Scientists uncover how the immune system actively builds food tolerance

Food allergies are serious and, for some, potentially deadly. And yet, despite decades of research into allergies and what causes them, very little is known about why the vast majority of people are able to tolerate foods that can sicken or even kill others. “We know a lot about what the immune system sees and does if … Read more

DNA origami vaccine platform shows promise against multiple infectious viruses

The COVID-19 pandemic brought messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines to the forefront of global health care. After their clinical trial stages, the first COVID-19 mRNA vaccine was administered on 8 December 2020 and mathematical models suggest that mRNA vaccines prevented at least 14.4 million deaths from COVID-19 in the first year alone. Their extraordinary effectiveness in having … Read more

Engineered lettuce may turn injectable GLP-1 therapies into oral pills

Few drugs have entered mainstream awareness as quickly or as dramatically as glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1 receptor agonists. Initially approved by the FDA for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, they have since also transformed the therapeutic landscape of obesity and weight management. These medications are clearly effective. They stimulate the release of insulin and … Read more

Nutri-Score labeling system fails to reflect nutritional complexity of cocoa

Researchers at the University of Granada have revealed that the Nutri-Score labeling system, commonly used in Europe to assess food quality, is unable to adequately reflect the nutritional and metabolic complexity of soluble cocoa sold in Spain. The study, which is a pioneer internationally for integrating non-targeted metabolomics techniques applied to the evaluation of nutritional … Read more

Novel antimicrobial peptides from dromedary camels offer hope against antibiotic resistance

Antimicrobial resistance poses a growing global health crisis, with few new antibiotics in development. Researchers at Sultan Qaboos University have identified three novel antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from dromedary camels that effectively target multidrug-resistant bacteria, offering potential alternatives to conventional drugs. Published in Frontiers in Immunology (Volume 17, 21 January 2026), the study combined bioinformatics predictions with experimental … Read more

Modified peptides show promise against tuberculosis bacteria

Antibiotic treatments are losing effectiveness against a range of common bacterial pathogens, including E. coli, K. pneumoniae, Salmonella and Acinetobacter, according to a warning issued by the World Health Organization last October. For the microbe that gives rise to tuberculosis, a team of researchers from Penn State and The University of Minnesota Medical School found that a potential solution may be chemically … Read more

FDA-approved anti-seizure drug could help fight Alzheimer’s disease

While physicians and scientists have long known Alzheimer’s disease involves the buildup of toxic protein fragments in the brain, they have struggled to understand how these harmful fragments are produced. Now, in a new study, Northwestern University scientists have pinpointed when and where toxic proteins accumulate within the brains of Alzheimer’s patients – and discovered … Read more

Insulin resistance in the brain may link Alzheimer’s and epilepsy

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have succeeded in showing, in an animal model, that the process of insulin resistance in the brain affects both Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy and may be a linking factor between the two diseases. The work, supported by FAPESP, confirms clinical evidence that people with epilepsy … Read more

Peptide nanostructures block amyloid buildup and boost neuron survival in lab tests

Scientists unveil a novel supramolecular therapy that shields human neurons from amyloid-induced damage, offering new hope for treating Alzheimer’s and related neurodegenerative diseases. Study: Supramolecular Copolymerization of Glycopeptide Amphiphiles and Amyloid Peptides Improves Neuron Survival. Image Credit: Shutterstock AI Generator / Shutterstock.com  A recent study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society investigates the … Read more

Study shows brain estrogen directly regulates appetite in mice

By pinpointing how neuroestrogen directly boosts appetite-suppressing receptors in the brain, scientists are laying the groundwork for precision therapies that could tackle obesity from within the central nervous system. Study: Estrogen synthesized in the central nervous system enhances MC4R expression and reduces food intake. Image Credit: r.classen / Shutterstock A study led by researchers at the Fujita … Read more