For years, one of the most powerful weapons against certain blood cancers, called CAR-T cell therapy, has required an elaborate process: Doctors extract a patient’s immune cells, ship them to a specialized facility where they’re genetically reprogrammed to fight cancer, then ship them back for infusion back into the patient’s bloodstream. This has revolutionized cancer treatment, but it takes weeks and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, placing it out of reach for many of the patients who need it most.   Now, scientists at UC San Francisco have developed a method ...

The 350-year history of quinine, from Quechua bark to chemotherapy drug – with an important milestone in Jena For over 350 years, quinine and other extracts from the cinchona tree (Cinchona spp.) were the only effective medicines against malaria, a tropical fever caused by single-celled parasites of the genus Plasmodium and transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes.  The name 'cinchona tree' actually originates from South America and comes from the Quechua term quina-quina, meaning 'bark of barks'. Powdered quina-quina was ...

Two microscopic grains collide and produce a tiny spark. This phenomenon may have provided the energy to kick off life on Earth. But if these solid particles have the same composition, what factor causes the charge to flow in a given direction? In a new study published in Nature, physicists from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) identify the key factor as environmental carbon-based molecules that adhere to the materials’ surface. What do Saharan dust storms, volcanic lightning, and ...

A new interdisciplinary study published in Nature reconstructs over 2,000 years of population history in Argentina’s Uspallata Valley (UV), a southern frontier of Andean farming spread in ancient times, with broader lessons on how agriculture shaped societies and how communities endured crises. By combining ancient human and pathogen genomics with isotopic analyses, archaeology and paleoclimate records–and working in close collaboration with Huarpe Indigenous communities–, the research reveals how local hunter-gatherers adopted agriculture, how more recent intensive ...

Researchers discovered an antioxidant, glutathione, that cancer cells appear to be “addicted to” as fuel, opening new pathways for investigation and a potential drug that can restrict the way tumors use this nutrient. The top-tier scientific journal Nature is publishing the study online on March 18. Isaac Harris, PhD, and a team from the Wilmot Cancer Institute at the University of Rochester conducted the research. Co-corresponding author and co-first author Fabio Hecht, PhD, and co-first author Marco Zocchi, PhD, led the study in the Harris lab in the Department of Biomedical ...

Cancer-fighting T cells do not simply “run out of energy.” They are molecularly reprogrammed. For years, mitochondrial dysfunction has been recognized as a hallmark of exhausted T cells in tumors. Yet how metabolic stress translates into stable transcriptional reprogramming remained unclear. The new study uncovers a decisive molecular bridge. When mitochondria become depolarized, CD8⁺ T cells increase proteasome activity. This heightened protein degradation selectively dismantles mitochondrial hemoproteins, releasing excess regulatory heme. Rather than remaining a byproduct, heme becomes a signal. It translocates to the nucleus, where it binds and destabilizes the transcription ...

Two new studies from investigators at Mass General Brigham challenge a decades-old assumption that the thymus, an organ best known for its role in establishing immune function in childhood, becomes irrelevant in adulthood. Using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze routine CT scans, researchers uncovered that adults with a healthy thymus had increased longevity and reduced risk for cardiovascular disease and cancer. In a separate study of patients with cancer, the researchers found that thymic health may influence response to immunotherapy—a treatment that depends on the strength of a patient’s immune system. These findings, published in two papers in the same ...

Following a rapid increase in popularity of GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and weight loss, such as semaglutide and tirzepatide, approximately one in eight U.S. adults now take these medications, which also provide cardiovascular benefits. However, when patients stop taking these drugs, they not only regain weight, but, according to a new study, they also incur increased risk of heart attack, stroke and death compared to staying on the medication. In the study, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine ...

Tides not only affect regions along the coast, their periodic fluctuations are carried upstream inland through coastal rivers. River sections particularly affected by these tidal pulses are exposed to an increased risk of flooding. It is therefore important to localize these regions, as well as the extent of the river tide. However, until now, a global and accurate overview has not yet been established. A research team led by TUM has conducted the first global evaluation, based on high-resolution satellite data, and presented it in an interactive map. Over 725 million people worldwide are influenced by river tides The map closes a ...

Cells rely on tiny molecules called microRNAs to tune which genes are active and when. Cells must carefully control the lifespan of microRNAs to prevent widespread disruption to gene regulation. A new study led by researchers at Whitehead Institute and Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry reveals how cells selectively eliminate certain microRNAs through an unexpectedly intricate molecular recognition system. The work, published on March 18 in Nature, shows that the ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. — New analyses of ancient ice from Antarctica and the air contained inside it are extending the history of Earth’s climate records and expanding researchers’ understanding of how the planet has changed over the last 3 million years. The findings, published this week in two papers in the journal Nature, show the long-term cooling of Earth’s climate during this period has been accompanied by only a modest decline in heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Scientists have known that Earth was much warmer and sea level much higher ...

Study followed more than 10,000 Black and white women in the U.S. over decades First to examine link between premature menopause and lifetime coronary heart disease risk Declining estrogen during menopause can raise cholesterol, blood pressure and stiffen arteries CHICAGO --- Women who enter natural menopause before age 40 face about a 40% higher lifetime risk of developing coronary heart disease than women who experience menopause later, according to a large Northwestern Medicine study that is the first to calculate lifetime ...

A global team of experts has identified a promising new approach to prevent recurrence of bacterial vaginosis (BV), a condition that affects millions of women worldwide. In a phase 1 randomized clinical trial of women in the U.S. and South Africa, researchers found that a short course of a multi-strain probiotic restored protective bacteria to the vagina, significantly reducing disease recurrence. Results from the study, a collaboration between investigators from Mass General Brigham, the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), and collaborators ...

About The Study: In this cohort study, premature menopause was associated with 40% higher lifetime risk of coronary heart disease in Black and white women. This suggests that premature onset of menopause is an important risk-enhancing factor for lifetime risk and should be routinely assessed in clinical practice to consider intensification of preventive efforts. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Priya M. Freaney, MD, email priya.freaney@northwestern.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2026.0212) Editor’s ...

About The Study: In trials of depression, psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) was not more effective than open-label traditional antidepressants (TADs). Blinding made a difference for TADs, but not for PAT, confirming that PAT trials are effectively always open label. These results argue against highly optimistic narratives surrounding PAT and highlight the importance of blinding integrity.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Balázs Szigeti, PhD, email balazs.szigeti@ucsf.edu. To ...

Psychedelic-assisted therapy may be no more effective than traditional antidepressants when patients know what drugs they are actually taking, according to a first-of-its kind analysis that compared how well each type of drug worked for major depression. Psychedelic-assisted therapy has resisted placebo-controlled testing methods — the gold standard in clinical trial design. Due to their powerful subjective effects, nearly everyone in the trial knows whether they received a psychedelic or the placebo even if they are not told. But in trials of antidepressants, participants may not figure out whether they have received the drug or a placebo, ...

UCSF Health has earned The Joint Commission’s Advanced Certification in Spine Surgery for the high standards of care it offers to patients throughout Northern California at the UCSF Spine Center. The certification reflects over a decade of collaboration by UCSF’s departments of neurological surgery and orthopaedic surgery, working closely with the UCSF Department of Quality & Safety. Multidisciplinary teams across clinics, operating rooms, and inpatient units aligned their practices around evidence-based care pathways and ...

Ovarian cancer (OC) is a "silent killer" with an annual incidence of 11.2 per 100,000 and mortality of 7.6 per 100,000. Most cases are diagnosed at advanced stages due to the lack of effective screening. Standard treatments—surgery and chemoradiotherapy—are limited by drug resistance, particularly to platinum agents, leading to recurrence and poor prognosis. Natural products like resveratrol (RVT), a polyphenol found in grapes and peanuts, offer potential as safe, multi-targeted adjunctive therapies. This review examines RVT's molecular interactions with OC-related proteins, its therapeutic mechanisms, and novel delivery ...

“We should treat healthy life extension as the goal and define success as health-adjusted longevity: extending lifespan while proportionally expanding function, resilience, and independence.” BUFFALO, NY — March 18, 2026 — A new editorial was published in Volume 18 of Aging-US on March 10, 2026, titled “Healthy life extension: Geroscience’s north star.” Led by David A. Barzilai — who is affiliated with Geneva College of Longevity Science, Healthspan Coaching LLC (Barzilai Longevity Consulting), and Harvard Medical School — the editorial pays tribute ...

For decades, birdsong research focused almost exclusively on males. In many species, however, females also sing. Now a study by researchers from the University of Vienna and Anglia Ruskin University shows that female Galápagos yellow warblers sing frequently, though not for the reasons males do. In experiments simulating territorial intrusions, the researchers found that female song was neither linked to same sex competition nor to signalling aggression in territorial defence. The findings, published in the journal Animal Behaviour, raises new questions ...

(TORONTO & HELSINKI, March 18, 2026) JMIR Publications, a leading open-access digital health research publisher, and the University of Helsinki are pleased to announce a new Flat-Fee Unlimited Open Access Publishing Agreement. This partnership, effective January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026, replaces individual Article Processing Charges (APC) with an Institutional Publishing Fee (IPF) that covers all researchers affiliated with University of Helsinki including Helsinki University Central Hospital. JMIR’s institutional partnerships have a track record of successfully reducing administrative burden, eliminating ...

For decades, astronomers have struggled to differentiate giant planets from brown dwarfs, a class of objects more massive than planets but too small to ignite nuclear fusion like true stars.  Through a telescope, these cosmic lookalikes can have the overlapping brightness, temperatures and even atmospheric fingerprints. The striking similarity leaves astronomers unsure if they have observed an oversized planet or an undersized star. Now, a Northwestern University-led team has uncovered a crucial clue that separates the two: how fast they spin. In a new study, astrophysicists found the clearest evidence ...

A protein already targeted by FDA-approved cancer drugs may also help the body fight influenza, according to new research from The Jackson Laboratory (JAX). Published in Cell Reports, the study found that Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1), a protein best known for helping tumors evade immune attack, instead helped immunocompromised mice clear flu-infected lung cells and survive infection. The findings challenge long-standing assumptions about PD-L1’s role in the immune system. While cancer therapies work by blocking PD-L1 to boost immune attack on tumors, the new research suggests that ...

Young children who attend nursery get sick more often than those who don’t, but they will go on to have fewer illnesses during early school years, finds a new review of evidence by a group of parent-scientists involving University College London (UCL) researchers. All five authors of the new Clinical Microbiology Reviews paper are parents of young children, who are also researchers or clinicians at UCL, the University of Cambridge, Cornell University and North Middlesex University Hospital. They wanted to understand how often children typically get sick when attending nursery, why they’re so prone to illness, what impact it has on their immune systems, and what ...

WASHINGTON—The Endocrine Society has selected five recipients for its Early Investigator Awards. The Early Investigators Awards were established to help develop early career investigators and recognize their accomplishments in endocrine-related research. Recipients will receive a $1,500 monetary award, complimentary registration and the opportunity to present at ENDO 2026, one year of free membership to the Society, and public recognition of research accomplishments in various Society platforms. The Endocrine Society’s 2026 Early Investigator Award winners are:   Sreekant Avula, M.D., F.A.C.P., of Hennipen ...