Changing the composition of the glucose-rich parenteral nutrition that preterm infants often receive during the first few weeks of life may help them through life-threatening infections. In an animal model, all the newborn piglets given a special mixture containing less glucose and more amino acids survived, whereas just over half of those given the usual glucose mixture survived the infection.
Given a flower just out of reach and a ball they had never been taught to use as a step, bumblebees put two and two together. The experiment suggests that even a sesame-seed-sized brain can combine familiar pieces into a new solution.
A normal result in a hearing test does not necessarily mean that the aging auditory system functions as it does for a younger person. Measurements from 105 people suggest that the nerve signal from the inner ear weakens with age, while the brain amplifies its responses to sound. Surprisingly, the two processes appear largely to develop in parallel rather than being directly linked.
Researchers have followed lung cancer from diagnosis to death and found that more than half the metastases they studied did not come from the original tumour but from other metastases. Metastases are therefore not only signs that the cancer has spread. They can become new starting-points for cancer, and the longer they remain in place, the greater the risk that the cancer will move on again – but…
An international team has analysed genetic data from more than 544,000 women and identified 29 regions linked to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) – 13 of them previously unknown. The results connect genetic susceptibility to PCOS with later menopause and inherited patterns related to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Nevertheless, despite the well-known effects of PCOS on ovulation, the…
A global study of 3,240 samples documents 10 jumps between continents – seven followed by major epidemics. The researchers also show that different yellow rust strains growing on the same wheat plant may exchange entire cell nuclei and create new variants with unpredictable traits.
A well-known drug can keep a common herpesvirus quiet when people with brain cancer are at their most vulnerable. In a small trial, the same treatment appeared to delay the cancer returning – and may, in time, become a gentle way of buying patients more time.
A ten-year study of more than 220,000 children in Germany found that screening during routine paediatric visits identified most of those who later developed clinical type 1 diabetes. Most came from families with no history of the disease, showing why screening only those already considered at increased risk would miss many early cases.
Children with a rare genetic disease lose the cellular structures their brains, muscles and other organs need to produce energy, and many die within their first years of life. Experiments in patients’ cells and mice suggest that activating the energy sensor AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) can protect mitochondria that still function and restore energy production – pointing towards the first t…
Researchers have grown small pieces of human liver tissue from stem cells and shown that they can produce liver proteins, metabolise substances and keep functioning after transplantation into mice. The hope is for a small implant under the skin that can relieve the burden on a failing liver before the kidneys and brain are pulled down with it, says a researcher.
A genetic study of nearly 80,000 young children found that activity, shyness, sociability and emotionality share some genetic roots with ADHD, autism and personality traits measured much later in life. The overlaps cannot predict an individual child’s future, but reveal biological continuity across development.
Heat often harms corals by disrupting their partnership with the algae that feed them. But new experiments suggest that short bursts of extreme heat can also attack the coral animal directly. As temperatures rise, the tiny hairs that normally ventilate the coral surface beat faster – until the flow they create starts trapping oxygen-poor water close to the tissue instead of refreshing it.
A new study involving more than 337,000 children turns a well-known picture of early brain development on its head. Fetuses who later developed epilepsy, autism or an intellectual disability had, on average, slightly larger heads in mid-pregnancy. The finding shifts some of the focus away from birth and back to brain growth during pregnancy.
Millions of people have had long-term effects after COVID-19, but are these caused by something specific to SARS-CoV-2 – or rather by the body having experienced a severe infection? A large nationwide registry study shows that the risk rises especially after the most severe disease courses and that severe COVID-19 resembles other serious infections more than researchers had expected.
A simple wearable-style electrocardiograph (ECG) may produce signs of hidden structural heart disease – not pulse or heart-rate data, but the heart’s electrical trace. This could help to identify people who need ultrasound scanning before symptoms appear, although real-world smartwatch recordings still need to be tested.
A new interventional study shows that a blood test can reveal who still has microscopic traces of bladder cancer after surgery – and may therefore benefit from immunotherapy. The approach is more precise than current guidelines, and for 60% of those treated, cancer DNA disappeared from the blood and scans showed no signs of disease.
Artificial intelligence (AI) requires ever-larger data centres and ever more power. Now, researchers have developed an artificial neuron that operates using light and brings together several of the brain’s most important functions in a single component. The technology could eventually pave the way for more energy-efficient AI and intelligent sensors.
People exposed to the highest levels of air pollution are about twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease dementia or Lewy body disease as those exposed to the lowest levels. Researchers cannot prove that pollution is the cause, but the findings suggest that one of the few risk factors that societies can actually change may influence brain health.
Nanoparticles shed by cancer cells into the bloodstream could become a new tool for making more precise diagnoses and tailoring the treatment of people with brain cancer. The method could identify tumours more accurately in a minimally invasive way while also enabling doctors to monitor how the disease develops over time, says a researcher.
A research team in Denmark has analysed 25 conversations between patients with serious blood disorders, their relatives and clinicians. The study shows that uncertainty about the prognosis can be used to open conversations about the future while there is still time to make choices and give priority to what matters most. When clinicians follow patients’ cues and shifts in openness, discussing thes…
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