A groundbreaking technique developed by Politecnico di Milano researchers is enabling scientists to control specific bacterial functions using light-sensitive materials. The Engineering Of bacteria to See light (EOS) project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC), has pioneered a system that allows bacteria to sense light and convert light energy into electrical signals across their membranes without the need for any genetic modification. This method is being explored as a promising solution to the growing global challenge of antibiotic resistance. Its potential applications include ...

As federal funding cuts impact decades of research, scientists could turn to black holes for cheaper, natural alternatives to expensive facilities searching for dark matter and similarly elusive particles that hold clues to the universe’s deepest secrets, a new Johns Hopkins study of supermassive black holes suggests. The findings could help complement multi-billion-dollar expenses and decades of construction needed for research complexes like Europe’s Large Hadron Collider, the largest and highest-energy particle accelerator in the world. “One of the great hopes for particle colliders like the Large Hadron Collider is that ...

Journal: JAMA Network Open Title: Elevated death rates associated with incarceration emphasize the need for health care interventions both during and after incarceration Author: Utsha Khatri, MD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Population Health Science and Policy, and Global Health and Health System Design, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Bottom line: This study shows individual incarceration rates and rates at the county level (the number of incarcerated individuals per 100,000 residents) are strongly associated with ...

Scientists at the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-Tiget), Milan, have found that gene editing using CRISPR-Cas9 in combination with AAV6 vectors can trigger inflammatory and senescence-like responses in blood stem cells, compromising their long-term ability to regenerate the blood system. The study, published in Cell Reports Medicine, outlines new strategies to overcome this hurdle, improving both the safety and efficacy of gene-editing-based therapies for inherited blood disorders. The research was led by Dr. Raffaella Di Micco, group leader at SR-Tiget, New York Stem Cell Foundation Robertson Investigator and Associate Professor at the School ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study of births among individuals with a prior cesarean birth, patterns of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) by birth mode varied by race and ethnicity, with elevated rates of SMM among those from marginalized racial and ethnic groups with planned cesarean births. Future work should identify interventions to improve quality of care and promote equity for this population. Corresponding author: To contact the corresponding author, Laura B. Attanasio, Ph.D., email lattanasio@umass.edu. To access ...

About The Study: In this cohort study of 3.26 million individuals in the U.S., results highlighted the dual burden of incarceration on health outcomes. Individuals who were incarcerated faced significantly higher risks of death, particularly from overdoses, and elevated county incarceration rates exacerbated individual-level mortality risks. These findings suggest the need for reforms in criminal justice and public health policies to address these elevated risks and their widespread implications. Corresponding author: To contact the corresponding author, Utsha G. Khatri, M.D., M.S., email utsha.khatri@mountsinai.org. To access the embargoed study: ...

Barcelona, 3 June 2025 - More than 80% of early human embryos contain cells with an incorrect number of chromosomes—a phenomenon called aneuploidy. This typically stems from errors in chromosome segregation during the very first cell divisions. Remarkably, aneuploid cells are eliminated before implantation. When this does not happen, aneuploidy causes miscarriages or developmental disorders. Understanding how aneuploid cells are eliminated in these early stages is crucial for gaining insights into fertility, and it could also have implications for diseases like cancer. A team led by Dr. Marco Milán at IRB Barcelona has developed a tool that can generate customized ...

SAN ANTONIO — June 3, 2025 — New research led by a Southwest Research Institute scientist identified a new source of energetic particles near the Sun. These definitive observations were made by instruments aboard NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which detected the powerful phenomena as the spacecraft dipped in and out of the solar corona. These new results offer fresh perspectives on how magnetic reconnection could heat the solar atmosphere, which then transitions into the solar wind, and also how solar flares accelerate a small fraction of charged particles to ...

“As advanced age is associated with increased incidence of hypoxia-associated conditions such as asthma, emphysema, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, and apnea, our findings have important implications for many people.” BUFFALO, NY — June 3, 2025 — A new research paper was published in  Aging (Aging-US) on May 1, 2025, as the cover of Volume 17, Issue 5, titled “Defining the hypoxic thresholds that trigger blood-brain barrier disruption: the effect of age.” In this ...

Heart disease and type 2 diabetes rank among the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, and eating a healthy diet rich in plant-based foods can help to prevent or delay both of these conditions. New research suggests that a particular component of plant-based foods, known as phytosterol, could be instrumental in lowering the risk.   According to the study, people who consumed more phytosterol—a compound structurally similar to cholesterol found in some plant foods—had a significantly lower risk of both heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Higher phytosterol intake was also associated with markers of better insulin regulation and reduced inflammation, ...

Turns out, your sweet tooth may not be shaped by your diet. Findings from a new randomized controlled trial suggest that eating more sweet-tasting foods doesn’t increase someone’s preference for sweet tastes.   The researchers found that after six months on diets with varying amounts of sweet foods, study participants' preference for sweetness stayed the same, no matter how much sweet-tasting foods they ate.   “We also found that diets with lower or higher dietary sweetness ...

Recent years have seen growing scrutiny and debate around processed foods, but researchers have struggled to pin down what aspects of food processing are most relevant to health. Now, scientists have developed a system for classifying processed foods based on information about the health impacts associated with particular ingredients.   The new approach was developed by WISEcode, creator of an app that provides consumers with information about the food ingredients found in packaged goods.   “WISEcode’s approach is more nuanced and objective than previous classification ...

ORLANDO, Fla., June 3, 2025 – Each year, 1.3 million women enter menopause—a life stage during which heart disease risk rises significantly. Nearly half of American women are affected by cardiovascular disease, and since women spend up to 40% of their lives postmenopausal, managing heart health is especially important. A new study published in the Journal of the American Nutrition Association found that eating about two servings of mangos daily for two weeks (330 g, about 1.5 cups) significantly ...

A new study suggests that regularly eating a cup of beans a day may offer measurable benefits for heart and metabolic health. Incorporating beans into daily diets could serve as a simple, cost-effective way to reduce the risk of chronic diseases.   The 12-week study of 72 people with prediabetes showed an association between chickpea consumption and improved cholesterol levels, while eating black beans was linked with reduced inflammation.   "Individuals with prediabetes often exhibit ...

More than 90% of popular freshwater game fish in Southern California contained an introduced parasite capable of infecting humans, according to a new study from researchers at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  The parasites found in the study — two species of flatworms called trematodes — typically cause gastrointestinal problems, weight loss or lethargy when they infect humans. In some rare and severe cases, the parasites have caused strokes or heart attacks. The findings, published June 3 in the Journal of ...

Safety Monitoring Committee Clears Clinical Trial to Advance to Younger Age Groups Physician-scientists at Groupe de Recherche Action en Santé (GRAS) in Burkina Faso have successfully completed initial safety evaluations in 30 adult Burkinabés as the first phase of a clinical trial of Sanaria® PfSPZ-LARC2 Vaccine, which is designed to prevent infection with Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The clinical trial is being conducted in collaboration with Sanaria Inc., Seattle Children’s Research Institute (SCRI) and ...

As cannabis becomes more potent and widely used in the United States – especially among young adults – concerns about cannabis use disorder are growing. More than 16 million Americans meet the criteria, yet most never receive treatment. Despite the scale of the issue, we know surprisingly little about who gets help and why so many don’t. This treatment gap raises urgent questions about access, awareness and stigma. As laws and attitudes around cannabis shift, understanding the real-world barriers ...

Resonantly tunable quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are high-performance laser light sources for a wide range of spectroscopy applications in the mid-infrared (MIR) range. Their high brilliance enables minimal measurement times for more precise and efficient characterization processes and can be used, for example, in chemical and pharmaceutical industries, medicine or security technology. Until now, however, the production of QCL modules has been relatively complex and expensive. The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF has therefore developed a semi-automated process ...

In September 2023, a bizarre global seismic signal was observed which appeared every 90 seconds over nine days – and was then repeated a month later. Almost a year later, two scientific studies proposed that the cause of these seismic anomalies were two mega tsunamis which were triggered in a remote East Greenland fjord by two major landslides which occurred due to warming of an unnamed glacier. The waves were thought to have become trapped in the fjord system, forming standing waves (or seiches) that undulated back and forth, causing the mystery signals. However, ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 5:00 A.M. ET, TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 2025  New mRNA Vaccine is More Effective and Less Costly to Develop, Pitt Study Finds PITTSBURGH, JUNE 3, 2025 – A new type of mRNA vaccine is more scalable and adaptable to continuously evolving viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and H5N1, according to a study by researchers at University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and the Pennsylvania State University. The study was published today in npj Vaccines.   Though highly effective at inducing an immune response, current mRNA vaccines, such as those used to prevent COVID-19, present two significant challenges: the high amount of mRNA needed ...

Dublin is known as a city where you can enjoy a few pints of Guiness, get a warm welcome from the locals and hear lively traditional music drifting out of pubs and into the city air. But it’s not just music floating on the breeze. The air of Dublin also contains cannabis, poppy, even magic mushrooms — at least their DNA. That’s according to a new study that reveals the power of DNA, vacuumed up from the air, which can track everything from elusive bobcats to illicit drugs. “The level of ...

Infections caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) can lead to HSV-1 encephalitis—a rare but deadly condition that inflames the brain. Despite decades of research, treatment options for this disease remain limited. HSV-1 has evolved alongside human hosts and developed strategies to evade immune responses, particularly in the brain. One key line of defense, the apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme (APOBEC), a catalytic polypeptide-like family of proteins, can introduce mutations into viral DNA to prevent infection. However, HSV-1 is able to bypass this mechanism, ...

Algorithmically-driven social media has split red and blue America into separate information environments. But a new online tool, developed at Harvard, can bring citizens back together.  The virtual quiz game Tango pairs Democrats and Republicans on common teams, where bipartisanship quickly emerges as their competitive superpower. “It’s really the opposite of the nasty, divisive posting you find on social media,” offered Tango co-creator Joshua D. Greene, a professor of psychology and co-author of new study measuring the game’s impact. The ...

Plants produce an enormous abundance of natural products. Many plant natural products are ancestry-specific and occur only in certain plant families, sometimes only in a single species. Interestingly, however, the same substances can sometimes be found in distantly related species. In most cases, however, only the end product is known and it is largely unclear how these substances are produced in plants. Ipecacuanha alkaloids occur in two distantly related plant species known as medicinal plants: in ipecac Carapichea ipecacuanha, which belongs to the gentian ...

As psychedelics gain traction as potential treatments for mental health disorders, an international study led by researchers at McGill University, Imperial College London, and the University of Exeter stands to improve the rigour and reliability of clinical research. Up to now, psychedelic clinical trials have had what has been widely acknowledged as a critical flaw: the failure to properly account for how a person’s mindset and surroundings influence the effects of psychedelics such as MDMA and psilocybin. This gap has led to inconsistent study results, making regulatory approval more difficult. To address this, the researchers ...