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Science6 Mar 2025

Scientists identify genes that make humans and Labradors more likely to become obese

Researchers studying British Labrador retrievers have identified multiple genes associated with canine obesity and shown that these genes are also associated with obesity in humans. The dog gene found to be most strongly associated with obesity in Labradors is called DENND1B. Humans also carry the DENND1B gene, and the researchers found that this gene is also linked with obesity in people. DENND1B was found to directly affect a brain pathway responsible for regulating the energy balance in the body, called the leptin melanocortin pathway. An additional four genes associated with canine obesity, ...

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Medicine6 Mar 2025

Early-life gut microbes may protect against diabetes, research in mice suggests

The microbiome shapes development of insulin-producing cells in infancy, leading to long-term changes in metabolism and diabetes risk, new research in mice has found. The results could ultimately help doctors reduce the risk of type 1 diabetes—or potentially even restore lost metabolic function in adulthood—by providing specific gut microbes that help the pancreas grow and heal. The findings are published in Science. The critical window Mice that are exposed to broad-spectrum antibiotics in early life have worse metabolic health in the long term, the researchers found. If the mice received antibiotics during a 10-day window shortly after birth, they developed ...

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Science6 Mar 2025

Study raises the possibility of a country without butterflies

Butterflies are disappearing in the United States. All kinds of them. With a speed scientists call alarming, and they are sounding an alarm. A sweeping new study published in Science for the first time tallies butterfly data from more than 76,000 surveys across the continental United States. The results: between 2000 and 2020, total butterfly abundance fell by 22% across the 554 species counted. That means that for every five individual butterflies within the contiguous U.S. in the year 2000, there were only four in 2020. “Action must be taken,” ...

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Medicine6 Mar 2025

Study reveals obesity gene in dogs that is relevant to human obesity studies

Dogs are a compelling model of human obesity, in part because they develop obesity due to similar environmental influences as people. In a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of Labrador retrievers, researchers have identified an obesity-related gene – DENND1B – that may also influence obesity in humans. These findings highlight the value of using non-traditional animal models to study complex diseases and highlight the gene’s potential as a target for future obesity research across species. Obesity is a ...

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Science6 Mar 2025

A rapid decline in US butterfly populations

Butterfly populations across the United States are in alarming decline, according to a new study, with total abundance falling by 22% in just 20 years. Such widespread and worrisome losses portend broader environmental threats and emphasize the urgent need for conservation action. “Our national-scale findings paint the most complete – and concerning – picture of the status of butterflies across the country in the early 21st century,” write the authors. The decline of biodiversity has been extensively documented worldwide. Among these losses, the decline of insects is particularly ...

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Science6 Mar 2025

Indigenous farming practices have shaped manioc’s genetic diversity for millennia

A new genomic study reveals how Indigenous traditional farming practices have shaped the evolution of manioc – one of the world’s most important staple crops – for the better. The domestication of plants and the rise of agriculture were transformative events in human history. Today, a few staple crops provide most human calories, including manioc (cassava or yuca), a vital root crop that sustains nearly a billion people across the tropics. Although it ranks as the world’s seventh most significant crop, manioc is primarily cultivated on small farms. The plant’s ...

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Physics6 Mar 2025

Controlling electrons in molecules at ultrafast timescales

Scientists at YOKOHAMA National University, in collaboration with RIKEN and other institutions in Japan and Korea, have made an important discovery about how electrons move and behave in molecules. This discovery could potentially lead to advances in electronics, energy transfer, and chemical reactions. Published in the Journal, Science, their study reveals a new way to control the distribution of electrons in molecules using very fast phase-controlled pulses of light in the terahertz range. Atoms and molecules contain negatively charged electrons that usually stay in specific energy levels, like layers, ...

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Environment6 Mar 2025

Tropical forests in the Americas are struggling to keep pace with climate change

Embargoed until 14:00 US Eastern Time, Thursday 6 March 2025 Tropical forests in the Americas are struggling to keep pace with climate change Tropical rainforests play a vital role in global climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. However, a major new study published in Science reveals that forests across the Americas are not adapting quickly enough to keep pace with climate change, raising concerns about their long-term resilience. The research, led by Dr. Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez from the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute (ECI), involved over 100 scientists ...

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Medicine6 Mar 2025

Brain mapping unlocks key Alzheimer’s insights

Researchers from The University of Texas at Arlington and the University of California–San Francisco have used a new brain-mapping technique to identify memory-related brain cells vulnerable to protein buildup, a key factor in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, an incurable, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills. In Texas, nearly half a million people live with Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia that costs the state approximately $24 billion in caregiver time, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas ranks fourth in the nation for Alzheimer’s cases ...

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Medicine6 Mar 2025

Clinical trial tests novel stem-cell treatment for Parkinson’s disease

A recently launched Phase 1 clinical trial at Mass General Brigham is examining the safety and feasibility of a groundbreaking treatment approach for Parkinson’s disease in which a patient’s stem cells are reprogrammed to replace dopamine cells in the brain damaged by the disease. The first-of-its-kind trial of an autologous stem cell transplant, based on research and technologies invented and validated preclinically at McLean Hospital’s Neuroregeneration Research Institute (NRI), has enrolled and treated three patients at Brigham and Women’s ...

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Science6 Mar 2025

Awareness of rocky mountain spotted fever saves lives

Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a bacterial infection spread by biting ticks to humans and dogs. Found on every continent except Antarctica, the infectious disease has been spreading since the early 2000s, most notably in Mexico and Brazil. Of the cases reported, more than half of infected people and dogs die. A paper led by the University of California, Davis, highlights one of the most effective but often missing solutions to surviving this preventable, deadly disease: awareness. Most fatal cases stem from delays in diagnosis and treatment. “The No. 1 thing that prevents human death from Rocky Mountain spotted fever is for everyone at high risk to know ...

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Science6 Mar 2025

Breakthrough in noninvasive monitoring of molecular processes in deep tissue

The prestigious journal Advanced Materials recently published a groundbreaking study introducing a new method for monitoring molecular processes deep within tissue. Developed at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, the innovation is expected to accelerate key advancements in personalized medicine, cancer diagnosis, and early disease detection. The research was led by Prof. Hossam Haick, postdoctoral fellow Dr. Arnab Maity, and Ph.D. student Vivian Darsa Maidantchik from the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering at the Technion. The study also involved Dr. Dalit Barkan, research assistant Dr. Keren ...

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Space6 Mar 2025

BU researcher named rising star in endocrinology

(Boston)—Sun Lee, MD, MSc, assistant professor of medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has been awarded an American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE) Rising Star in Endocrinology Award. The honor is presented to a physician who is within 10 years of completing their endocrine fellowship and has demonstrated actionable outcomes in outstanding leadership, teamwork and/or innovation in support of AACE’s mission to elevate clinical endocrinology ...

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Medicine6 Mar 2025

Stressed New Yorkers can now seek care at Mount Sinai’s new resilience-focused medical practice

The Center for Stress, Resilience and Personal Growth at Mount Sinai—a first-of-its-kind initiative launched in April 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to address its psychosocial impact on Mount Sinai Health System’s workforce—is now offering confidential behavioral health treatment services to New Yorkers generally. A team of clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and licensed clinical social workers from the Center is now available to individuals 18 years and older who are interested in and could benefit from behavioral health treatment. Clinical services include cognitive behavioral therapy, ...

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Medicine6 Mar 2025

BU researchers uncover links between metabolism and aggressive breast cancer

(Boston)—More than 120 million Americans suffer from diabetes or pre-diabetes. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive form of breast cancer, and TNBC patients with obesity-driven diabetes often have worse outcomes. A new study by researchers from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine helps explain why this happens and suggests a potential way to improve treatment for these patients. At present, oncologists do not consider patients with breast cancer and obesity-driven diabetes differently in any significant way from patients with breast cancer who are otherwise healthy. The new study, "Insulin Resistance Increases ...

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Engineering6 Mar 2025

Engineers took apart batteries from Tesla and China’s leading EV manufacturer to see what’s inside

Two main manufacturers dominate the EV (electric vehicle) market: Tesla, which is most popular in Europe and North America, and BYD, which leads the Chinese EV market. However, both manufacturers have released limited data about their batteries, so the mechanical structure and characteristics of these battery cells has remained mysterious. To compare the batteries used by each manufacturer and better understand how EV batteries function overall, a team of researchers took one of each apart. The results publish on March 6 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports Physical Science and show that Tesla’s batteries prioritize high-energy density and performance, ...

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Technology6 Mar 2025

Paralyzed man moves robotic arm with his thoughts

Researchers at UC San Francisco have enabled a man who is paralyzed to control a robotic arm through a device that relays signals from his brain to a computer. He was able to grasp, move and drop objects just by imagining himself performing the actions. The device, known as a brain-computer interface (BCI), worked for a record 7 months without needing to be adjusted. Until now, such devices have only worked for a day or two. The BCI relies on an AI model that can adjust to the small changes ...

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Space6 Mar 2025

Planetary science: More potential locations for ice on Moon

Ice may be present a few centimetres below the Moon’s surface in more areas of the lunar polar regions than was previously thought due to large, yet highly localised, variations in surface temperatures. The results, published in Communications Earth & Environment, are derived from direct measurements taken at the lunar surface in 2023 by the Indian Chandrayaan-3 mission. Future long-term exploration (or habitation) of the Moon will likely depend on the availability of ice to provide water, with the likelihood of ice formation in a ...

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Medicine6 Mar 2025

Injectable Therapy is 'magic' for those who can’t take HIV pills

UCSF researchers are the first to demonstrate that the approach works for the patients who need it the most. Patients who struggle to take daily HIV pills can benefit from long-acting injectable treatments, a new study by researchers at UCSF has found. The strategy could also help stop the spread of HIV by keeping more patients from being infectious. In 2021, federal regulators approved the first long-acting antiretroviral (LA-ART) injectable, which is a combination of long-acting cabotegravir and ...

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Medicine6 Mar 2025

siRNA-AGO2 complex inhibits bacterial gene translation: a novel therapeutic strategy for superbug infection

Multidrug-resistant bacteria pose a major threat to human health. Manipulation of bacterial genes at the transcriptional level is a potential strategy to fight antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections by silencing their resistance genes. However, siRNAs have not been applied to regulate bacterial genes due to the lack of RNAi regulatory machinery, i.e., RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISCs), in bacteria. In addition, efficient methods for delivering siRNAs to bacteria in vivo are not currently available. In this study, ...

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Science6 Mar 2025

Memory is impaired in aged rats after 3 days of high-fat eating

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Just a few days of eating a diet high in saturated fat could be enough to cause memory problems and related brain inflammation in older adults, a new study in rats suggests. Researchers fed separate groups of young and old rats the high-fat diet for three days or for three months to compare how quickly changes happen in the brain versus the rest of the body when eating an unhealthy diet. As expected based on previous diabetes and obesity research, eating fatty foods for three months led to metabolic problems, gut inflammation and dramatic shifts in gut bacteria in all rats compared to those that ate normal chow, while just three days of ...

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Technology6 Mar 2025

Artificial muscles for tremor suppression

Key points: Slim and lightweight HASEL artificial muscles effectively suppress human tremor Reproduction of patient recordings of tremor episodes in a robotic platform/mechanical patient Computer simulation of tremor arm validates that forces are sufficient for practical applications Avoiding time consuming clinical testing in early stages of technology development Stuttgart/Tübingen – It is estimated that around 80 million people worldwide live with a tremor. For example, those who live with Parkinson's disease. The involuntary periodic movements sometimes strongly affect how patients are able ...

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Engineering6 Mar 2025

A new way to engineer composite materials

— By Rachel Berkowitz Composite adhesives like epoxy resins are excellent tools for joining and filling materials including wood, metal, and concrete. But there’s one problem: once a composite sets, it’s there forever. Now there’s a better way. Researchers have developed a simple polymer that serves as a strong and stable filler that can later be dissolved. It works like a tangled ball of yarn that, when pulled, unravels into separate fibers. A new study led by researchers ...

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Science6 Mar 2025

AERA selects 29 exemplary scholars as 2025 Fellows

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2025—The American Educational Research Association (AERA) has announced the selection of 29 exemplary scholars as 2025 AERA Fellows. The AERA Fellows Program honors scholars for their exceptional contributions to, and excellence in, education research. Nominated by their peers, the 2025 Fellows were selected by the Fellows Committee and approved by the AERA Council, the association’s elected governing body. They will be inducted during a ceremony at the 2025 Annual Meeting in Denver on April 24. With this cohort, there will be a total of 791 AERA Fellows. “The ...

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Science6 Mar 2025

Touchless tech: Control fabrics with a wave of your finger

A team of researchers from Nottingham Trent University (UK), Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy) has created washable and durable magnetic field sensing electronic textiles – thought to be the first of their kind – which they say paves the way to transform use in clothing, as they report in the journal Communications Engineering (DOI: 10.1038/s44172-025-00373-x). This technology will allow users to interact with everyday textiles or specialized clothing by simply pointing their finger above a sensor. The researchers show how they placed tiny flexible ...

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