New research from the University of Minnesota Medical School offers a new view of how the immune system responds to organ transplants. The findings, published today in Science AdvancesExternal link that opens in the same window, show that T cell exhaustion – traditionally viewed as a pathological failure of the immune system — can instead play a protective role by helping the body tolerate a donated organ.

UC Davis researchers have developed a new method that uses light to transform amino acids — the building blocks of proteins — into molecules that are similar in structure to psychedelics and mimic their interaction with the brain. Like psychedelics, these molecules activate the brain’s serotonin 5-HT_2A receptors, which promote cortical neuron growth, and could be candidates to treat a host of brain disorders, such as depression, substance-use disorder and PTSD. 

An analysis of genetic data from over 900,000 people shows that certain stretches of DNA, made up of short sequences repeated over and over, become longer and more unstable as we age. The study found that common genetic variants can speed up or slow down this process by up to fourfold, and that certain expanded sequences are linked to serious diseases including kidney failure and liver disease.