Health

The race to complete the human pangenome—which comprises all genetic information across the human species—has been underway since 2022, when the first complete reference human genome sequence was released by the international Telomere-to-Telomere Consortium. Now, a team led by scientists at the Research Organization of Information and Systems has made a significant contribution to a more complete understanding of human genetics with 20 near-complete variant groups located in disease- and immune-related regions from 10 Japanese men.

A new review published in Calcified Tissue International highlights major advances in understanding and preventing bone loss in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), showing that modern antirheumatic therapies can significantly reduce local and generalized bone loss in RA.

Researchers at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, together with Newcastle University's Translational and Clinical Research Institute and the Department of Immunology at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, have identified an important driver of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This discovery reshapes understanding of IBD and opens the way to targeted approaches to diagnosis and treatment in a subset of patients. The findings suggest that inflammatory bowel disease is not a single condition, but a group of biologically distinct diseases driven by different underlying mechanisms.

A new study identified protein targets and drug candidates, including opportunities to repurpose existing drugs. Six key proteins were highlighted as potentially providing new insights and supporting future treatment development for progressive multiple sclerosis (MS).

Picky eating is a challenge most parents are familiar with, but for parents of autistic children, severe selective eating can lead to nutritional deficiencies and place tremendous stress on the family. However, a new study from Constructor University Ph.D. candidate Sofya Bajaa has demonstrated a transformative new approach to treating severe selective eating in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Bajaa's newly developed Schmetterling Nutritional Behavior Intervention (NBI) program achieved dramatic improvements in dietary variety and nutritional intake over just 10 weeks.

One of the most detailed maps to date of meningioma—the most common brain tumor in adults—reveals how the tumor's surrounding environment helps drive disease behavior and patient outcomes, according to new research from Mayo Clinic.

Psychiatrists have long treated depression using transcranial magnetic stimulation—noninvasive magnetic pulses that stimulate neurons. Now, new research is allowing them to fine-tune their approach, potentially targeting specific symptoms and opening new possibilities for precision care.

In 2020, Jennifer Doudna won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for her work on the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology that allows scientists to precisely modify DNA by cutting it at specific locations. Six years later, a new study in Nature by a team led by Doudna has uncovered a powerful new approach to selectively kill cancer cells using a CRISPR enzyme called Cas12a2.

For years, treatment of older patients with acute myeloid leukemia—an aggressive cancer of the blood and bone marrow—has required injections administered in a clinic for five to seven consecutive days each month, in addition to an oral pill. For these older patients, that clinic cadence can be quite intensive.

Some people taking GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and obesity experience mental health benefits—particularly a decrease in symptoms of depression. In a mouse model study published in Cell Host & Microbe, researchers report that these mental health improvements appear to result from changes in the gut microbiome that lead to an abundance of a microbial strain known to have a favorable effect on neurons related to stress.

People who attended or experienced the same event often remember it in completely different ways. For instance, one person might remember a family dinner as warm and enjoyable, while another might recall that the same dinner was uncomfortable or emotionally demanding.

As the world's best soccer players prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup across North America this summer, teams are gearing up not only for opponents but also for the heat. In stadiums from Miami to Mexico City, soaring temperatures and humidity could affect matches, recovery times and ultimately championship outcomes. And behind one of the most storied teams in soccer history is a University of Florida scientist using the science of sweat to help athletes perform, recover and stay healthy in extreme heat.

A landmark clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that tranexamic acid reduced transfusions across major surgeries without increasing the risk of dangerous blood clots. The trial was coordinated by the University of Manitoba (UM) and co-led by researchers at UM and The Ottawa Hospital.

A new study published in Frontiers in Psychology challenges the traditional, reactive model of mental health care by demonstrating that proactive brain training can strengthen the human mind before mental health challenges take root. Additionally, it can support the wellness of those with a history of mental illness.

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz have published a proof-of-concept study in Fertility and Sterility demonstrating that injectable semaglutide may offer meaningful reproductive benefits for women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), formerly known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).