01Human evolution may not have followed a straight path toward a bigger brain
An analysis of 87 Homo skulls found that larger braincases and smaller faces fit neutral evolution and stasis better than sustained directional selection.
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02A Lost Gene Leaves Cancer Cells Dependent on a Ribosome Rescue System
TNG961 degraded HBS1L and caused tumor regression in preclinical models of FOCAD-deleted cancer, including a PRMT5 inhibitor-resistant model.
03An antibody blocked one route aggressive prostate cancer uses to spread
An experimental antibody blocked a tumour-promoting receptor mechanism and reduced prostate cancer growth and metastasis in mice. Human testing has not yet been performed.
04Instant and Filtered Coffee Show Opposite Links to Biological Aging
Two cups of coffee may look similar while containing quite different mixtures of chemicals. A large UK Biobank analysis suggests that those differences may also matter for biological aging.…
05Carbon dioxide made fluid move more strongly through the brain
Carbon dioxide is normally treated as a waste gas that the body needs to expel. Yet brief, carefully controlled increases in CO₂ produced a different effect in the brain: blood vessels…
06A Mass Appeared Along a Biopsy Needle Track. It Wasn't Pancreatic Cancer
Two years after surgery for pancreatic cancer, a three-centimeter mass appeared in the wall of a 70-year-old woman’s stomach. It sat precisely where a biopsy needle had previously passed.…
07The DNA We Inherit Almost Exclusively from Our Mothers
Half of a person’s nuclear DNA comes from the mother and half from the father. Yet most of our cells contain another, much smaller genome that follows a different inheritance pattern. This…
08After Billions of Doses: What We Know About mRNA Vaccine Safety
mRNA vaccines have a confirmed rare adverse effect: inflammation of the heart muscle or its surrounding membrane, seen most often in younger males after a second dose. One of the most…
09CAR T cells were engineered to resist liver cancer’s stop signal
CAR T cells were engineered to resist liver cancer’s stop signal A solid tumour can display a convenient target to immune cells while simultaneously telling them to stand down. That…
10A Dying Cell Leaves a “Footprint”—and Influenza Can Use It
When an attached cell activates its self-destruct program, it does not simply vanish. As the cell contracts and pulls away from the surrounding surface, it leaves behind a thin patch of…
11A Pill Targeting Pancreatic Cancer’s Main Driver Nearly Doubled Median Survival
Pancreatic cancer has a molecular engine found in almost every tumor: RAS. For decades, the protein was considered exceptionally difficult to drug. Its surface offered few pockets where a…
12A Keto Diet Accelerated Small-Intestinal Tumors in Mice — but Ketones Weren’t the Cause
The same diet produced opposite outcomes in two neighboring parts of the gut. In mice genetically predisposed to intestinal tumors, a ketogenic diet accelerated adenoma formation in the…
13For 439 Years, Poison Was Suspected. The Real Killer Left Its DNA in the Medici Bones
In October 1587, Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, suddenly developed a severe fever. He died a few days later. His wife, Bianca Cappello, died at nearly the same time. It…
14To Reach a Brain Tumor, Nanoparticles Disguised Themselves as Sugar
Glioblastoma is difficult to treat not only because it grows rapidly. Most drugs penetrate the brain poorly because it is protected by the blood–brain barrier — a tightly sealed cellular…