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Menopause may raise women’s Alzheimer risk earlier than doctors once thought

This review argues that women’s higher Alzheimer disease risk may be shaped in part by midlife neuroendocrine aging, especially the menopause transition, rather than by longevity alone. It highlights early menopause, bilateral oophorectomy, vasomotor symptoms, and midlife cognitive changes as underinvestigated but potentially important risk markers, while calling for sex-specific, biomarker-driven prevention strategies.

18 Mar 2026

Blood protein structure changes may enable earlier detection of Alzheimer’s

Advanced proteomics and AI reveal blood protein changes, offering insights into early Alzheimer's detection and differentiation from mild cognitive impairment.

13 Mar 2026

New review reveals complex polygenic architecture underlying common epilepsies

An insightful mini-review published in Genomic Psychiatry synthesizes the rapidly expanding landscape of molecular genetic research on common epilepsies, assembling evidence from genome-wide association studies, whole-exome sequencing projects, and advanced statistical modeling to illuminate the polygenic architecture that underpins these heterogeneous neurological disorders.

10 Mar 2026

IFN-γ identified as a powerful blood biomarker for Alzheimer’s

This study identifies IFN-γ as a crucial blood-based biomarker for Alzheimer's, revealing its role in microglial inflammation and genetic risk interactions.

19 Feb 2026

Why lung cancer in never smokers is rising and how targeted detection could reduce deaths

Lung cancer in never smokers is an increasingly recognized global health issue with distinct biological drivers, environmental risk factors, and genetic susceptibilities. Improved risk modelling, targeted screening strategies, and preventive approaches are needed to enable earlier detection and reduce mortality in this growing patient group.

15 Feb 2026

New diagnostic framework addresses challenges of rapidly-mutating RNA viruses

The rapid evolutionary dynamics of RNA viruses, driven by high mutation rates and the consequent formation of complex quasispecies populations, present a formidable obstacle to conventional molecular diagnostic approaches.

30 Jan 2026

PTPN2 gene protects the gut from harmful bacteria driving inflammatory bowel disease

Two recent studies from the University of California, Riverside, published in the same issue of Gut Microbes highlight the role of a gene called PTPN2 in protecting the gut from harmful bacteria linked to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

24 Jan 2026

Super agers' resilience against Alzheimer's disease linked to protective gene variant

The gene variant posing the greatest genetic risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) is called APOE-ε4. A different variant of the same gene, APOE-ε2, is thought to confer protection against AD.

19 Jan 2026

UC San Diego project aims to bioprint patient-specific transplantable human livers

Liver failure is one of the most serious and deadly medical conditions, claiming thousands of lives each year as patients in the United States wait for a donor organ.

14 Jan 2026

Novel liquid biopsy technology could advance cancer diagnostics and monitoring

A novel liquid biopsy technology is set to advance cancer diagnostics and monitoring by overcoming the long-standing challenge of simultaneously achieving high sensitivity, broad coverage, and simple workflow.

14 Jan 2026

APOE gene: A major driver in Alzheimer's disease

Potentially more than 90% of Alzheimer's disease cases would not occur without the contribution of a single gene (APOE), according to a new analysis led by UCL researchers.

9 Jan 2026

TAAR1 mutation impairs brain signaling in schizophrenia

A genetic mutation passed from mother to children in families affected by schizophrenia has now been shown to completely silence a brain receptor that pharmaceutical companies are racing to target with new drugs.

6 Jan 2026

High-fat cheese and cream consumption links to lower dementia risk over 25 years

Higher intake of high-fat cheese and cream was associated with a lower risk of all-cause dementia over 25 years in a large Swedish cohort, while low-fat dairy showed no association. Associations were strongest for vascular dementia and among APOE ε4 non-carriers, with findings remaining observational.

23 Dec 2025

Simple blood test maps hidden Alzheimer’s disease changes

This population-based study used plasma pTau217 to estimate how common Alzheimer’s disease neuropathological changes are across age and cognitive status in a Norwegian community cohort. Prevalence rose steeply with age and was strongly associated with APOE ε4 genotype, education level, and kidney function, with implications for future use of blood biomarkers in clinical practice.

21 Dec 2025

Highly sensitive CRISPR-based method designed to detect low-frequency cancer mutations

Liquid biopsy is increasingly recognized as a promising tool for cancer detection and treatment monitoring, yet its effectiveness is often limited by the extremely low levels of tumor-derived DNA circulating in the blood.

9 Dec 2025

Bacterial enzyme linked to heart complications in pneumonia

Pneumonia is a disease that burdens the healthcare system with more that 1.2 million emergency room visits each year and more than 41,000 adult deaths in the United States.

4 Dec 2025

Human gene maps show widespread gaps in non-European representation

Human gene maps contain major blind spots because they were built largely from the DNA sequences of people with European ancestry, according to a study published today in Nature Communications.

3 Dec 2025

AI model ranks genetic variants from severe to mild disease mutations

popEVE combines evolutionary insights with human population data to identify damaging genetic mutations, improving variant scoring for rare diseases.

3 Dec 2025

Whole genome sequencing reveals how much human heritability we can finally explain

Whole genome sequencing in nearly 500,000 UK Biobank participants shows that observed rare and common variants now explain about 88% of family based heritability for many human traits. By partitioning heritability into rare versus common and coding versus non-coding components, the study narrows where missing heritability still hides and highlights traits that remain only partly understood.

13 Nov 2025

Switching APOE4 to APOE2 in adult mice reduces Alzheimer’s pathology and improves memory

Replacing APOE4 with APOE2 in adult mice rapidly reshapes brain lipids and gene expression, even after development is complete. This switch, especially when targeted to astrocytes, reduces amyloid burden, dampens gliosis, and improves associative memory despite E2-like peripheral lipid risks.

12 Nov 2025