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Proteins are complex molecules that are made up of amino acids. They can be found in every cell in the body, and carry out vital processes that keep human beings alive. Mutations in proteins can lead to a multitude of diseases, the most common being cancer.

New AI model maps billions of years of protein evolution

An international team of researchers, including Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at the Institute of Science Tokyo, has developed a protein language model that brings together two fundamental sources of information about proteins: their amino acid sequences and their three-dimensional structures.

11 Sep 2026

Cancer treatments alter the landscape of genetic mutations in healthy body tissues

Cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, give a growth advantage to cells with particular genetic changes in healthy tissue, new research finds.

11 Sep 2026

Proteomic signatures reveal early signs of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease in children

Researchers at Vanderbilt Health, UTHealth Houston and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have identified early signs of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease (CKMD) in children as young as 8 years old that potentially can be reversed with a new class of weight loss drugs used widely by adults

11 Sep 2026

McMaster researchers discover molecular switch causing dangerous blood clots

A cross-campus team of McMaster University researchers has identified why some patients develop dangerous blood clots after exposure to a common blood thinner – and a potential way to prevent it.

11 Sep 2026

Early studies hint that ketones may affect pathways linked to PTSD

An integrative review found that ketogenic therapy may influence metabolic, inflammatory, oxidative stress, and neurotransmitter pathways implicated in PTSD, with animal studies and small human studies reporting early signs of symptom improvement. Human evidence remains limited to very small cohorts, case reports, and pilot studies, and controlled trials have yet to establish clinical efficacy.

11 Sep 2026

Refined starch activates immune pathways after low-carb weight loss

After substantial weight loss on a very-low-carbohydrate diet, participants who switched to a diet rich in refined starch showed greater activation of circulating immune and metabolic pathways than those who continued the low-carbohydrate diet or consumed a high-carbohydrate diet rich in added sugar. Mouse experiments suggested that activation of the complement immune pathway may help explain the inflammatory response associated with starch intake.

10 Sep 2026

New genetic variant linked to previously unrecognized retinal disease

An international team of researchers led by the University Hospital and University of Bonn, as well as the universities of Edinburgh, Basel and Pennsylvania, has identified a previously unrecognized form of inherited retinal degeneration caused by a specific variant in the EFEMP1 gene.

10 Sep 2026

Rituximab alters T-cell metabolism in patients with nephrotic syndrome

Nephrotic syndrome is caused when the filtering system in the kidneys is damaged, allowing large amounts of protein to leak into the urine.

10 Sep 2026

Review highlights solute carriers as targets for central nervous system disorders

Solute carriers (SLCs) are specialized transport proteins that control the movement of nutrients, ions and neurotransmitters across cell membranes and are essential for brain metabolism and neuronal communication.

10 Sep 2026

Rentosertib shifts multiple proteomic aging clocks toward younger age profiles in IPF trial

Researchers applied six proteomic aging clocks to serum samples from a phase 2a trial of rentosertib in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and found treatment-associated shifts toward younger predicted biological-age profiles, particularly with the 30 mg twice-daily regimen. Additional proteomic analyses linked treatment to changes in senescence, metabolism, growth-factor signaling, and fibrosis-related pathways, although the study could not determine whether these effects reflected genuine geroprotection rather than disease modification.

10 Sep 2026

Gut microbiome may reveal inflammation and future disease risk better than age

Gut microbiota composition explained more variation than chronological age in nearly all inflammatory cytokines and most physiological measures examined, with specific microbial profiles linked to markedly different patterns of inflammation across adulthood. People with the Bacteroides 2 enterotype showed an inflammaging-like profile decades earlier than other groups and had a higher risk of subsequent disease, while a high-diversity microbiota profile was associated with lower inflammation and reduced disease incidence.

9 Sep 2026

Blood protein profiling could improve rare disease diagnosis

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London, the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) and Genomics England have shown that measuring proteins in the blood can provide important additional clues about the effects of genetic variants, helping to identify diagnoses and potential new disease-causing genes that genome sequencing alone has been unable to resolve.

9 Sep 2026

Why researchers are looking at psilocybin for repeated mild head injuries

In female rats with repetitive mild head injury, psilocybin reduced acute imaging measures consistent with vasogenic edema and phosphorylated tau while altering vascular reactivity, functional connectivity, neurotrophic proteins, and lipid signaling. The findings provide preclinical evidence of potential therapeutic effects, but behavioral benefits were limited, and whether these biological changes translate into lasting neurological protection or benefits in humans remains unknown.

9 Sep 2026

Early B-cell therapy linked to better MS disease control

For people recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), early treatment choices were associated with only slight differences after two years, based on the first treatment they used, according to a study published September 9, 2026, in Neurology Open Access, an official journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

9 Sep 2026

New nanobody antivenom offers broad protection against Indian cobras

Snakebite is a neglected tropical disease, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and disabilities each year. India alone reports nearly 50,000 deaths every year, the most by snakebite in the world.

9 Sep 2026

Protein-based MRI agent detects tiny lung cancer metastases

A multi-institutional research team led by Georgia State University Regents' Professor Emerita of Biochemistry and Biophysical Chemistry Jenny J. Yang has developed a new class of protein-based MRI contrast agent that detects invasive lung cancer and metastatic disease at earlier stages than conventional imaging approaches.

9 Sep 2026

Gut infection leaves long-lasting immune ‘memories’ at the brain’s borders in mice

In mice, intestinal infections reshaped dural CD4+ T-cell populations and seeded the brain’s outer meningeal border with antigen-specific memory cells that persisted for months and mounted rapid recall responses to bloodborne antigens. Oral priming was associated with reduced Salmonella spread to the brain and modest cross-protection in an engineered shared-antigen Candida model, although the researchers could not definitively prove that dural CD4+ T cells alone caused the protection.

9 Sep 2026

New base editing techniques accurately modify genes in human embryos

A study by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons has found that new cutting-edge techniques can accurately edit genes in human embryos-giving scientists indispensable tools for understanding normal human development-but has also uncovered important risks that currently preclude the use of the techniques in the clinic.

9 Sep 2026

Skin microbiome changes may predict infant eczema and food allergies

The first clues that a baby may develop eczema or food allergies could be hiding in the microscopic organisms living on their skin, according to a study led by researchers in Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

9 Sep 2026

New blood screening algorithm reduces unnecessary Alzheimer's PET scans

A new blood-based screening algorithm dramatically reduced the number of unnecessary PET scans needed to recruit patients at risk of Alzheimer's disease for a clinical trial, according to research from scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

9 Sep 2026