Monitoring markers of tau protein in the blood can predict functional outcomes in patients recovering from ischemic stroke better than MRI, according to a comprehensive study of more than 1,200 patients in ScienceTranslationalMedicine.
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Sci. Transl. Med. 18, eadz1280 (2026). DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.adz1280
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A new Brazilian study has revealed the key role of the protein periostin and stellate pancreatic cells in allowing pancreatic cancer to infiltrate nerves and spread early, increasing the risk of metastasis. The research demonstrates how the tumor reprograms part of the surrounding healthy tissue to acquire a high capacity for invasion. This mechanism is associated with the aggressiveness of the disease and the difficulty of treatment. It also points to possible targets for more precise therapies and personalized treatments.
The findings are published in the journal Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology.
The most common type of pancreatic cancer is adenocarcinoma, which originates in the glandular tissue that produces pancreatic juice. It accounts for 90% of diagnosed cases. Although it is not among the most frequent types of cancer, it is considered an aggressive and highly lethal tumor, with a mortality rate almost equivalent to its incidence rate. Globally, there are approximately 510,000 new cases and nearly the same number of deaths each year.
Physicist Davide Bossini from the University of Konstanz has recently demonstrated how to change the frequency of the collective magnetic oscillations of a material by up to 40%âusing commercially available devices at room temperature.
âWe now have a full picture,â Bossini says. For years, the physicist from the University of Konstanz has studied how to use light to control the collective magnetic oscillations of a materialâknown as magnons. In the summer of 2025, he was finally able to show how to change the âmagnetic DNAâ of a material via the interaction between light and magnons.
He now demonstrates how the frequency of oscillations can be controlled quasi instantly and on demand by means of a weak magnetic field and intense laser pulses. In this way, he can increase or decrease frequencies by up to 40%. The effect is due to the interaction of the optical excitation, magnetic anisotropy (directional dependence) and the external magnetic field.
Piezoelectric nanoparticles deployed inside immune cells and stimulated remotely by ultrasound can trigger the bodyâs disease-fighting response, according to an interdisciplinary team of Boston College researchers.
The paper is published in the journal Scientific Reports.
One of the hallmarks of Alzheimerâs disease is the clumping of proteins called Tau, which form tangled fibrils in the brain. The more severe the clumping, the more advanced the disease is.
The Tau protein, which has also been linked to many other neurodegenerative diseases, is unstructured in its normal state, but in the pathological state it consists of a well-ordered rigid core surrounded by floppy segments. These disordered segments form a âfuzzy coatâ that helps determine how Tau interacts with other molecules.
MIT chemists have now shown, for the first time, they can use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to decipher the structure of this fuzzy coat. They hope their findings will aid efforts to develop drugs that interfere with Tau buildup in the brain.
The technology has entered use in recent years, but it isnât yet fully integrated into research. Now, two MIT researchers are planning experiments with it, and have published a new paper they term a âroadmapâ for using the tool to study consciousness.
âTranscranial focused ultrasound will let you stimulate different parts of the brain in healthy subjects, in ways you just couldnât before,â says Daniel Freeman, an MIT researcher and co-author of a new paper on the subject. âThis is a tool thatâs not just useful for medicine or even basic science, but could also help address the hard problem of consciousness. It can probe where in the brain are the neural circuits that generate a sense of pain, a sense of vision, or even something as complex as human thought.â
Transcranial focused ultrasound is noninvasive and reaches deeper into the brain, with greater resolution, than other forms of brain stimulation, such as transcranial magnetic or electrical stimulation.
Scientists have identified a promising target for treatment of a devastating autoimmune disease affecting the brain.
The discovery could lead to the development of new therapies for a disease triggered by an attack on one of the key neurotransmitter receptors in the brain, the NMDA receptor. It also raises the potential for a blood test to detect a signal of the condition and enable earlier treatment with existing therapies.
The study from Oregon Health & Science University is published in Science Advances.
Bird Flu 2026
Researchers analyzed 17,500 genomes using Bayesian phylodynamics. Mapped origin, spread, and evolutionary timeline with precision.
The infrastructure failure: Of 1,722 D1.1 sequences, 9% have complete metadata (date + location).
Weâre tracking a super-spreader blind.
#OpenScience #DataScience
âAvian Flu in North America: The D1.1 Evolutionary Leapâ explores the emergence of a game-changing H5N1 virus variant that has fundamentally altered North Americaâs disease landscape since mid-2024. Through accessible explanation of cutting-edge genomic science, this episode reveals how the D1.1 genotype achieved unprecedented spread, infected all seven documented host categories including humans, and represents a major evolutionary shift. The podcast examines the massive computational effort behind tracking viral evolution, exposes critical gaps in our surveillance infrastructure, and confronts a paradigm-shifting reality: the Americas have become a primary engine of H5N1 evolution, reversing decades of global health assumptions.