https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Chronic alcohol consumption profoundly alters gene expression in key brain regions involved in reward, impulse control, and decision-making, according to a study led by researchers at the Institute for Neurosciences, a joint center of Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Published in the journal Addiction, the work provides new insight into the biological basis of alcohol addiction and points toward potential therapeutic targets. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-decades-reshape-gene-key-human.html Mon, 09 Feb 2026 03:00:02 EST news689339341 Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disease linked to several long-term health conditions, such as heart disease, arthritis and type 2 diabetes, and has a substantial impact on sufferers' quality of life. Although the World Health Organization has highlighted the need for more personalized care for patients, progress has been limited by the lack of reliable biomarkers to guide clinical decision making. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-gene-biomarker-paves-tailored-psoriasis.html Wed, 04 Feb 2026 16:39:30 EST news689445542 Tweaking a pattern of wound healing established millions of years ago may enable scar-free injury repair after surgery or trauma, Stanford Medicine researchers have found. If results from their study, which was conducted in mice, translate to humans, it may be possible to avoid or even treat the formation of scars anywhere on or within the body. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-scars-body.html Thu, 22 Jan 2026 13:22:46 EST news688310434 A team from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Institute of Neurosciences at the University of Barcelona (UBneuro) has applied advanced artificial intelligence techniques to better understand why Huntington's disease can begin at very different ages in patients. This hereditary neurodegenerative condition, which causes motor, cognitive, and psychiatric impairments, is caused by a mutation in the HTT gene, which encodes the huntingtin protein. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-machine-factors-age-onset-huntington.html Tue, 20 Jan 2026 15:05:42 EST news688143902 Brazilian researchers have identified previously unknown forms of a protein linked to breast cancer. The discovery contributes to our understanding of variability in responses to treatment, even with the most advanced therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-brazilian-reveals-breast-cancer-evade.html Tue, 20 Jan 2026 15:00:02 EST news688143036 The functioning of neurons, cells that transmit information in the nervous system, heavily relies on the production of proteins. Proteins are synthesized both inside cells (i.e., in the soma) and locally along axons, projections via which signals are transmitted to other cells. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-closer-local-protein-production-als.html Tue, 20 Jan 2026 08:10:01 EST news687787329 A research team has made a breakthrough in epigenetic drug discovery. The researchers have successfully developed a first-in-class chemical inhibitor that precisely and selectively targets the ATAC complex, a critical cellular "switch operator" that activates tumor-promoting genes, opening a novel therapeutic avenue for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-strategy-lung-cancer-chemists-class.html Mon, 19 Jan 2026 18:00:01 EST news688046008 Published, peer-reviewed research shows a patent-pending, virus-mimicking platform technology developed at Purdue University improves upon traditional methods of targeting bladder cancer cells with messenger RNA (mRNA) therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-shelf-stable-mrna-delivery-bladder.html Sun, 18 Jan 2026 12:41:38 EST news687962359 University of Utah researchers at the Pulst-Scoles Laboratory have discovered that reducing levels of the STAUFEN-1 protein can prevent neuron death caused by DNA damage and p53 activation in neurodegenerative diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-als-treatment-staufen-protein-reduction.html Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:54:43 EST news687718441 Using participant skin cells reprogrammed into neurons, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have identified genetic signatures associated with HIV infection that may contribute to the cognitive impairment that often occurs in people living with HIV, even when the virus is controlled. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-reprogrammed-skin-cells-hiv-cognitive.html Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:43:54 EST news687699782 When the four-member crew of Axiom-2 launched into space in May 2023, their 10-day mission was chock full of experiments aimed at understanding human physiology. Results from some of those experiments, now online at Aging Cell, highlight spaceflight as a unique model for studying aging as well as cellular resilience. The research sets the stage for testing potential anti-aging interventions for those of us who have no plans to travel in space. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-exploring-cosmos-astronauts-fuel-explorations.html Wed, 14 Jan 2026 14:27:51 EST news687623221 A new study led by researchers at UTHealth Houston investigated both gene expression and regulation at single cell levels to reveal disruptions in gene function in three brain regions of patients with sporadic early onset Alzheimer's disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-gene-disruptions-sporadic-early-onset.html Tue, 13 Jan 2026 16:42:23 EST news687544862 Researchers at VIB and KU Leuven have identified a molecular process that allows motor neurons to maintain protein production, a process that fails in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study, published in Nature Neuroscience, reveals an early weakness in neurodegeneration and highlights a potential target for future therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-axonal-protein-synthesis-defect-potential.html Mon, 12 Jan 2026 16:21:35 EST news687457262 It is well known that obesity typically leads to inflammation and dysfunction of fat tissue that increases the risk of developing metabolic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-weight-loss-benefits-health-fat.html Mon, 12 Jan 2026 05:00:05 EST news687187621 Precision and timing of gene expression is essential for normal biological functions and, when disrupted, can lead to many human diseases, including cancers. However, how molecular machines—protein complexes—that control gene expression locate to specific genes at specific times within the nuclei of our cells has remained a mystery. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-major-nuclear-protein-complexes-specialized.html Thu, 08 Jan 2026 15:29:42 EST news687108542 Some parts of our bodies bounce back from injury in fairly short order. The outer protective layer of the eye—called the cornea—can heal from minor scratches within a single day. The brain is not one of these fast-healing tissues or organs. Adult brain cells are stable and last for a lifetime barring trauma or disease, whereas some cells lining our guts last only five days and must be continually replaced. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-stem-cell-therapy-cells-brain.html Thu, 08 Jan 2026 11:00:05 EST news687003962 When inflammation in the body goes unchecked, it can cause fibrosis, or tissue scarring that may lead to organ dysfunction or even failure. This can happen in conditions such as inflammatory bowel diseases (ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease), chronic viral infections, interstitial lung fibrosis, chronic autoimmune skin diseases such as scleroderma, and scars associated with heart disease. Patients have few options for treating fibrosis, but new research points to a molecular pathway that could open the door to future treatment possibilities. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-uncover-molecular-roots-tissue-scarring.html Wed, 07 Jan 2026 16:00:49 EST news687024001 Treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML) depends on knowing what goes wrong inside cells. A new study suggests that two genetic mutations—IDH2 and SRSF2—work cooperatively to mis-splice RNA messages and change how blood cells develop. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-epigenetic-splicing-acute-myeloid-leukemia.html Tue, 06 Jan 2026 11:20:55 EST news686920684 Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized cancer therapy by harnessing the body's immune system to target tumors. Despite their initial clinical success, many patients eventually experience diminished therapeutic responses as tumors acquire resistance. A new study from Taiwan now elucidates the underlying mechanisms of this resistance and proposes a promising strategy to counteract it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-blocking-key-gene-immune-response.html Mon, 29 Dec 2025 06:10:01 EST news686207976 The human brain is a fascinating and complex organ that supports numerous sophisticated behaviors and abilities that are observed in no other animal species. For centuries, scientists have been trying to understand what is so unique about the human brain and how it develops over the human lifespan. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-human-brain-matures-slower-primate.html Fri, 26 Dec 2025 10:00:01 EST news685635786 One of the biggest risk factors for developing liver cancer is a high-fat diet. A new study from MIT reveals how a fatty diet rewires liver cells and makes them more prone to becoming cancerous. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-high-fat-diets-liver-cells.html Mon, 22 Dec 2025 11:00:10 EST news685369005 A tiny percentage of our DNA—around 2%—contains 20,000-odd genes. The remaining 98%—long known as the non-coding genome, or so-called 'junk' DNA—includes many of the "switches" that control when and how strongly genes are expressed. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-hidden-dna-reveal-insights-alzheimer.html Thu, 18 Dec 2025 09:46:52 EST news685273562 JABSOM Cell and Molecular Biology researcher Dr. Jesse Owens has spent the better part of two decades chasing a vision that began with the revolutionary idea that DNA can move itself. Now, his team's latest breakthrough is published in Nucleic Acids Research. It marks a major step forward in gene therapy and could one day help correct life-threatening genetic disorders. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-gene-therapy-advances-scientists-dna.html Wed, 17 Dec 2025 13:00:14 EST news685198290 The human genome contains approximately 1,600 types of transcription factors responsible for regulating gene activity across more than 400 tissue and cell types. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) is a key approach for mapping how these factors interact with DNA to control gene expression. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-refining-uncharted-landscape-human-transcription.html Mon, 15 Dec 2025 15:59:27 EST news685036741 A new study from investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) sheds light on why some people never fully recover from COVID-19. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-decoding-covid-reveal-body-war.html Mon, 15 Dec 2025 12:29:47 EST news685024141 In a study published in Genome Research, a team of researchers, including Cornell College Assistant Professor of Biology Sophie Gillett, looked at regions of human genetic code that are known for harboring risk factors for psychiatric disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-role-regions-psychiatric-illness-explores.html Fri, 12 Dec 2025 11:17:23 EST news684760621 Researchers at the University of Geneva, together with colleagues in Switzerland, France, the United States and Israel, describe how optogenetic control of brain cells and circuits is already steering both indirect neuromodulatory therapies and first-in-human retinal interventions for blindness, while sketching the practical and ethical conditions needed for wider clinical use. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-mind-tech-clinical-therapy-optogenetics.html Thu, 11 Dec 2025 10:20:53 EST news684670815 Using machine learning models, researchers at Michigan Medicine have identified a potential way to diagnose amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, earlier from a blood sample, a study suggests. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-machine-als-earlier-blood-biomarkers.html Tue, 09 Dec 2025 17:00:30 EST news684522002 Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have characterized the complex microenvironment in angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma (AITL), a type of nodal T cell lymphoma, and identified overexpression of the CD40 protein as a potential biomarker associated with improved overall survival (OS). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-cd40-potential-biomarker-nodal-cell.html Tue, 09 Dec 2025 05:51:29 EST news684481862 Cedars-Sinai investigators worked with a multi-institutional team to develop a new artificial intelligence framework that can accurately, quickly and efficiently create virtual models of brain neurons. The achievement could accelerate discoveries in brain function research and ultimately lead to better treatments for brain disorders. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-ai-framework-brain-neuron.html Mon, 08 Dec 2025 11:25:31 EST news684415502