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Hackathon results suggest AI agents could make verifying research far more routine

A major study found that adults with depression show disrupted production of new neurons in the hippocampus, potentially weakening the brain’s ability to separate new experiences from painful memories. The researchers also identified broad molecular changes that could open the door to new treatments tailored to different biological forms of depression.

Gates Foundation pledges $540 million to a project often criticized for its opacity

People who reach 110 and beyond appear to have unusually large numbers of rare immune cells capable of killing abnormal cells. These CD4 cytotoxic T cells became more common with age and often expanded into large groups of nearly identical cells, suggesting the immune system was repeatedly responding to persistent threats.

Oifirax, created by GreenLight Biosciences, uses RNA molecules to kill the fungus responsible for powdery mildew on grapes

Researchers re-create the chorus of noise produced by ancient insects

Common medications may reshape the gut microbiome long after the last dose is taken. In a study of more than 2,500 people, researchers found lasting microbial changes linked not only to antibiotics, but also to antidepressants, beta-blockers, acid-reducing drugs, and benzodiazepines. Some effects were still detectable years later, suggesting past medication use may strongly influence the gut bacteria people carry today.

Backyard bird feeders could become unexpected hotspots for H5N1 as Australia’s bird flu outbreak spreads, bringing species together in ways that rarely occur naturally. Experts say stopping feeding is safest, while smaller amounts of food, no hand-feeding, and careful cleaning can reduce the danger.

Chang’e-7, which will investigate the origin of and abundance of lunar ice, set back until 2027

Both too little and too much sleep may be linked to faster aging throughout the body. Researchers analyzing 23 biological aging clocks found the lowest aging levels among people sleeping about 6.4 to 7.8 hours per day. Short or long sleep was also associated with numerous conditions affecting the brain, heart, lungs, metabolism, and digestive system.

Alzheimer's disease is triggered by amyloid-β, with symptoms linked to synapse loss. Oligomeric amyloid-β, rather than monomeric or fibrillar amyloid-β, has been proposed to be the proximate mechanistic cause, but the relevant molecular characteristics have remained unclear. To define the biologically relevant species, we isolated a receptor-bound amyloid-β pool from Alzheimer's disease brain by release with a receptor antagonist and purification to homogeneity. This discrete receptor-bound...

Aging is a major contributor to the increasing incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), however the molecular events explaining aging-related nephropathies remains elusive. Here, we found that the RAS signaling adapter protein Erbin (ErbB2-interacting protein) is abundantly expressed in renal tubular cells, but its levels are decreased in murine AKI models and human CKD patient samples. Tubule-specific deletion of Erbin rendered mice highly susceptible to acute...

Healthy aging is associated with structural and functional brain changes. However, cognitive abilities vary in how they change with age: executive functions decline, while aspects of linguistic processing remain relatively preserved. This heterogeneity predicts differences among brain networks in whether and how they change with age. To evaluate this prediction, we used precision fMRI to examine the language-selective network and the Multiple Demand (MD) network, which supports executive...

Food insecurity is increasingly recognised as a public health concern among older adults, yet the mechanisms linking it to mortality remain unclear. Gianfredi and colleagues recently examined this association using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), reporting that food insecurity was associated with a 41% higher risk of all‑cause mortality and a 126% higher risk of premature mortality (before age 75). While the study addresses an important question using a large,...

The pathological hallmarks of neurodegeneration are the aberrant post-translational modification and aggregation of proteins. Genetic factors, like APOE4, increase the prevalence and severity of tau, amyloid, and α-synuclein pathologies. However, the human brain is largely inaccessible during this process, limiting mechanistic understanding. Here, we developed an iPSC-based 3D model that integrates neurons, glia, myelin, and cerebrovascular cells into a human brain-like tissue ("miBrain")....