The treatment converted the liver into an immune cell “nursery” that pumped out greater numbers of healthy T cells.
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US CDC Says 2025–26 Flu Season ‘moderately Severe’ as Cases Hit 11 Million
Seasonal influenza activity remained high and increased in late December, prompting the CDC to classify the 2025–26 flu season as “moderately severe.” The agency estimates at least 11 million illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths so far—substantially higher than the same point last season. Experts note flu cases are underreported and expect the peak in the coming weeks.
Jan 5 (Reuters) — Seasonal influenza activity remained elevated and rose in the final week of December, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed on Monday, as the agency for the first time classified the 2025–26 season as “moderately severe.”
CDC estimates the season’s toll so far at least 11 million illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths.
In the 2024–25 season, CDC estimated at least 5.3 million illnesses, 63,000 hospitalizations and 2,700 deaths in the week ended December 28, 2024.
Statins in Genetic MyopathiesA Retrospective Analysis of Safety and Tolerability
Statins in genetic myopathies: a retrospective analysis of safety and tolerability.
ObjectivesStatins are widely prescribed lipid-lowering agents, but their safety and tolerability in patients with underlying genetic myopathies remain uncertain. We aimed to study statin safety and tolerability in genetic myopathies using a large retrospective cohort.
Research shows how immune system reacts to pig kidney transplants in living patients
Novel research led by Brazilian scientists describes the immune system’s reactions in detail in the first living patient to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant. This paves the way for the search for therapies that can prevent organ rejection.
The study demonstrates the feasibility of this type of graft but indicates that controlling initial rejection alone is insufficient. This is because even with immunosuppressants, continuous activation of innate immunity—the body’s first line of defense, especially macrophages, which react to any threat—can compromise long-term survival.
Through transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and spatial analyses, the scientists have determined that new strategies are necessary to achieve long-term survival and favorable clinical outcomes. They recommend combining therapies that target innate immunity with advanced genetic engineering in donor pigs. They also suggest preventing early T lymphocyte-mediated rejection and implementing more sensitive monitoring approaches.
How major nuclear protein complexes control specialized gene regulation in cancer and beyond
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.
Now, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have discovered a new protein domain, SWIFT, found on a major chromatin remodeling complex family called mammalian SWI/SNF (mSWI/SNF or BAF) complexes, which helps these regulatory machines target particular genes to activate their expression.
The findings, published in Science, reveal how the SWIFT platform on mSWI/SNF complexes engage transcription factors (TF) to enable specialized cellular functions during both normal development and cancer. Particularly in human cancers, SWIFT-TF engagement sustains cancer-promoting gene expression and cell growth. Notably, breaking interactions with mutations halts cancer cell growth, flagging this new SWIFT-TF platform as a promising target for small molecule development.
Unexpected oscillation states in magnetic vortices could enable coupling across different physical systems
Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have uncovered previously unobserved oscillation states—so-called Floquet states—in tiny magnetic vortices. Unlike earlier experiments, which required energy-intensive laser pulses to create such states, the team in Dresden discovered that a subtle excitation with magnetic waves is sufficient.
This finding not only raises fundamental questions in basic physics but could also eventually serve as a universal adapter bridging electronics, spintronics, and quantum devices. The team reports the results in the journal Science.
Magnetic vortices can form in ultrathin, micron-sized disks of magnetic materials such as nickel–iron. Within these vortices, the elementary magnetic moments—tiny compass needles—arrange themselves in circular patterns.
Quantum-enhanced interferometry amplifies detection of tiny laser beam shifts and tilts
A quantum trick based on interferometric measurements allows a team of researchers at LMU to detect even the smallest movements of a laser beam with extreme sensitivity.
Precisely measuring minute shifts or slight tilts of a laser beam is crucial in many scientific and technological applications, such as atomic force microscopy. So-called weak value amplification (WVA), a method that grew out of thinking about the foundations of quantum mechanics, has already shown that under certain conditions the output signal of an interferometer changes markedly when the beams inside it are altered only minimally. An interferometer is a measuring device that can detect such tiny differences by comparing overlapping light waves.
LMU physicist Carlotta Versmold and her colleagues, all members of the MCQST Cluster of Excellence, working together with researchers at Tel Aviv University, have now extended this type of measurement. The team recently developed a trick that also amplifies changes in the incoming beam. This makes it possible to carry out far more precise measurements that were previously difficult to achieve. A laser beam reflected from a distant window, for example, could pick up vibrations in the glass caused by conversations inside the building, allowing those conversations to be overheard.
Dark stars could help solve three pressing puzzles of the high-redshift universe
A recent study provides answers to three seemingly disparate yet pressing cosmic dawn puzzles. Specifically, the authors show how dark stars could help explain the unexpected discovery of “blue monster” galaxies, the numerous early overmassive black hole galaxies, and the “little red dots” in images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
The work is published in the journal Universe. It was led by Colgate Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Cosmin Ilie, in collaboration with Jillian Paulin at the University of Pennsylvania, Andreea Petric of the Space Telescope Science Institute, and Katherine Freese of the University of Texas at Austin.
The first stars in the universe form in dark matter-rich environments, at the centers of dark matter microhalos. Roughly a few hundred million light-years after the Big Bang, molecular clouds of hydrogen and helium cooled sufficiently well to begin a process of gravitational collapse, which eventually led to the formation of the first stars.