On 28 March it’s the 60th anniversary of the discovery of Epstein-Barr virus, the most common viral infection in humans. The virus was first discovered in association with a rare type of cancer located in Africa, but is now understood to be implicated in 1% of cancers, as well as the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis. Ian Sample meets Lawrence Young, professor of molecular oncology at Warwick Medical School, to hear the story of this virus, and how it might help us prevent and treat cancer and other illnesses.

Summary: Researchers unveiled a groundbreaking discovery that DNA damage and brain inflammation are vital processes for forming long-term memories, particularly within the brain’s hippocampus.

Contrary to previous beliefs associating inflammation with neurological diseases, this study highlights inflammation’s critical role in memory formation through the activation of the Toll-Like Receptor 9 (TLR9) pathway following DNA damage in hippocampal neurons.

These findings not only challenge conventional views on brain inflammation but also caution against indiscriminate inhibition of the TLR9 pathway, given its importance in memory encoding and the potential risks of genomic instability.