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Elusive stem cells offer clues to treat lumbar spinal stenosis

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Hospital for Special Surgery have discovered the stem cells—unspecialized cells that can develop into specific cell types—that give rise to the body's tendons and ligaments, the tissues connecting muscles and bones.

7 Sep 2026

Scientists traced a hidden immune route that may worsen tau-linked brain damage

In a mouse model of tauopathy, conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s) cross-presented brain-derived antigens in deep cervical lymph nodes, priming CD8+ T cells that accumulated in the brain and promoted neurodegeneration. Disrupting cDC1s or their cross-presentation activity reduced CD8+ T-cell infiltration and protected against neuronal loss, while human primary tauopathy samples also showed increased brain CD8+ T cells, although cDC1 involvement in humans remains unconfirmed.

6 Sep 2026

Neural networks reveal how training shapes learning in living brains

A new study has used a type of machine learning called a neural network to reveal how different kinds of training can change how learning happens-both in machines, and in living brains.

3 Sep 2026

Targeting KV7 proteins could help delay preterm labor

Scientists have found that targeting a particular group of proteins in the uterus muscle (myometrium) can suppress human uterine contractions in laboratory studies and delay preterm birth in a preclinical model.

3 Sep 2026

Maternal illness may reshape fetal brain development through epigenetics

Neurodevelopmental conditions, which include autism spectrum disorders, ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), and more, impact around ten percent of the American population.

2 Sep 2026

New drug class shows major promise for shrinking nerve tumors

A scientist at Cincinnati Children's who has hunted for decades for ways to shrink the painful and disfiguring nerve tumors caused by neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) has made a new breakthrough in the quest.

2 Sep 2026

Two scientists win Horwitz Prize for Rett syndrome breakthrough

Columbia University will award the 2026 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize to Adrian Bird and Huda Zoghbi for their pioneering work on epigenetic regulation in the nervous system and its role in human neurological disease, particularly Rett syndrome.

2 Sep 2026

Giving immunotherapy before surgery boosts brain tumor treatment success

A team from UNIGE and HUG has shown that administering cell immunotherapy before surgery to remove a brain tumor is significantly more effective than administering it afterwards.

2 Sep 2026

Study uncovers cause of abnormal breathing in Rett syndrome

Hyperventilating. Breath holding until they turn blue. This abnormal breathing is frequent and disturbing in people with Rett syndrome, a rare genetic disease.

1 Sep 2026

Lifestyle factors aggravate genetic causes of male infertility, study finds

Lifestyle factors can worsen the effects of genetic causes of male infertility, finds new research that could help explain why men carrying similar genetic mutations often experience different levels of fertility impairment.

31 Aug 2026

Does a psychedelic need an awake brain to have lasting effects? This mouse study offers a clue

A single dose of psilocybin produced a lasting increase in sociability for at least two weeks in Cntnap2-knockout mice with social deficits, while it did not enhance sociability overall in mice with normal social behavior. The effect required 5-HT2A receptor activation and persisted when psilocybin was administered under light anesthesia, suggesting that wakefulness during the drug’s acute effects was not necessary for this behavioral response.

30 Aug 2026

Stanford scientists develop an ultracompact gene activation tool

The ability to precisely adjust the expression of genes inside the human body - ramping up protective ones and tamping down harmful ones - holds enormous potential for treating and preventing disease.

28 Aug 2026

Newly identified cells protect lung tumors from immune attacks

Researchers at Columbia University have discovered a new type of cell that protects lung cancers from attacks by the immune system.

27 Aug 2026

Maternal immune response to urinary tract infection may drive preterm birth risk

A new study published in Science Translational Medicine shows that the increased risk of preterm pregnancies associated with urinary tract infection (UTI), is linked to the body's immune response to the infection rather than to the bacteria themselves.

26 Aug 2026

Researchers traced lifelong obesity resistance in mice back to an early microbial encounter

Natural wild-derived microbiota protected mice against diet-induced obesity across sexes, genetic backgrounds, and age by increasing energy expenditure and promoting a thermogenic program in brown adipose tissue. The effect depended on the immune system’s initial encounter with the microbiota and required CCR2-associated myeloid activity, revealing a long-lasting microbiota-immune-brown fat pathway.

25 Aug 2026

Novel norovirus vaccine approach may be adaptable for other RNA viruses

Every RNA virus — from stomach bugs and influenza to chickenpox and the common cold — has its own story to tell, with a unique combination of symptoms, rates of transmission, duration, and chemical blueprint.

19 Aug 2026

New optical control platform blocks and restores neural signaling

DGIST (President Kunwoo Lee) announced that a research team led by Professor Ji Won Um of the Center for Synapse Diversity and Specificity, Department of Brain Sciences, in collaboration with a research team led by Professor Alice Ting at Stanford University, has developed LATeNT, a novel optical control platform that uses light to block signal transmission between neurons and subsequently restore normal signaling.

19 Aug 2026