Scientists worldwide have joined forces to build the first-ever roadmap for conserving Earth’s vast invisible majority—microbes. Their new IUCN Specialist Group reframes conservation by elevating microbial life to the same urgency as plants and animals, emphasizing microbes’ foundational role in climate stability, soil fertility, marine ecosystems, and human health. The roadmap charts new metrics, [...]

Scientists have discovered that the brain may have a built-in way to fight Alzheimer’s. By activating a protein called Sox9, researchers were able to switch on star-shaped brain cells known as astrocytes and turn them into powerful cleaners that remove toxic plaques linked to memory loss. Tests in mice that already had Alzheimer’s-like symptoms showed that [...]

Temporarily anesthetizing the retina briefly reverts the activity of the visual system to that observed in early development and enables growth of responses to the amblyopic eye, new research shows. In the common vision disorder amblyopia, impaired vision in one eye during development causes neural connections in the brain's visual system to shift toward supporting [...]

A new ultrasound-guided nanotherapy wipes out liver tumors while training the immune system to keep them from coming back. The study, published in Nano Today, introduces a biodegradable nanoparticle system that combines sonodynamic therapy and cell death induction (ferroptosis) to treat hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer. The platform uses ultrasound-triggered generation of [...]

Every year, 12 million people worldwide suffer a stroke; many die or are permanently impaired. Currently, drugs are administered to dissolve the thrombus that blocks the blood vessel. These drugs spread throughout the entire body, meaning a high dose must be administered to ensure that the necessary amount reaches the thrombus. This can cause [...]

Scientists have discovered how tumors secretly drain the energy from T cells—the immune system’s main cancer fighters—and how blocking that process can bring them back to life. The team found that cancer cells use a little-known molecular signal to push T cells into exhaustion, making them stop attacking. By interrupting this harmful signal, researchers [...]

Brigham and Women's Hospital's TIMI Study Group reports that in patients with prior ischemic stroke, very low achieved LDL-cholesterol correlated with fewer major adverse cardiovascular events and fewer recurrent strokes, without an apparent increase in hemorrhagic stroke. Study background and patient population Patients with prior ischemic stroke face a high risk for recurrence and [...]

University of Tokyo researchers have created a powerful new microscope that captures both forward- and back-scattered light at once, letting scientists see everything from large cell structures to tiny nanoscale particles in a single shot. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a new type of microscope that can detect signals over an intensity range [...]

Researchers in Japan found that although the Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab successfully removes amyloid plaques from the brain, it does not restore the brain’s waste-clearing system within the first few months of treatment. The study suggests that by the time symptoms appear, damage to nerve cells and the glymphatic system is already well established, making short-term recovery [...]

Colorectal cancer is striking younger adults at alarming rates, driven by lifestyle and genetic factors. Colorectal cancer (CRC) develops when abnormal cells grow uncontrollably in the colon or rectum, forming tumors that can eventually invade nearby tissues or spread to other parts of the body. It typically begins as small, benign growths called polyps, [...]