National News HHS, NIH announce development of universal vaccine for COVID-19 and influenza Justin Boggs
The National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services announced the development of a “next-generation, universal vaccine platform,” intended to create a universal COVID-19 and influenza shot that won’t require updates. Currently, the flu and COVID-19 vaccines, which are administered separately, are updated every year to best combat the active strains […]
Researchers identify brain connections associated with ADHD in youth
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered that symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are tied to atypical interactions between the brain’s frontal cortex and information processing centers deep in the brain. The researchers examined more than 10,000 functional brain images of youth with ADHD and published their results in the American Journal […]
Switching to vegan or ketogenic diet rapidly impacts immune system
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health observed rapid and distinct immune system changes in a small study of people who switched to a vegan or a ketogenic (also called keto) diet. Scientists closely monitored various biological responses of people sequentially eating vegan and keto diets for two weeks, in random order. They found that […]
Hooray! A Clearer Estimate of Your Risk for Death Is Around the Corner
The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) “Know Your Chances” website, which can calculate an individual’s risk for death over the coming years, is about to get more accurate by including smoking history, researchers reported. If smoking status isn’t taken into account, the mortality risks are underestimated for smokers and overestimated for nonsmokers, according to Steven Woloshin, […]
Pattern of gene activity for ADHD
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have successfully identified differences in gene activity in the brains of people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study, led by scientists at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the NIH, found that individuals diagnosed with ADHD had differences in genes that code […]
Stem cell secrets allow researchers to revamp reprogramming: Researchers have identified factors required to generate naïve stem cells by reprogramming
Researchers from the Babraham Institute’s Epigenetics research programme have been able to learn more about naïve stem cell reprogramming following a genome wide functional screen. Their research, published today in Science Advances, describes the critical regulators of reprogramming and offers opportunities for a more efficient, faster way to generate human naïve pluripotent stem cells. Human […]
COVID-19 may cause fetal inflammation even in absence of placental infection, researchers report
Researchers at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health’s Perinatology Research Branch in Detroit have found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may cause fetal inflammation even in the absence of placental infection. Pregnant women have a higher risk of severe illness if infected with COVID-19. Infection increases […]
Daytime meals may reduce health risks linked to night shift work
A small clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health has found that eating during the nighttime — like many shift workers do — can increase glucose levels, while eating only during the daytime might prevent the higher glucose levels now linked with a nocturnal work life. The findings, the study authors said, could […]
Scientists identify mechanism that may influence infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 variants: Enzyme process alters spike protein function
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have found that a process in cells may limit infectivity of SARS-CoV-2, and that mutations in the alpha and delta variants overcome this effect, potentially boosting the virus’s ability to spread. The findings were published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study was […]
Monoclonal antibody may prevent malaria
One dose of a new monoclonal antibody discovered and developed at the National Institutes of Health safely prevented malaria for up to nine months in people who were exposed to the malaria parasite. The small, carefully monitored clinical trial is the first to demonstrate that a monoclonal antibody can prevent malaria in people. The trial […]