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New AI tool predicts hydrogen positions to speed up drug discovery

New York University researchers have trained an AI model to learn chemical patterns associated with stability in drug-like molecules and accurately predict where their hydrogen atoms should be positioned.

23 Sep 2026

Brain activity study reveals five distinct profiles for depression

As two people with considerably different symptoms may receive the same depression diagnosis, researchers wanted to determine whether this individuality also manifests in brain activity.

23 Sep 2026

New slow-release drug delivery system provides weeks of pain-numbing anesthetic effects

Most local anesthetics used in medicine only last eight to 12 hours or a day tops. Now Boston Children's Hospital researchers have formulated a more effective slow-release injectable drug delivery system that achieved pain-numbing anesthetic effects lasting two to three weeks in rats compared to a commercial formulation lasting about four to eight hours.

23 Sep 2026

New ultrasound standards promise faster and more accurate arthritis diagnosis

People with early inflammatory arthritis could benefit from faster and more accurate diagnosis following a major international study that has established, for the first time, age-specific ultrasound standards to distinguish normal joint changes from the earliest signs of disease.

23 Sep 2026

Cancer-related DNA changes may appear in blood years before diagnosis

Researchers found that genome-wide plasma cfDNA methylation profiles collected before diagnosis contained early molecular signatures associated with future prostate and breast cancer, with prostate silencer methylation providing the stronger risk stratification. Breast enhancer signals were weaker and varied by subtype and disease stage, indicating that cfDNA methylation may have greater value for risk assessment and surveillance than as a standalone diagnostic test.

23 Sep 2026

Could a parent’s hospital job shape a child’s nasal microbiome?

A pilot study of 37 families found that children with healthcare-worker parents had lower nasal microbial diversity, with the largest differences among children whose two parents worked in healthcare. Porphyromonas was significantly less abundant, while Neisseria showed a similar non-significant pattern, but the cross-sectional study cannot establish causality or determine whether these microbiota differences affect health.

23 Sep 2026

What links smoking, body fat, mental health, genes, and heart risk? Inflammation may be part of the answer

In a large UK Biobank study, higher levels of the chronic inflammation marker GlycA were associated with smaller heart chambers, thicker heart walls, impaired diastolic function, reduced stroke volume, and a 43% higher risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in the highest versus lowest GlycA group. Genetic susceptibility also modified the associations between environmental exposures, inflammation, and cardiovascular risk, while inflammatory proteins in the IL-1, TNF, and IL-6 pathways statistically mediated several of these associations.

23 Sep 2026

Why scientists still cannot say how much plastic infants are actually consuming

A systematic review of 22 primary studies and four reviews found plastic-derived contaminants across infant foods and feeding equipment, but major differences in sampling, analytical methods, and quality control made exposure estimates difficult to compare. The authors found substantial evidence gaps for nanoplastics and oligomers and concluded that better-standardized exposure assessment is needed before infant health risks can be reliably evaluated.

22 Sep 2026

A hidden measles signal may reveal how large the next outbreak could be

Researchers used historical measles surveillance and demographic data from pre-vaccination England and Wales to reconstruct how the susceptible population changed between epidemics. Their model linked susceptibility at the start of an epidemic year with the magnitude of the following outbreak, pointing to a potential route for one-year-ahead forecasting that requires further development for modern surveillance settings.

22 Sep 2026

Higher BMI linked to brain differences in preschool children

Children as young as 4 with a higher body mass index (BMI) showed differences in several brain regions involved in reward, taste and hunger, according to a new study from Florida International University.

22 Sep 2026

Sensory neurons remember past allergens to trigger future allergic reactions

Mass General Brigham researchers found that sensory neurons retain a 'memory' of allergens that may help explain why allergies develop over time.

22 Sep 2026

MLC1 auto-antibodies identified as possible trigger for NMOSD-like diseases

NMOSD is an inflammatory autoimmune disorder that damages support and supply cells in the central nervous system, known as astrocytes.

22 Sep 2026

Low spinal bone density may predict faster brain aging

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that lower bone mineral density in the spine was associated with faster cognitive decline and accelerated age-related white matter injury, according to a new study published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America.

22 Sep 2026

Salt-purified seaweed compound suppresses inflammatory and allergic reactions

Food allergies affect an estimated 3%–4% of the global population, yet no definitive cure is currently available.

22 Sep 2026

Study identifies B cells as drivers of immunotherapy-related colitis

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a previously unknown role for B cells, which are adaptive immune cells, in triggering and sustaining colitis occurring as a side effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors, a widely used form of cancer immunotherapy.

22 Sep 2026

Marine carbohydrates offer valuable new resources for drug development

The ocean contains diverse carbohydrates that could serve as valuable resources for drug development. Algae, marine animals and microorganisms produce polysaccharides and related molecules with structures that are uncommon on land, including distinctive sulfate patterns, sugar linkages and branched architectures.

22 Sep 2026

KAIST researchers develop NUDGE technology to steer cell fate

Which genes need to be controlled to guide a stem cell toward a desired cell type, or to modulate an immune cell's inflammatory response? A Korean research team has developed a general-purpose computational framework that identifies the key targets needed to steer a cell toward a desired state with a single temporary intervention, without permanently altering its genes.

22 Sep 2026

Retinal dopamine levels rise during inherited retinal degeneration

A new study by researchers at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) reports changes in the dopamine system of the retina during inherited retinal degeneration.

22 Sep 2026

Garvan research reveals hidden inflammation behind high colon cancer risk

New research from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has revealed for the first time that two closely related bowel diseases, currently treated in the same way, are fundamentally different.

22 Sep 2026

City of Hope develops adaptive plug-and-play CAR T technology to attack tumors

Researchers from City of Hope®, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the country, have developed a new "plug-and-play" technology that adds engineered molecules to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells after treatment, allowing scientists to better control the cells and redirect them to attack different types of cancer.

22 Sep 2026