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KFF poll finds vaccine myths reach many Americans but convince few

KFF’s 2026 tracking poll found that many U.S. adults have heard common vaccine myths, including false claims about MMR, COVID-19, mRNA vaccines, and measles vaccines. Fewer adults strongly believe these myths, but a large, uncertain “malleable middle” remains, especially among those without a trusted health care provider, frequent social media users, some AI health-information users, and parents who delayed or skipped childhood vaccines.

1 Jul 2026

Melatonin dampens fetal membrane inflammation linked to preterm birth

Melatonin reduced infection-related inflammation in human fetal membranes in an ex vivo model. The study suggests that this effect works partly through melatonin receptors and by suppressing the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway.

28 Jun 2026

Psychological traits may uncover why Alzheimer’s biology differs between patients

In 822 deceased older adults from ROS and MAP, researchers linked stable psychological traits to multi-omic molecular subtypes of Alzheimer’s dementia using postmortem brain tissue from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Neuroticism and loneliness were associated with molecular progression, while purpose in life showed subtype-specific inverse associations, suggesting psychological traits may align with Alzheimer’s biology beyond conventional neuropathology.

22 Jun 2026

Statins may trigger muscle side effects by activating inflammatory danger signals

An experimental study in Science Advances shows that statins, primarily fluvastatin in these experiments, may promote low-level muscle myopathy by reducing isoprenoid-dependent protein prenylation rather than by cholesterol lowering. In primed muscle cells and mouse models, impaired YAP signaling, reduced glycolysis, NLRP3/caspase-1 activation, and nuclear FOXO accumulation increased atrogin-1, reduced protein synthesis, and weakened muscle function.

22 Jun 2026

New human protein atlas maps how cancer rewires the body’s tissues

Researchers created a DIA-MS atlas of 13,609 proteins across 2,856 samples from fetal, healthy adult, paired non-tumor, and tumor tissues. The resource maps tissue-specific protein patterns, cancer-associated changes, organ-specific drug-toxicity signals, and candidate therapeutic targets.

21 Jun 2026

Study shows jumping genes can transfer between different species

Genes are not passed on exclusively from parents to their offspring. Some are mobile and can also jump to other species, as researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen have now shown.

19 Jun 2026

A hidden immune pathway may help explain why Alzheimer’s inflammation persists

Researchers found that KAT7 promotes CMPK2-driven mitochondrial DNA release in microglia, activating inflammatory cGAS-STING and NLRP3 pathways linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

11 Jun 2026

Western diet weakens the gut’s nervous system through iron-dependent damage

A JCI study found that exposure to a Western diet in mice and to palmitic acid in murine and ex vivo human enteric nervous system models triggered ferroptosis, characterized by iron loading, lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial stress, and enteric neuronal loss. Boosting Nrf2 signaling protected enteric neurons and prevented Western diet-induced delayed colonic transit in mice, pointing to a potential pathway linking dietary fat exposure to gut motility dysfunction.

10 Jun 2026

New study frames altered protein modifications as cancer drivers

Cancer has often been explained through mutations in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or changes in ribonucleic acid (RNA), but these layers do not fully explain why tumors with similar genetic profiles can behave differently.

9 Jun 2026

Scientists uncover shared gene signatures that reveal how mammals age

Researchers mapped more than 11,000 transcriptomes across mice, rats, macaques, and humans, revealing conserved molecular signatures of aging and mortality across tissues, species, and cell types. The study developed interpretable transcriptomic clocks that track age, mortality-related molecular change, chronic disease signals and responses to lifespan-altering interventions.

29 May 2026

Gut microbes may reveal who is at risk of type 2 diabetes years before diagnosis

A large Swedish prospective cohort study found that specific gut microbial species and metabolic pathways measured years before diagnosis were associated with future type 2 diabetes risk. The findings suggest that gut microbiome composition and functional potential may help explain T2D development, but replication is needed before clinical use.

28 May 2026

One-time gene editing cuts LDL cholesterol in early hypercholesterolemia trial

A phase 1 NEJM interim analysis found that a single infusion of the investigational base-editing therapy VERVE-102 produced dose-dependent reductions in circulating PCSK9 protein and LDL cholesterol in adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia or premature coronary artery disease.

26 May 2026

How a tiny H5N1 dose triggers massive virus shedding in cow milk

Experimental infection studies in lactating Holstein cows showed that H5N1 B3.13 can infect the bovine mammary gland at doses as low as 10 TCID50, producing extremely high viral loads in milk. However, the virus did not transmit to sentinel cows through repeated exposure to contaminated milking equipment or through close contact under high-biocontainment conditions, suggesting that real-world dairy-farm spread depends on additional cofactors.

25 May 2026

Scientists reveal why common pancreatic precancer lesions rarely turn deadly

Spatial and single-cell analyses of human donor pancreata showed that PanIN epithelial cells gradually acquire cancer-like molecular features, while their surrounding stromal and immune environment remains closer to normal pancreatic tissue. The findings suggest that delayed or incomplete microenvironmental reprogramming may help explain why most PanIN lesions remain indolent rather than progressing to pancreatic cancer.

24 May 2026

Yoga and meditation show promise for gut health

This systematic review found that yoga and Buddhist meditation were associated with favorable gut microbiota and metabolite profiles in four human studies involving healthy adults. However, because participants largely followed vegetarian or vegan diets and no randomized controlled trials were included, the findings cannot prove that meditation alone reshapes the gut microbiome.

24 May 2026

How an AI system learned to write expert-level scientific code

ERA is an AI system that uses large language models and tree search to automatically write, test, and refine scientific software for measurable research tasks. Across bioinformatics, COVID-19 forecasting, time-series analysis, geospatial modeling, neuroscience, and numerical computation, ERA produced expert-level solutions that often surpassed established human-developed methods.

20 May 2026

DNA-guided CRISPR system targets RNA and expands Cas12 beyond gene editing

Researchers developed ΨDNA, a DNA-based CRISPR guide that allows Cas12 enzymes to target RNA with high specificity while retaining compatibility with DNA-editing workflows. The platform detected HCV RNA in clinical samples and enabled programmable RNA knockdown, multiplex targeting, and RNA modification in human cells.

18 May 2026

Aged immune cells may drive memory decline by releasing a brain-aging protein

A preclinical mouse study in Immunity suggests that aged circulating CD8+ T cells can disrupt hippocampal function and impair learning and memory. The findings point to granzyme K, a secreted factor linked to age-associated CD8+ T cells, as a potential target for restoring aspects of cognition in aging.

17 May 2026

How Andes virus super-spreaders reveal the risk behind the MV Hondius hantavirus cluster

A 2020 NEJM study of the 2018 to 2019 Epuyén outbreak showed that Andes virus spread from one zoonotic introduction into four generations of human infection, causing 34 cases and 11 deaths. The findings are newly relevant after WHO reported an ANDV cluster linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship, where close indoor exposure may have enabled onboard human-to-human transmission.

14 May 2026

New CRISPR system selectively destroys cancer cells

Among the challenges in treating disease, including cancer, is wiping out malignancies, infection, contaminants or other pathologies, without destroying healthy tissue.

6 May 2026