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DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

How DNA and life experiences leave distinct marks on the human immune system

Using single-cell epigenomic profiling of immune cells from 110 individuals, researchers show that genetic variation and environmental exposures shape the human immune system through distinct DNA methylation mechanisms. Genetic effects concentrate within gene bodies of memory cells, while environmental exposures primarily remodel regulatory regions in naive immune cells.

28 Jan 2026

UVA Health scientists pioneer a new way to create vaccines far more quickly than ever before

UVA Health scientists are reporting promising success as they pioneer a new way to create vaccines far more quickly, nimbly and inexpensively than ever before.

28 Jan 2026

New nanomaterial kills cancer cells via oxidative stress

Scientists at Oregon State University have developed a new nanomaterial that triggers a pair of chemical reactions inside cancer cells, killing the cells via oxidative stress while leaving healthy tissues alone.

28 Jan 2026

Newly discovered compound can advance the body's internal clock

A Japanese research team has discovered a new compound that can advance the body's internal clock—offering hope for faster recovery from jet lag and better adaptation to night-shift work.

28 Jan 2026

First topical CRISPR gene therapy corrects disease-causing mutations in human skin

Gene-editing tools like CRISPR have unlocked new treatments for previously uncurable diseases. Now, researchers at the University of British Columbia are extending those possibilities to the skin for the first time.

27 Jan 2026

Tracking antibiotic resistance across environmental systems using advanced metagenomic tools

Antibiotic resistance is often framed as a hospital problem, but a growing body of evidence shows that the environment plays an equally critical role in the global spread of drug resistant bacteria.

27 Jan 2026

Scientists discover spindle's self-repair mechanism for accurate cell division

Every second, millions of cells in your body divide in two. In the space of an hour, they duplicate their DNA and grow a web of protein fibers around it called a spindle.

27 Jan 2026

Game-changing discovery reveals how viruses may trigger ALS development

A large, multidisciplinary team led by researchers from Texas A&M University has made a potentially game-changing discovery about the development of devastating motor neuron diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

27 Jan 2026

Prospera™ featured in landmark interventional study advancing lung transplant care

Natera, Inc., a global leader in cell-free DNA and precision medicine, today announced the publication of a new prospective clinical trial in Transplantation Direct. The study, which was conducted by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSU-WMC), was initiated to explore whether donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) surveillance, and specifically Prospera-guided monitoring, could reduce the number of invasive biopsies for patients following lung transplantation.

From Natera 27 Jan 2026

Orphan noncoding RNAs define cancer identity and enable blood-based monitoring

We knew we had something interesting with T3p, a single small RNA found in breast cancer but absent from normal tissue.

24 Jan 2026

Blood-based epigenetic signatures enable early risk assessment in prediabetes

Prediabetes is an extremely heterogeneous metabolic disorder. Scientists from several partner institutes of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) have now used artificial intelligence (AI) to identify epigenetic markers that indicate an elevated risk of complications.

24 Jan 2026

MYC cancer gene suppresses immune alarm signals to protect pancreatic tumors

The cancer gene MYC camouflages tumors by suppressing alarm signals that normally activate the immune system.

23 Jan 2026

Resurrected ancient enzyme reveals early life processes and astrobiological biosignatures

By resurrecting a 3.2-billion-year-old enzyme and studying it inside living microbes, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have created a new way to improve our understanding of the origins of life on Earth and possibly recognize signs of life elsewhere.

23 Jan 2026

Cigarette compound exposure drives sorafenib resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma

A research team led by Professor Yuan Li at Nanjing Medical University published a research paper entitled "A Cigarette Compound-Induced Tumor Microenvironment Promotes Sorafenib Resistance in Hepatocellular Carcinoma via the 14-3-3η-Modified Tumor-Associated Proteome" in the Chinese Medical Journal.

23 Jan 2026

Study traces deep origins of syphilis to prehistoric Americas

A newly sequenced genome of the bacterium that causes syphilis, Treponema pallidum, highlights the deep antiquity of treponemal diseases in the Americas.

22 Jan 2026

Cancer vaccines enter a new era of personalized immunotherapy

A new comprehensive review from researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai details how decades of cancer vaccine research are converging into a new era of more precise, personalized, and effective immunotherapies, particularly when combined with other cancer treatments.

22 Jan 2026

Study explores how shared cells influence health across generations

During pregnancy, maternal and fetal cells migrate back and forth across the placenta, with fetal cells entering the mother's bloodstream and tissues.

22 Jan 2026

Targeted uterine mRNA treatment boosts fertility outcomes in mice

Researchers from the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine Center for Nanomedicine - which designs nanotechnology-based platforms for clinical translation across specialties - developed a strategy for delivering therapeutic messenger RNA (mRNA) to the inner lining of the uterus (endometrium) in mice via modified lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), which are small capsules made of fatty molecules.

22 Jan 2026

Moffitt researchers develop a new way to predict how cancer cells evolve

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have developed a new way to predict how cancer cells evolve by gaining and losing whole chromosomes, changes that help tumors grow, adapt and resist treatment.

22 Jan 2026

Discovery explains why people with IBD have higher risk of colorectal cancer

A chain of immune reactions in the gut—driven by a key signaling protein and a surge of white blood cells from the bone marrow—may help explain why people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have a higher risk of colorectal cancer, according to a preclinical study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

22 Jan 2026