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Novel cell therapy shows promising results in advanced tumor diseases

In recent years, cell therapies have developed alongside chemotherapy and immunotherapy to become a new pillar in the treatment of patients with blood and lymph gland cancer. In solid tumors, such as skin, lung, or bone and soft tissue cancer (sarcomas), they have not yet proven themselves as a treatment method.

Tumor shrinkage was achieved only in rare cases, but the side effects were all the more severe. An international research group led by scientists from the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT/UCC) in Dresden has now conducted a Phase I clinical trial of a novel cell therapy approach that also shows promise for .

The results are published in Nature Medicine.

Pandemic Potential: Scientists Discover 3 Hotspots of Deadly Emerging Disease in the US

Virginia Tech researchers discovered six new rodent carriers of hantavirus and identified U.S. hotspots, highlighting the virus’s adaptability and the impact of climate and ecology on its spread. Hantavirus recently drew public attention following reports that it was the cause of death for Betsy

Scientists create first reprogrammed brain cells that could cure Alzheimer’s

In a world-first, scientists have figured out how to reprogram cells to fight — and potentially reverse — brain diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine created lab-grown immune cells that can track down toxic brain buildup and clear it away, restoring memory and brain function in mice.

They did this by turning stem cells — which can become any cell in the body — into brain immune cells called microglia.

Gut toxins and 50,000 deaths: The truth behind the rise in colon cancer and the signs to look for

Colorectal cancer rates are rising among younger Americans — the reason behind the jump has become hard for scientists to identify, but the symptoms to watch out are known. Colorectal cancer, which encompasses colon and rectal cancer, is the second leading cause of all cancer-related deaths in the U.S. Last year saw a slight increase in deaths, with just over 53,000 reported. There were also nearly 153,000 new cases of colorectal cancer, the majority of which were in men. While survival rates have improved among older Americans, the incidence rate for people under the age of 55 continues to…

Brain’s immune response may set stage for childhood paralysis disorder

Patients with spastic paraplegia type 15 develop movement disorders during adolescence that may ultimately require the use of a wheelchair. In the early stages of this rare hereditary disease, the brain appears to play a major role by over-activating the immune system, as shown by a recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

The study was led by researchers at the University of Bonn and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). These findings could also be relevant for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.

Spastic paraplegia type 15 is characterized by the progressive loss of neurons in the central nervous system that are responsible for controlling movement. Initial symptoms typically appear in late childhood, manifesting first in the legs in the form of uncontrollable twitching and paralysis.

Smart Brain Implants Can Now Adapt to Optimize Parkinson’s Treatment

Although the brain is our most complex organ, the ways to treat it have historically been rather simple.

Typically, surgeons lesioned (damaged) a structure or a pathway in the hope that this would “correct the imbalance” that led to the disease. Candidate structures for lesioning were usually found by trial and error, serendipity or experiments in animals.

While performing one such surgery in 1987, French neurosurgeon Alim-Louis Benabid noticed that the electrical stimulation he performed to locate the right spot to lesion had effects similar to the lesion itself.

How marine snail venom can improve medicines

Scientists are finding clues for how to treat diabetes and hormone disorders in an unexpected place: a toxin from one of the most venomous animals on the planet.

An international research team led by University of Utah scientists has identified a component within the venom of a predatory marine cone snail, the geography cone, that mimics a human hormone called somatostatin, which regulates the levels of blood sugar and various hormones in the body. The hormone-like toxin’s specific, long-lasting effects, which help the snail hunt its prey, could also help scientists design better drugs for people with diabetes or hormone disorders, conditions that can be serious and sometimes fatal.


New research explores how one venom mimics a human hormone that regulates blood sugar, which could lead to better treatment for diabetes.

Spinal fluid biomarker offers early and accurate Parkinson’s disease diagnosis

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that is usually diagnosed in its late stage on the basis of clinical symptoms, mainly motor disorders. By this point, however, the brain is already severely and irreparably damaged. Moreover, diagnosis is difficult and often incorrect because the disease takes many forms, and symptoms overlap with other disorders.

Researchers from the PRODI Center for Protein Diagnostics at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, and the biotech company betaSENSE have now discovered a biomarker in the that facilitates a reliable diagnosis at an early stage and can shed light on the progression of the disease and the effect of a therapy. They report their findings in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine from April 25, 2025.

How experience shapes hippocampal place cell activity to create flexible cognitive maps

The mammalian brain is known to produce mental representations of the spatial environment, known as cognitive maps, that help humans and animals navigate their surroundings. A subpopulation of neurons in the CA1 area of the hippocampus, which are referred to as place cells (PCs), have been found to become active when animals visit specific places or locations in their environment.

The activation of these cells was previously linked to the encoding of space-and goal-related information, which was predicted to support the creation of cognitive maps. While numerous past studies explored the function of PCs and their contribution to the creation of cognitive maps, the role of experience in shaping the creation of these maps has not yet been elucidated.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine recently shed new light on the mechanisms through which experience could influence the encoding of information by PCs. Their findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, suggest that experiences produce an adjustment of synaptic input in the , which in turn affects the activity of PCs, enabling the production of flexible cognitive maps.