Colorectal cancer (CRC), a type of cancer that affects the large intestine and rectum, is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The mutational landscape of CRC is well characterized, revealing key pathogenic genetic abnormalities that drive carcinogenesis (cancer development) and disease progression. Moreover, a step-wise colorectal carcinogenesis model has been proposed wherein normal epithelial cells transition to adenoma (non-cancerous tumor) and then to carcinoma (cancerous tumor) as they sequentially acquire genetic mutations. Mutations ...

Vision is one of the most complex functions of our brain and requires a seamless interaction between many different brain structures to decode shapes, colours, depths, and movements and turn them into a meaningful whole. Just like other brain functions, vision also depends on a balanced and controlled interaction between the chemical signals that "activate" and "brake" activity in the eye's cells – much like the accelerator and brake of a car. In research, the "brake" is known as GABA, which stands for gamma-aminobutyric ...

Barcelona, 15th April 2025. – Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers and has one of the lowest survival rates—only 10% after five years. One of the factors contributing to its aggressiveness is its tumor microenvironment, known as the stroma, which makes up the majority of the tumor mass and consists of a network of proteins and different non-tumor cells. Among these, fibroblasts play a key role, helping tumor cells to grow and increasing their resistance to drugs. Now, a study led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, IIBB-CSIC-IDIBAPS, ...

April 15, 2025 | Portland, Oregon—A new study in the journal Fisheries shows how a salmon-focused ecosystem protection strategy in the North Pacific can deliver meaningful results in the global drive to protect biodiversity. The approach, called the stronghold strategy, aims to proactively protect the world’s greatest remaining “strongholds”—a select group of salmon, steelhead, and trout systems that collectively comprise 119 distinct watersheds. According to Wild Salmon Center President & CEO Guido Rahr—lead author of the peer-reviewed study—salmonids center the strategy because they are both iconic and globally recognized ...

Researchers at the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology have discovered a promising strategy to improve treatment responses in multiple myeloma patients by blocking a protein that plays a key role in drug resistance. The study, published in Pharmacological Research, offers a potential new strategy to improve outcomes for patients whose disease has become less responsive to standard therapies. Multiple myeloma (MM) is a type of blood cancer that affects the bone marrow. Patients are often treated with dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid frequently used in the clinic to regulate immune responses and slow cancer growth. However, as the disease progresses, many patients develop ...

The sun may rise every morning, but the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface can substantially vary over decades, according to a perspectives article led by an international research team. The article, published on March 15 in Advances in Atmospheric Science, suggests that stages of “dimming” and “brightening” correspond with increased air pollution and implementation of clean energy solutions, respectively.   “The amount of sunlight — which is solar ...

People with a certain heart valve abnormality are at increased risk of severe heart rhythm disorders, even after successful valve surgery. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden published in the European Heart Journal. The condition is more common in women and younger patients with valve disorder and can, in the worst case, lead to sudden cardiac arrest. Mitral annular disjunction, MAD, is a heart abnormality in which the mitral valve attachment ‘slides’. In recent years, the condition has ...

The Titanic sunk 113 years ago on April 14-15, after hitting an iceberg, with human error likely causing the ship to stray into those dangerous waters. Today, autonomous systems built on artificial intelligence can help ships avoid such accidents, but could such a system explain to the captain why it was maneuvering a certain way? That’s the idea behind explainable AI, which should help human actors trust autonomous systems more. Researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University’s Graduate School of Engineering have developed an explainable AI model for ships that quantifies the collision risk for all vessels ...

In Birmingham, 43% of the population live in the most deprived 10% of neighborhoods in England. It is well known that deprivation can lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes, including low birth weight, premature birth, stillbirths, and neonatal mortality. Now, researchers there examined the association between demographic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors and the risk of adverse birth outcomes in Birmingham and neighboring Solihull, an area much less affected by deprivation. “Within the study population, there were significant differences in the odds of adverse birth outcomes and the risk factors of adverse birth outcomes by ethnicity ...

If you’re among the 1.5 billion people worldwide using TikTok, you may have come across exceptional “testimonials” like Nikola Tesla or Marie Curie delivering short science-related messages that have garnered millions of views. This is just one of many examples where AI-generated avatars are used to communicate science — a strategy that might also have its drawbacks. The generation of images and animations through artificial intelligence is a rapidly growing field, constantly improving in quality. Yet many avatars, though realistic, still present minor flaws — glitches, delays, inconsistent ...

Newly published research from UNC Greensboro biology professor Dr. Bryan McLean and colleagues shows that the masked shrew, a small, mole-like mammal found in the Appalachian Mountains, shrinks its body and braincase to conserve energy during winter months.     The study, published in the May 2025 issue of The American Naturalist, found that the masked shrew (Sorex cinereus) reduces its body mass by 13 percent in the colder months; the creature then grows larger in spring when conditions improve. In addition to a shrinking body, the team also found seasonal changes in the height of the creature’s ...

Babies and young children may breathe and absorb plasticizers called phthalates, flame retardants, and other harmful chemicals from their mattresses while they sleep, according to a pair of peer-reviewed studies published today from the University of Toronto in Environmental Science & Technology and Environmental Science & Technology Letters. These chemicals are linked to neurological and reproductive problems, asthma, hormone disruption, and cancer.     "Sleep is vital for brain development, ...

Hoboken, N.J., April 14, 2025 — Tightly connected communities tend to be more resilient when facing extreme events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods or wildfires, says Jose Ramirez-Marquez, who develops metrics to analyze, quantify and ultimately improve performance of urban systems.  Ramirez-Marquez, associate professor and division director of Enterprise Science and Engineering at Stevens, who grew up in the earthquake-prone Mexico City knows this first-hand. “Whenever there's an earthquake, a city-wide alarm goes off and everybody leaves wherever they are and stays in the middle of the street — that’s a prevention phase,” he says. ...

Under embargo until 23:30 (UK), Monday April 14, 2025 An updated set of guidelines to improve transparency and clarity in the reporting of randomised controlled trials have been published today. The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) 2025 statement provides a minimum set of essential items that should be included when reporting the results of randomised trials. First published in 1996, the CONSORT guidelines saw additional updates in 2001 and 2010. Becoming the gold standard for reporting randomised trials, ...

Pediatric infectious diseases experts stress the importance of vaccination against measles, one of the most contagious viruses, which is once more spreading in the United States. In the article published in Pediatrics, they update pediatricians on this vaccine-preventable disease, which was previously declared non-endemic in the U.S. “The most effective way to prevent measles is vaccination,” said lead author Caitlin Naureckas Li, MD MHQS, infectious diseases specialist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University ...

    Images   A new collaboration between the University of Michigan and Stanford University aims to give stroke patients the ability to "speak" by detecting and interpreting brain signals, using the world's smallest computers linked up to the world's most biocompatible sensors.   The Marcus Foundation announced today a $29.7 million grant, led by Stanford, that would benefit victims of aphasic stroke, who are often left struggling to communicate. U-M will receive $19 million of the total grant.   According to the American Heart Association, stroke is the leading cause of disability in the ...

When it comes to managing weight loss and type 2 diabetes with medications, research shows that it’s out with the old and in with the new. Investigators from Mass General Brigham looked at claims data from nearly 2 million people between 2021 and 2023 and their findings highlight a shifting landscape for weight loss and glucose managing medications. Those changes include a sharp climb in the use of newly approved medications, especially tirzepatide, which is sold under the brand name Mounjaro for diabetes treatment and Zepbound for weight loss. The use of medications previously common in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, including metformin, sulfonylureas, and insulin, decreased. Results ...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (April 14, 2025) — Van Andel Institute has named renowned physician-scientist J. Timothy Greenamyre, M.D., Ph.D., as recipient of its 2025 Jay Van Andel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Parkinson’s Disease Research.   The award will be presented during Grand Challenges in Parkinson’s Disease, VAI’s flagship annual Parkinson’s disease symposium, Sept. 9–10, 2025. Greenamyre’s pioneering research into the interactions between genes and the environment has vastly improved our understanding of Parkinson’s development and progression. He has published more than 200 articles detailing ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 14 April 2025    Follow @Annalsofim on X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn         Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.    ----------------------------       1. ...

Is sauerkraut more than just a tangy topping? A new University of California, Davis, study published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology suggests that the fermented cabbage could help protect your gut, which is an essential part of overall health, supporting digestion and protecting against illness. Authors Maria Marco, professor with the Department of Food Science and Technology, and Lei Wei, a postdoctoral researcher in Marco’s lab, looked at what happens during fermentation — specifically, how the metabolites ...

Philadelphia, April 14, 2024 – Researchers from the Epilepsy Neurogenetics Initiative (ENGIN) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have completed a comprehensive natural history study of SCN8A-related disorders, which represent a spectrum of neurological symptoms. The study, using retrospective clinical information analyzed through novel data analysis methods, revealed a range of seizure types and neurodevelopmental features, and identifies potential targets for future clinical trials. The findings were published online on April 14, 2025, in Neurology®, the medical journal ...

We’re living in a period where the gap between rich and poor is dramatic, and it’s continuing to widen. But inequality is nothing new. In a new study published in the journal PNAS, researchers compared house size distributions from more than 1,000 sites around the world, covering the last 10,000 years. They found that while inequality is widespread throughout human history, it’s not inevitable, nor is it expressed to the same degree at every place and time. “This paper is part of ...

LA JOLLA (April 18, 2025)—Industrial farming practices often deplete the soil of important nutrients and minerals, leaving farmers to rely on artificial fertilizers to support plant growth. In fact, fertilizer use has more than quadrupled since the 1960s, but this comes with serious consequences. Fertilizer production consumes massive amounts of energy, and its use pollutes the water, air, and land. Plant biologists at the Salk Institute are proposing a new solution to help kick this unsustainable fertilizer habit. In a new study, the researchers identified ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL 15.00 US ET (20.00 BST) ON MONDAY 14 APRIL 2025 The study lead by Professor Dan Lawrence, of Durham University in the UK, found that across ten millennia, more unequal distributions of wealth correlated with longer-term human settlement.  However, the team are keen to stress that one factor is not causally dependent on the other, giving hope that humankind’s survival is not linked to ever increasing inequality. The research is part of a Special Feature of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), entitled Global Dynamics of Wealth Inequality. Sustainability is defined by the ...

University of California, Davis researchers have developed a new, neuroplasticity-promoting drug closely related to LSD that harnesses the psychedelic’s therapeutic power with reduced hallucinogenic potential. The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, highlights the new drug’s potential as a treatment option for conditions like schizophrenia, where psychedelics are not prescribed for safety reasons. The compound also may be useful for treating other neuropsychiatric ...