration with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Linnaeus University, published in Current Biology.  In some of the most nutrient-poor waters of our oceans, tiny partnerships are hard at work keeping life going. These partnerships, called symbioses, are between microscopic algae known as diatoms and a specific bacteria called cyanobacteria that can take nitrogen ...

An international team led by researchers at Lund University in Sweden has identified the molecular tools needed to reprogram ordinary cells into specialised immune cells. The discovery, published in Immunity, could pave the way for more precise and personalised cancer immunotherapies. About the study: basic research // peer-reviewed // in vitro // in vivo // mice // The team has taken an important step toward harnessing the immune system to fight cancer. Their work describes how they identified a genetic toolkit that programs two powerful subtypes of dendritic cells – key sentinels of the immune system. Dendritic cells are a diverse group of immune cells that act as the body’s ...

“Together, these findings confirm that proteostasis inhibition can slow RMS growth and suggest that targeting compensatory network components might yield synergistic outcomes.” BUFFALO, NY – August 29, 2025 – A new research paper was published in Volume 16 of Oncotarget on August 29, 2025, titled “In vivo manipulation of the protein homeostasis network in rhabdomyosarcoma.” In this study led by first author Kristen Kwong and corresponding author Amit J. Sabnis from the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Oncology, ...

The Hertz Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing American scientific and technological leadership, today announced that the application for the 2026 Hertz Fellowship is now open. The Hertz Fellowship is one of the most competitive and coveted awards for doctoral students in applied sciences, engineering and mathematics. Hertz Fellows receive up to five years of funding, giving them freedom from the traditional constraints of graduate training and the independence needed to pursue groundbreaking research. They also gain lifelong professional support, including mentoring, events and networking opportunities. Hertz Fellows join ...

The gut contains the largest collection of immune cells in the body. New research at the Buck Institute shows that some of those immune cells travel along the brain/gut axis in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) providing a potential new therapeutic pathway for the memory-robbing malady. The research, published in the August29, 2025 issue of Cell Reports, also shows that feeding the mice a high fiber diet reduces AD-related frailty, including tremor. “This paper brings the gut immune system to the forefront of neurodegenerative disease pathology,” says ...

Young children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder often receive medication just after being diagnosed, which contravenes treatment guidelines endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, a Stanford Medicine-led study has found. The finding, which will be published Aug. 29 in JAMA Network Open, highlights a gap in medical care for 4- and 5-year-olds with ADHD. Treatment guidelines recommend that these young children and their families try six months of behavior therapy before starting ADHD medication. But pediatricians ...

UCLA researchers have developed a new kind of immunotherapy that uses specially engineered immune cells equipped with built-in weapons to attack kidney cancer tumors and reprogram their protective environment — all without the need to customize treatment for each individual patient. This “off-the-shelf” approach, called AlloCAR70-NKT, could help improve outcomes, reduce complications and expand access for patients with limited treatment options.  “We successfully turned stem cells into powerful cancer-fighting immune cells that can be ready to use for any patient, bypassing the ...

Prolonged extreme heat in New Orleans was linked to a measurable increase in domestic violence-related emergency calls, according to new research in JAMA Open Network co-authored by the Tulane University’s Newcomb Institute. The study analyzed more than 150,000 domestic violence (DV) calls made to the New Orleans Police Department from 2011 to 2021. Researchers found that when “feels-like” temperatures factoring in heat and humidity stayed in the city’s top 10% for at least five straight days, domestic violence ...

Journal: Nature Communications Title: Gene Regulatory Activity Associated with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Reveals DENND1A-Dependant Testosterone Production Authors: Andrea Dunaif, MD, Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease for the Mount Sinai Health System and the Lillian and Henry M. Stratton Professor of Molecular Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Bottom line: Increased testosterone levels are a consistent hormonal abnormality in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This study identified specific DNA variants in the gene DENND1A, which increase testosterone production in PCOS. Using human PCOS cell models, researchers ...

About The Study: In patients 75 years or older with myocardial infarction and multivessel disease, the benefit of physiology-guided complete revascularization over culprit-lesion–only treatment was sustained at 3 years.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Simone Biscaglia, MD, email bscsmn@unife.it.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, ...

Embargoed for release: Friday, August 29, 2025, 9:00 AM ET Key points: Nickel, vanadium, sulfate, nitrate, bromine, and ammonium are the components of fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) that contribute most to the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and asthma hospitalization. Prior research has examined the relationship between asthma and individual pollutants or PM2.5 as a whole. This study teases out which compounds within the PM2.5 mixture are most harmful. The study can inform ...

When we think of child abuse, physical violence or emotional cruelty often comes to mind first. However, the most common form of maltreatment is actually much quieter: neglect. Affecting three out of four children in substantiated abuse cases worldwide, child neglect involves the failure to provide basic necessities like adequate food, shelter, supervision, or protection. Despite causing documented long-term mental health problems and developmental issues, this ‘invisible’ form of maltreatment has received surprisingly little ...

Tactile sensors are widely used in robotics, prosthetics, wearable devices, and healthcare monitoring. These devices detect and convert external stimuli such as pressure and force into electrical signals, facilitating effective environmental detection. Scientists have made extensive efforts to improve the performance of tactile sensors in terms of sensing range and sensitivity. In this context, mechanical metamaterials are highly promising. Specifically, auxetic mechanical metamaterials (AMMs)—possessing ...

The field of robotics has transformed drastically in this century, with a special focus on soft robotics. In this context, origami-inspired deployable structures with compact storage and efficient deployment features have gained prominence in aerospace, architecture, and medical fields. Thus far, experts have mainly utilized paper, thin glass, and polymers as foldable materials for such applications. However, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)—a state-of-the-art alternative—remains underexplored in terms of the accuracy and reliability of the fabrication process. Addressing this knowledge gap, a team of scientists ...

About The Study: In this remote randomized clinical trial, mail-based atrial fibrillation (AF) screening with an electrocardiogram patch in older patients at moderate to high risk of stroke led to a modest long-term increase in AF diagnosis at 2.5 years. Corresponding Authors: To contact the corresponding authors, email Rohan Wijesurendra, DPhil, rohan.wijesurendra@ndph.ox.ac.uk and Barbara Casadei, DPhil, b.casadei@imperial.ac.uk.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, ...

Mass General Brigham researchers find that many at-risk women who are missed by traditional screening techniques have high levels of the inflammatory marker hsCRP Treating these women with statins can lower these risks by 38% New clinical syndrome of “SMuRF-Less but Inflamed” introduced   Cardiologists have long known that up to half of all heart attacks and strokes occur among apparently healthy individuals who do not smoke and do not have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes, the “standard modifiable risk factors” which doctors often call “SMuRFs.”  How to identify risk among the “SMuRF-Less” ...

A study led by Jenny Frediani at Stockholm University has revealed a planet-forming disk with a strikingly unusual chemical composition: an unexpectedly high abundance of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in regions where Earth-like planets may one day form. The discovery, made using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), challenges long-standing assumptions about the chemistry of planetary birthplaces. The study is published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. “Unlike most nearby planet-forming disks, where water vapor dominates the inner regions, this disk is surprisingly ...

Warwick primatologists, in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute, have shown that young orangutans develop their nighttime nest building skills via observational social learning - by closely watching others and then practicing these complex constructions. Nest-building is an often-overlooked behaviour in great apes, but for arboreal species, a well-built nest is essential to survival. Nests are responsible for keeping apes safe from predators, helping them stay warm, providing a secure place to sleep when up high and have even been shown ...

Scientists Uncover Key Protein in Cellular Fat Storage  [Sydney] – [29/08/2025] – UNSW research has shed light on how cells in the body manage and store fat, potentially offering new insights into health.   In the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers identify a crucial protein, named CHP1, that acts as a central director in this process.  Fat, or lipids, are stored inside cells in small compartments called lipid droplets. These droplets are essential for energy storage and ...

Eight years ago, 87 obese adolescents took part in a groundbreaking study to see whether fecal transfer (taking ‘good’ gut bacteria from healthy donors and giving them in capsule form to people with a less healthy microbiome) would make a difference to their health and weight.   Four years later, a follow-up study, published this week in the world-leading scientific journal Nature Communications , suggests some significant health benefits from that single gut bugs transfer. In particular, the original overweight teens ...

A team of computer scientists at UC Riverside has developed a method to erase private and copyrighted data from artificial intelligence models—without needing access to the original training data. This advance, detailed in a paper presented in July at the International Conference on Machine Learning in Vancouver, Canada, addresses a rising global concern about personal and copyrighted materials remaining in AI models indefinitely—and thus accessible to model users—despite efforts by the original creators to delete or guard their information with paywalls ...

Using total-body PET imaging to get a better understanding of long COVID disease is the goal of a new project at the University of California, Davis, in collaboration with UC San Francisco. The project is funded by a grant of $3.2 million over four years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.  About 1 in 10 COVID-19 survivors develop a range of long COVID symptoms that can last from months to years. How and why these symptoms develop isn’t completely known, but they have been linked to activated immune T cells getting ...

Sinus surgery is more effective than antibiotics at treating chronic rhinosinusitis, according to a major clinical trial led by University College London (UCL) along with academics at the University of East Anglia and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), or sinusitis, is a long-term condition affecting one in 10 UK adults. Symptoms include a blocked and runny nose, loss of smell, facial pain, tiredness and worsening of breathing problems, such as asthma. It’s often similar to the symptoms of a bad cold, but it can last for months or even years. The team carried out a randomised controlled patient trial comparing sinus surgery with long-term ...