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Harvard researchers outline roadmap to solve orphan receptor challenge

A new review highlights how synthetic biology, AI, and spatial omics could transform ligand-receptor discovery from one-by-one searches into network-level mapping.

22 May 2026

Targeting lipid enzymes triggers starvation states in aggressive tumor cells

While many American adults are trying to reduce cholesterol levels, certain cancerous tumors have a relentless appetite for the metabolite.

22 May 2026

Targeting a key protein reduces injury in steatotic liver transplantation

Steatotic donor livers are highly susceptible to post-transplant dysfunction; however, the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood.

22 May 2026

Scientists urge advocacy to protect vital global vaccine research

Scientists and physicians should advocate to protect the vaccine research infrastructure that has saved an estimated 154 million lives over the past 50 years, according to a new commentary by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and the University of Washington.

22 May 2026

Brain scans find no evidence of widespread inflammation in long COVID

A new brain imaging study has found no evidence of widespread brain inflammation in patients suffering from prolonged symptoms after COVID-19 infection. Instead, the most severe long COVID symptoms were associated with increased brain activity in regions involved in mood and emotion.

22 May 2026

NIH researchers discover how weight-loss drugs alter brain cells

A team of researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have unveiled new details about the events GLP-1 receptor agonists trigger within neurons, which have been largely unexplored until now.

22 May 2026

Boston Children's scientists create new booster-free mRNA vaccine strategy

In a new study published in Nature Immunology, researchers at Boston Children's Hospital demonstrated that pairing the original COVID-19 mRNA vaccine with an immune system enhancer, known as an adjuvant, extended the duration of the vaccine's protection in mice from a few months up to two years.

22 May 2026

New psychological scales measure personal attitudes toward cosmetic procedures

As non-surgical cosmetic procedures grow in popularity, accessibility and affordability, new Griffith University research has created two new measures to assess people's attitudes and motivations towards cosmetic procedures.

22 May 2026

Lab-grown brain models reveal how epilepsy drug alters fetal development

It is known that the antiepileptic drug valproate increases the risk of developmental disorders in unborn children.

22 May 2026

Mental disorders surpass other conditions as leading global cause of disability

Nearly 1.2 billion people worldwide are living with a mental disorder, nearly double the number recorded in 1990.

22 May 2026

Private health insurance expansion leads to poorer overall public health

People with private health insurance can jump the public healthcare queue by using private health services instead. Is there really anything wrong with that?

22 May 2026

Innovative platform bridges the gap between OUD treatment and HIV prevention

People with opioid use disorder (OUD) are at increased risk of contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). While there are effective interventions that can substantially reduce HIV incidence and opioid overdose, like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), many patients still face barriers to accessing and staying engaged in care.

22 May 2026

How screen time, stress, and nicotine trap young adults in poor sleep

Among the younger part of the population, sleep problems, anxiety, and depression are widespread and growing issues.

22 May 2026

What medicine-exposed rats reveal about the next urban zoonotic threat

Researchers found that more than half of urban rats sampled from low-income communities in Salvador, Brazil, carried active pharmaceutical ingredients in their brain tissue. These pollutants were associated with altered zoonotic infection patterns, including lower Leptospira infection probability in rats carrying azithromycin and higher Capillaria infection probability in rats carrying citalopram.

22 May 2026

New study reveals nitric oxide’s widespread impact on genetics

Genes undergo extensive editing through a process called alternative splicing, which greatly increases the size of the functional genome, the working portion of our DNA that helps make each person unique. Put simply, a single gene can be edited in different ways to produce multiple sets of instructions.

22 May 2026

Research show worsening health trends for post-1946 generations

Younger generations appear to be experiencing poorer health earlier in life than previous generations, according to a review of studies comparing national birth cohort datasets involving tens of thousands of people across the UK born since 1946.

22 May 2026

New genetic roadmap offers targeted treatment for rare inflammatory disorder

Not all broken genes fail in the same way: some simply stop working, while others interfere with what still works.

22 May 2026

New discovery maps how mutant colorectal tumors adapt to KRAS inhibitors

A new preclinical study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medicine has uncovered genetic and cell-state adaptive mechanisms that drive resistance to KRAS inhibitors in patients with KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer.

22 May 2026

Weight loss helps older AF patients slim down, but does not ease symptoms

An 8-month low-calorie diet plus behavioral support helped older adults with overweight or obesity and persistent atrial fibrillation lose weight safely, with no intervention-related serious adverse events. However, the LOSE-AF trial found no meaningful improvement in AF symptoms, rhythm control, AF burden, cardiac remodeling, or further AF procedure rates compared with usual care.

22 May 2026

Scientists join international collaborative to advance Parkinson’s disease research

Michael Koob, PhD, and his team from University of Minnesota Medical School have been selected to join the Collaborative Research Network (CRN), an international, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional network working to address high-priority research questions about Parkinson's disease, through a $6 million grant awarded by Aligning Science Across Parkinson's (ASAP), in partnership with The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF).

22 May 2026