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Maternal immune response to urinary tract infection may drive preterm birth risk

A new study published in Science Translational Medicine shows that the increased risk of preterm pregnancies associated with urinary tract infection (UTI), is linked to the body's immune response to the infection rather than to the bacteria themselves.

26 Aug 2026

Experimental vaccine protects against Zika virus through T cells alone

Zika virus has been spreading for decades, but it first grabbed worldwide headlines in 2016. That February, with an outbreak sweeping the Americas, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the surge in Zika-linked birth defects a "public health emergency of international concern"-a designation which lasted until that November.

26 Aug 2026

Scientists identify new drug target to combat airborne tuberculosis

Tuberculosis bacteria released into the air from infected individuals dry out to form infectious particles that are second only to measles in contagiousness.

26 Aug 2026

Scientists discover how neutrophils travel to infection sites without damaging healthy tissue

UMass Chan Medical School scientist Beth McCormick, PhD, and her team collaborated with researchers at the University of Bath to discover how neutrophils, the body's most abundant type of white blood cells, travel to infection sites without damaging healthy tissue.

25 Aug 2026

Tick-borne alpha-gal syndrome poses potential risks during blood transfusions

A new multi-institute study led by researchers at Dartmouth Health and Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth suggests that alpha-gal syndrome, the tick-borne disease that can result in a chronic allergy to meat and animal byproducts, also may complicate certain patients' ability to safely receive a blood plasma or platelet transfusion.

24 Aug 2026

Bonsai software visualizes complex biological data as branching trees

Modern biology research can now generate valuable data on an unprecedented scale. But there is one major obstacle: making sense of these complex high-dimensional datasets.

21 Aug 2026

Cryo-EM provides real-time glimpse of cellular machinery reading DNA inside living organisms

All living things have a fleet of tiny copy machines that turn instructions from DNA into RNA, the molecules responsible for helping build proteins that keep organisms alive.

20 Aug 2026

New review examines why tetanus remains a global health problem

Tetanus is often considered a disease of the past, remembered mainly through childhood vaccinations and warnings about rusty nails.

20 Aug 2026

New antibody-specific AI framework accelerates discovery of therapeutic drugs

Designing an effective antibody drug is like searching for the right key in a warehouse of locks. Scientists may begin with millions-or even billions-of antibody candidates, but only a tiny fraction will recognize and bind tightly to the disease target.

13 Aug 2026

Aging clock analysis identifies key genes in opioid dependence

A new research paper was published in Volume 18 of Aging on July 27, 2026, titled "Transcriptomic aging clock analysis identifies key genes in opioid dependence."

12 Aug 2026

Laboratory chemical exposure and poor diet increase odds of health symptoms in young scientists

Young scientists who frequently handle laboratory chemicals and consume relatively few antioxidant-rich foods may be more likely to report symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, pallor, and easy bruising, according to a new study of university students in Nigeria.

12 Aug 2026

Machine learning uses gene neighborhoods to identify harmful poultry bacteria

When it comes to identifying harmful bacteria, it helps to look at the company their genes keep.

12 Aug 2026

Aston University study reveals how mānuka honey fights antibiotic resistance

New research at Aston University has shown that a variety of compounds is responsible for the antimicrobial action of mānuka honey, not just the sugar content and methylglyoxal (MGO) alone, as previously thought.

11 Aug 2026

New study identifies key pathway for delivering antisense cancer drugs

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) have been proposed as a therapeutic approach to shut down the production of faulty proteins in a wide variety of diseases, including cancer.

11 Aug 2026

New combination therapy could permanently clear HIV in newborns

Every year, more than 120,000 newborns worldwide contract HIV, a global health burden that requires lifelong treatment for millions of people - assuming they have access and can afford it.

10 Aug 2026

Galápagos wastewater is creating new reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Portable field surveillance reveals how untreated sewage is reshaping coastal microbial communities and spreading diverse resistance genes across one of the world’s most protected marine environments.

6 Aug 2026

Newly discovered immune pathway prevents fatal fungal infections in mice

An immune pathway has been discovered which prevents a normally harmless fungus developing into a fatal infection.

5 Aug 2026

Mouse study shows how liraglutide briefly rewires gut bacterial communities

Researchers treated male high-fat-fed mice with liraglutide for 14 days, then tracked fecal bacterial communities after a 7-day washout using 16S rRNA sequencing. Liraglutide shifted the microbiome toward Lactobacillus- and Leptogranulimonas-related taxa while reducing several fermentative taxa, but most changes moved back toward baseline after treatment stopped.

4 Aug 2026

Breast cancer co-opts the immune system to attract nerves that fuel tumor growth

New research from the University of Oklahoma demonstrates how an aggressive form of breast cancer co-opts the body's own immune system to attract nerves that fuel tumor growth.

4 Aug 2026

Using DNA sequencing for accurate identification of microbial infections in cystic fibrosis patients

Lung infections are a constant risk for people living with cystic fibrosis (CF), a life-threatening genetic disorder which impairs lung function, predisposes people to persistent airway infections and exposes them to acquiring multidrug resistant infections.

3 Aug 2026