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Approach could provide scientists with a quicker, gentler way to gauge the health of bird populations

Representative Zoe Lofgren prepares to lead the House science committee that microbiologist Jasmine Clark hopes to serve on

mTORC1 activity is increased in muscle with aging and is implicated as a potential driver of age-related declines in muscle health. While pharmacological inhibition of mTORC1 improves lifespan and healthspan, it remains unclear whether chronic activation of mTORC1 is sufficient to accelerate aging in skeletal muscle. We aimed to address this question using an inducible model of muscle-specific knockout of Depdc5, which encodes the protein DEP domain containing 5 (DEPDC5), a negative regulator of...

A coordinated response to stress is crucial for promoting the short- and long-term health of an organism. The perception of stress, frequently through the nervous system, can lead to physiological changes that are fundamental to maintaining homeostasis. Activating the response to low oxygen, or hypoxia, extends healthspan and lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans. However, despite some positive impacts, negative effects of the hypoxic response in specific tissues prevent translation of their...

ObjectivesThis study explores the relationship between marital status, living arrangements, and aging well among Chinese adults aged 50 and older.MethodsUsing data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we developed a multidimensional measure of aging well (physiological, functional, cognitive, psychological, and subjective). Analysis was based on a five-category typology of marital and living arrangements.ResultsA clear hierarchy emerged in the findings: married individuals co-residing...

A study of nearly 5,800 adults found that heart scans measuring calcium buildup in the arteries led to the same observed rate of major cardiovascular events as traditional risk assessments, despite recommending statins to far fewer patients. Surprisingly, patients advised to take statins based on their scans were nearly three times as likely to stick with their medication, raising intriguing questions about how doctors should identify and treat heart disease risk.

Full-fat dairy may not be the health villain it has long been portrayed as, according to a new study finding that three daily servings did not worsen weight, cholesterol, or insulin resistance over 12 weeks. Researchers also observed improvements in blood pressure and nutrient intake, raising questions about longstanding recommendations to choose low-fat dairy.

A surprising new study suggests that an anti-aging drug could help protect people genetically predisposed to Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found that just four weeks of low-dose rapamycin improved brain blood flow in healthy middle-aged adults carrying the high-risk APOE4 gene variant, with women showing the strongest benefits. Because declining blood flow can occur years before Alzheimer's symptoms appear, the discovery raises hopes for preventing or delaying the disease before memory loss begins.

Scientists have uncovered a surprising link between Alzheimer’s-related protein buildup, disrupted brain waves during deep sleep, and fading memory. The findings suggest that hidden changes in how the brain processes memories overnight may contribute to age-related memory loss long before Alzheimer’s symptoms appear.

Scientists have developed a revolutionary gel that could regrow lost tooth enamel by harnessing minerals naturally found in saliva, potentially overcoming one of dentistry’s biggest limitations. The regenerated enamel behaves much like healthy enamel, raising hopes for a simple treatment that could repair damaged teeth, prevent decay, and reduce sensitivity.

Scientists have solved a decades-old mystery and uncovered a hidden immune system defense that protects healthy cells from the very inflammation meant to fight infections. The surprising discovery could lead to new approaches for treating cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and other conditions involving excessive inflammation.

Tauopathies, such as Alzheimer's disease, are neurodegenerative disorders characterized by the accumulation and propagation of toxic extracellular forms of the microtubule-associated protein tau across brain regions. Microglia, the resident macrophages of the brain, are known for clearing and degrading toxic proteins. However, emerging evidence suggests that microglia also enhance tau spreading. To dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying microglial responses to extracellular tau, we use...

Spatial multi-omic technologies measure multiple molecular layers within intact tissues. Two central challenges are vertical integration, which combines different molecular modalities, and horizontal integration, which aligns cell types across studies. Here we show domain invariant representation through adaptive calibration (DIRAC), a geometric deep learning model that unifies these tasks in a generalized domain adaptation framework. DIRAC learns task-discriminative features that are...

The immune-fibrotic axis functions as a vicious feedback loop where age-related chronic, low-grade systemic inflammation (inflammaging) drives maladaptive tissue repair and fibrosis, while senescent fibrotic cells in turn amplify systemic inflammation. In the aging heart, immune dysregulation and fibroblast activation drive tissue scarring and stiffening and a higher risk of heart failure and vascular disease. To identify cardiac regions and cell types affected with age, we monitored...

Rapamycin, an mTOR inhibitor, continues to be investigated for hypothesized physiological, disease prevention, and longevity benefits, but few studies have been conducted in humans. Using US national organ transplant registry data, one of the largest real-world datasets examining chronic rapamycin exposure in humans, we compared the Kaplan-Meier survival age distribution of 4885 kidney transplant recipients prescribed rapamycin compared to 6589 recipients not prescribed rapamycin. Recipients...