A novel health-assessment tool uses eight metrics derived from people's physical exam and routine lab tests to characterize their biological ages as well as the age of their individual organ systems.   It may be able to predict a person’s risk of disability and death better than current health predictors. The method, called the Health Octo Tool, might make it possible to identify new factors that affect aging, and to design interventions that prolong life.

Neuroscientists are developing methods to map the brain systems that allow us to recognize and get around our world.

MIT chemists found a way to identify a complex sugar molecule in the cell walls of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the world’s deadliest pathogen. This labeling could lead to simpler, faster TB tests.

The Min protein system prevents abnormal cell division in bacteria, but is poorly understood. Researchers from UC San Diego have uncovered how engineered e.coli bacteria control protein levels for maximum efficiency.

The researchers found that inhibiting GSK-3ß led to less defects in the axonal transport process and less neuronal cell death, while inhibiting ERK1 led to more transport problems and more cell death.