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AI redesign helps enzymes evolve beyond natural limits

Researchers showed that AI-redesigned botulinum neurotoxin proteases provided more stable starting points for directed evolution, allowing enzymes to access beneficial mutations that were poorly tolerated in wild-type backgrounds. In BoNT/E models, the approach improved activity, evolvability, and specificity, including an ataxin-2-targeting variant with markedly reduced cleavage of the native SNAP25 substrate.

24 Jul 2026

Computationally designed antibody attacks previously untreatable KRAS cancer mutations

Antibodies are like "guided missiles" that find and attack cancer cells, but cancer-causing mutations inside cells have remained a "blind spot" for treatment because antibodies cannot reach them.

23 Jul 2026

Study reveals how DNA misfolding causes congenital heart disease

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect, affecting approximately 1 in 100 babies born each year. One of the many causes for this disorder is having only one functional copy of the gene TBX5, instead of two healthy copies, inherited from parents.

23 Jul 2026

Chemotherapy leaves early genomic fingerprints in childhood tumors

Nearly half of childhood tumors treated with common types of chemotherapy showed detectable DNA changes linked to treatment within 18 months, according to a new international study led by The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).

23 Jul 2026

Senolytic drugs rejuvenate blood stem cells in sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease causes premature aging of blood stem cells, which scientists may be able to address with a special class of drugs, according to a new study from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

22 Jul 2026

Genetic background shapes cancer development despite identical risk factors

Why do cancers develop differently in different people-even when they are exposed to the same risk factors? An international research group, including the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), has now demonstrated in mice that an organism's genetic makeup significantly influences the course of cancer development.

22 Jul 2026

Occult hepatitis B mutations drive liver cancer growth via Akt mTOR pathway

Occult hepatitis B virus (OBI) infection presents a significant global health challenge, notoriously flying under the radar of standard viral screening while relentlessly driving the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

22 Jul 2026

Study reveals how p53 mutations cause tumors to resist cancer immunotherapy

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy has transformed cancer treatment, but many tumors remain resistant.

22 Jul 2026

New ARPA-H grant aims to advance genomic medicines for rare vascular diseases

Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, has been awarded an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) contract to develop advanced personalized genomic medicines to treat rare genetic vascular diseases.

21 Jul 2026

Study reveals sex-based protein differences across lung cancer types

Biological sex factors into cancer in ways you might not expect. In lung cancer, a form called squamous cell carcinoma disproportionately affects males while adenocarcinoma occurs more frequently in females.

21 Jul 2026

New BRAF protein conformation opens avenues for cancer treatment

Several types of cancer are triggered by mutations in a protein called BRAF. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have resolved a previously unknown conformation adopted by this protein during cell proliferation.

21 Jul 2026

Peroxisome preservation extends lifespan and protects mitochondrial health in worms

A new research paper was published in Volume 18 of Aging on July 6, 2026, titled "Inhibition of peroxisomal protein PRX-11 promotes longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans via enhancements to mitochondria."

21 Jul 2026

Tailored gene therapy dramatically reduces childhood epilepsy seizures in trial

SCN2A‑related developmental epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) is a rare, severe form of childhood epilepsy and one of the most common causes of monogenic autism.

21 Jul 2026

Study reveals why rare neurological disease damages specific brain regions

Many neurological diseases damage specific parts of the brain, even though the harmful protein involved is present throughout the brain.

20 Jul 2026

Genetic discovery reveals biological cause of excessive sweating disorder

An international research team led by Prof. Dr Frank Bosmanbs (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) has discovered a major genetic cause of hyperhidrosis (chronic and excessive sweating).

17 Jul 2026

Timing of regenerative cues may be key to better healing from injury

For decades, medicine has chased a simple but elusive goal of delivering the right drug to the right place at the right time.

16 Jul 2026

New photoswitchable drugs restore light perception in blind animals

Blinding diseases caused by the degeneration of photoreceptors, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP), affect 200 million people worldwide and represent the leading causes of visual impairment and blindness.

15 Jul 2026

Pet gecko offers promising model for cancer research breakthroughs

A new study, led by experts at the University of Nottingham, suggests a pet gecko with an unusually high risk of tumors may be a promising model for understanding how cancer develops and spreads.

14 Jul 2026

Directed enzyme evolution and the Nobel Prize: Making enzymes evolve in the lab

Frances Arnold on directed enzyme evolution: random mutation plus smart screening, and why it changed enzyme engineering and industry.

From Pittcon 14 Jul 2026

Myotonia may play a much larger role in driving muscle damage than previously recognized

For decades, researchers studying myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) have focused on the disease's underlying genetic cause: a mutation that produces a toxic form of RNA, disrupting the normal processing of thousands of genetic messages inside cells.

13 Jul 2026