Human Biology News

June 13, 2025

Top Headlines

Keep the Cool Feeling: A Lipid Enzyme for Maintaining Cool Temperature Sensation and Avoidance

May 29, 2025 — Researchers have identified a monoacylglycerol acyltransferase-coding gene named bishu-1. It is involved in the thermal responsiveness of cool temperature-sensing neurons by regulating ionotropic ...

Resetting the Fight-or-Flight Response

May 29, 2025 — The activation of Protein Kinase A (PKA) is a critical part in how the body responds to stress and starvation. Using a variety of imaging and biochemical techniques, a team of researchers has revealed how the metabolic cycle that activates PKA ...

Diagnosing Parkinson's Using a Blood-Based Genetic Signature

May 28, 2025 — Researchers have identify a set of biomarkers that could someday make it easy to spot the disease in a patient's blood ...

Combination Therapy With Rapamycin and Trametinib Prolongs the Life of Mice

May 28, 2025 — Researchers have discovered that the combination of the two cancer drugs Rapamycin and Trametinib significantly extends the lifespan of mice. This therapy shows greater effects than the individual drugs and offers not only a longer lifespan, but ...

Yeast Can Now Produce Human DNase1

May 28, 2025 — The protein DNase1 is one of the oldest biological agents in history: It has been on the market since 1958 and is now used, among other things, to treat cystic fibrosis. However, it takes considerable effort to produce it in immortalized hamster ...

Gene Editing Disrupts Huntington's Mutation in Mice

May 28, 2025 — Researchers have developed a way to edit the genetic sequences at the root of Huntington's disease and Friedreich's ataxia. If longer than a certain threshold length, these sequences grow in length uncontrollably and lead to brain cell death in ...

Mitochondrial DNA Mutation Accumulation May Not Be a Determining Factor in Aging

May 27, 2025 — Mutations accumulated in mitochondrial DNA associated with aging were earlier believed to cause aging by decreasing the energy-producing function (mitochondrial respiratory function). In this study, ...

Bed Bugs Are Most Likely the First Human Pest, New Research Shows

May 28, 2025 — Researchers compared the whole genome sequence of two genetically distinct lineages of bed bug, and their findings indicate bed bugs may well be the first true urban ...

Different Versions of APOE Protein Have Varying Effect on Microglia in Alzheimer's Disease

May 27, 2025 — A new study suggests how APOE2 is protective while APOE4 increases disease risk by regulating the brain's immune ...

Researchers Develop Gene Therapy That Can Target Airway and Lungs Via Nasal Spray

May 22, 2025 — For gene therapy to work well, therapeutic molecules need to be efficiently delivered to the correct locations in the body -- a job commonly given to adeno-associated viruses (AAV). To improve the ...

This Gene Variant Contributed to the Dietary and Physiological Evolution of Modern Humans

May 21, 2025 — Two of the traits that set modern humans apart from non-human primates are taller stature and a higher basal metabolic rate. Researchers have identified a genetic variant that contributed to the ...

Scientists Design Gene Delivery Systems for Cells in the Brain and Spinal Cord

May 21, 2025 — Research teams have created a versatile set of gene delivery systems that can reach different neural cell types in the human brain and spinal cord with exceptional accuracy. These delivery systems ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:57am EDT

Findings on the Protein That Forms Loops in the Human Genome

May 29, 2025 — Cohesin is a protein that forms a ring-shaped complex which wraps and alters the DNA molecule shape. It moves through the DNA and creates specific loops in the genetic material which determine the ...

Unlocking the Secrets of Bat Immunity

May 21, 2025 — Bats are known as natural hosts for highly pathogenic viruses such as MERS- and SARS-related coronaviruses, as well as the Marburg and Nipah viruses. In contrast to the severe and often fatal disease ...

New Research on ALS Opens Up for Early Treatment

May 20, 2025 — Using the gene scissors CRISPR and stem cells, researchers have managed to identify a common denominator for different gene mutations that all cause the neurological disease ALS. The research shows ...

Maintaining Balance in the Immune System

May 19, 2025 — Researchers have published the first description of the role of the ZFP36 family of RNA binding proteins in regulatory T cells (Tregs). Tregs are key to maintaining balance in the immune system and ...

Scientists Discover Key Gene Impacts Liver Energy Storage, Affecting Metabolic Disease Risk

May 16, 2025 — A new study reveals that a single gene plays a big role in how the liver stores energy, a process that's critical for overall health and for managing ...

Novel Molecular Maneuver Helps Malaria Parasite Dodge the Immune System

May 16, 2025 — Researchers have discovered how a parasite that causes malaria when transmitted through a mosquito bite can hide from the body's immune system, sometimes for years. It turns out that the parasite, ...

New Gene Editor Enables Greater Precision

May 15, 2025 — A new gene editor may soon open the door to gene therapies for a wider array of ...

Enzyme Identified as an Important Tumor Inhibitor in T-Cell Lymphomas

May 15, 2025 — Lymphomas belong to the group of malignant diseases of the immune system and mainly affect the organs of the lymphatic system. Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) belongs to the subgroup of ...

New Stem Cell Model Sheds Light on Human Amniotic Sac Development

May 15, 2025 — Researchers have developed a new stem cell model of the mature human amniotic sac, which replicates development of the tissues supporting the embryo from two to four weeks after fertilization. This ...

New Study Offers Insights Into Designing Safe, Effective Nasal Vaccines

May 14, 2025 — Most vaccines -- and boosters -- are injected directly into muscle tissue, usually in the upper arm, to kickstart the body's immune system in the fight against disease. But for respiratory diseases ...

New Light Shed on Health Differences Between Males and Females

May 13, 2025 — The results of an international study shed new light the underlying biological mechanisms which cause differences in health risks, symptoms and outcomes between males and ...

May 12, 2025 — Researchers confirm and explore the role of estrogen-related receptors in regulating energy production in muscle cells during exercise. The findings indicate that developing a drug to boost ...

A More Realistic Look at DNA in Action

May 9, 2025 — By creating a more true-to-life representation of DNA's environment, researchers have discovered that strand separation may take more mechanical force than the field previously ...

AI-Designed DNA Controls Genes in Healthy Mammalian Cells for First Time

May 8, 2025 — A recent study marks the first reported instance of generative AI designing synthetic molecules that can successfully control gene expression in healthy mammalian cells. As a proof-of-concept, the ...

Harnessing Generative AI to Expand the Mitochondrial Targeting Toolkit

May 5, 2025 — The mitochondrion, often referred to as the powerhouse of the cell, plays critical roles in cellular function, making it a prime organelle to target for fundamental studies, metabolic engineering, ...

How Cellular Quality Control Contributes to Insulin Resistance Related to Type 2 Diabetes

May 2, 2025 — Researchers have revealed critical insights into how impaired mitochondrial dynamics and quality control mechanisms in skeletal muscle influence insulin sensitivity in patients with Type 2 Diabetes, ...

Process Driving Evolution and Major Diseases

May 2, 2025 — The only remaining autonomous 'jumping gene' can only attach to, and stitch a copy of itself into, DNA when it builds up into large clusters and only as cells ...

New Technology Facilitates Delivery of Advanced Medicines

Apr. 30, 2025 — Researchers have developed a technique that enables efficient delivery of therapeutic proteins and RNA to cells. The method shows promising results in animal studies to deliver gene editors and ...

Bacterial Villain Behind Lake Erie's 'Potent Toxin' Unveiled

Apr. 30, 2025 — In the warm summertime waters of Lake Erie, cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, can proliferate out of control, creating algal blooms that produce toxins at a rate that can harm wildlife and human ...

Gene Circuits Enable More Precise Control of Gene Therapy

Apr. 28, 2025 — To help achieve more precise control of gene therapy, engineers have designed a new control circuit that can keep gene expression levels within a target range. The method could be used to deliver ...

Influenza Virus Hacks Cell's Internal System

Apr. 28, 2025 — The influenza virus manipulates the body's gene regulation system to accelerate its own spread. A new study also shows that an already approved drug could help strengthen immune defenses -- ...

Chimpanzee Stem Cells Offer New Insights Into Early Embryonic Development

Apr. 25, 2025 — Chimpanzee naive pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) can now be grown in cellular cultures, reveals a recent study. They successfully created chimpanzee early embryo models, called 'blastoids,' ...

Malfunctions in Mitochondria Influence Skeletal Aging

Apr. 24, 2025 — New mechanisms discovered that show how development-dependent disruptions in mitochondrial function lead to premature skeletal ...

Clinical Trials to Test Vaccine Against Alzheimer's-Promoting Tau Protein

Apr. 23, 2025 — Researchers hope to launch human clinical trials in their quest for a vaccine to prevent the buildup of pathological tau after demonstrating that this vaccine generated a robust immune response in ...

Parts of Our DNA May Evolve Much Faster Than Previously Thought

Apr. 23, 2025 — A team of researchers has used advanced DNA sequencing to develop the most comprehensive atlas yet of genetic change through generations, laying the foundations for new insights into the roots of ...

How DNA Self-Organizes in the Early Embryo

Apr. 23, 2025 — An international research team has provided a detailed insight into how the spatial organization of genetic material is established in the cell nucleus of early embryos within the first hours after ...

Three-Dimensional Gene Hubs May Promote Brain Cancer

Apr. 22, 2025 — The way DNA folds inside the nucleus of brain cells may hold the key to understanding a devastating form of brain cancer called glioblastoma, suggests a new preclinical study. The findings offer a ...

Empowering Antibodies to Better Activate the Immune System

Apr. 22, 2025 — Antibodies are best known for their ability to latch onto and neutralize bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. But these immune proteins can do more than that: They also activate other components of ...

Engineered Microglia Show Promise for Treating Alzheimer's and Other Brain Diseases

Apr. 21, 2025 — A new way to deliver disease-fighting proteins throughout the brain may improve the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders, according to scientists. By engineering ...

Throwing a 'Spanner in the Works' of Our Cells' Machinery Could Help Fight Cancer, Fatty Liver Disease... and Hair Loss

Apr. 18, 2025 — Fifty years since its discovery, scientists have finally worked out how a molecular machine found in mitochondria, the 'powerhouses' of our cells, allows us to make the fuel we need from ...