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Targeting small group of brain cells may reduce opioid addiction risk

Researchers at Duke University School of Medicine are investigating how to keep opioids' pain-relieving benefits while reducing their addictive potential. In a study published in Nature, they report a step toward that goal.

7 Aug 2026

New vaccine strategy targets overlooked regions of malaria parasite

Malaria kills more than half a million people a year, most of them young children in Africa. Two vaccines are now recommended by the World Health Organization, RTS,S and R21.

7 Aug 2026

Study uncovers molecular trigger behind pyrin inflammation in familial Mediterranean fever

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a hereditary autoinflammatory disease in which the body's own immune system overreacts to minimal or inappropriate stimuli, producing recurrent attacks of fever and painful inflammation.

7 Aug 2026

Thinning cancer cells' sugar coating could expose tumors to immune attack

Like spies evading detection through being masters of disguise, many cancer cells are adorned with a copious coat of sugar-derived molecules that throws the proverbial hounds of our immune systems off the scent.

7 Aug 2026

Using AI to improve precision of visual cortical prostheses

Researchers from three institutions, including UC Santa Barbara, have demonstrated that artificial intelligence has the potential to make future visual prostheses, like a bionic eye, more precise, predictable and responsive to an individual user.

7 Aug 2026

Two-gene interaction reveals metastatic risk in breast cancer

Why do some breast cancer patients face a much higher risk of distant metastasis, while others with seemingly similar disease experience far better outcomes?

7 Aug 2026

Combination therapy overcomes ferroptosis resistance in β-catenin-mutant hepatocellular carcinoma

The aberrant activation of the mTOR pathway and its crosstalk with other signaling cascades represent key drivers of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. mTOR-mediated ferroptosis suppression has been implicated in HCC resistance to chemotherapy.

7 Aug 2026

Human skin chemistry shapes species-specific mosquito attraction patterns

There is no such thing as a universal mosquito magnet. In a new study published in iScience, Florida International University (FIU) researchers pitted 119 human volunteers against three of the world's most dangerous mosquito species and found that not one person was attractive to all three.

7 Aug 2026

Artificial intelligence may enhance implementation of health policy

Complex healthcare policies are often challenging to implement. That's a reality states across the country will deal with as new Medicaid work requirements get rolled out next year.

7 Aug 2026

New computer model connects brain chemistry to neural activity patterns

Researchers have developed a computer model of the human cortex that links its microscopic chemistry to its brain-wide patterns of activity, providing new evidence that regional differences in receptor density help shape how activity and information move across the brain.

7 Aug 2026

Growth hormone therapy improves height after childhood stem cell transplants

Growth impairment is a common late effect of childhood stem cell transplantation. A Japan-wide study found that growth hormone therapy improves adult height, but prior radiation therapy and transplant-related complications negatively affect how much children benefit.

7 Aug 2026

Researchers find a new genetic vulnerability in acute myeloid leukemia

A study published in Nature Cell Biology reports a new vulnerability in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that might lead to novel therapies to treat this cancer while minimizing harm to normal cells.

7 Aug 2026

Piezo ion channels: Key regulators of digestive health and disease

Mechanosensitive Piezo ion channels, particularly Piezo1 and Piezo2, are gaining recognition as central regulators of digestive system physiology and disease.

7 Aug 2026

Rising wildfire smoke in the US offsets improvements in prenatal health

Wildfires are well-known health risks. Now, in a new Frontiers in Environmental Health study, researchers in the US have – for the first time – evaluated how prenatal PM2.5 exposure has changed over space and time on a national scale, and what role wildfires play in shaping these trends.

7 Aug 2026

New review explores purinergic signaling pathways in osteoarthritis progression

A growing understanding of purinergic signaling is reshaping how scientists view osteoarthritis (OA), revealing an intricate communication network that influences joint inflammation, cartilage degeneration, bone remodeling, and chronic pain.

7 Aug 2026

Exhausted T cells balance graft tolerance and infection risk

A comprehensive new review examines the complex role of T cell exhaustion in organ transplantation, highlighting how this dysfunctional immune state can both promote graft tolerance and create vulnerabilities to infection and malignancy.

7 Aug 2026

Researchers develop new strategy for controlling therapeutic peptide release from gelatin particles

Rice University engineers have developed a new strategy for controlling how therapeutic peptides are released from gelatin-based materials, a step that could make the small but powerful molecules more useful in tissue engineering and drug delivery.

7 Aug 2026

New research aims to switch off chronic pain at its source

A major new Adelaide University research program will strive to improve the lives of millions by developing targeted therapies for chronic visceral pain, a debilitating primary symptom associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and endometriosis.

7 Aug 2026

Researchers use AI to design functional bacteriophage genomes from scratch

Using AI, researchers have designed complete, functional bacteriophage genomes from scratch and tested them against bacteria that had evolved resistance to a natural bacteriophage.

7 Aug 2026