Research funding agencies supported by taxpayer dollars do more than write checks — they help build entire scientific fields, reveals a new Northwestern University study recently published in Nature Communications.

The study details how Northwestern scientists and National Institutes of Health (NIH) historians developed software that extracts and connects information across thousands of documents in a publicly accessible digital archive of the Human Genome Project (HGP). In 2023, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) created the archive of the HGP, a landmark international research effort between 1990 and 2003 that successfully mapped and sequenced the entire human genetic code (roughly 3 billion DNA base pairs).

Using the new software, the scientists revealed how federal funding agencies did more than distribute money. They helped guide the development of genomics by coordinating scientific communities, supporting the scientific workforce, developing shared research infrastructure and helping resolve technical challenges that no single laboratory could manage alone.

NIH leaders were directly involved in solving technical problems, coordinating large-scale collaborations and ensuring continuity of expertise across successive projects, the study found. Continuity of personnel within NIH also was important to preserve expertise between projects, said the co-corresponding author.

Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the HI-STEM* Stem Cell Institute have deciphered a key mechanism that contributes to treatment failure in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). They show that there are not just one, but four different subtypes of leukemia stem cells. This diversity could explain why one of the most important AML drugs does not work sufficiently in some patients or loses its effectiveness over time—resulting in the return of leukemia. This discovery lays an important foundation for more precise and long-term successful treatment strategies that could specifically overcome resistance mechanisms.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive, FDA-approved therapy that uses brief magnetic pulses to treat depression, particularly in patients who do not respond to medication. Yet scientists have long struggled to understand how it works at the level of brain cells and circuits.

About The Study: In this population-based cohort, 1-year mortality after an emergency department visit for an opioid overdose was 8.6%, and 21.2% of individuals experienced a repeat opioid overdose. Mortality was higher than estimates from previous research conducted prior to the widespread availability of fentanyl (5.3%-5.5%), although differences in cohort definitions may contribute.

About The Study: In this randomized clinical trial, psilocybin appeared to be safe and efficacious for treating cocaine use disorder among individuals from underrepresented and vulnerable populations. Further research is warranted to replicate and expand these findings.

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), part of City of Hope, today announced the launch of JAYseq^TM, a clinical whole-genome sequencing (WGS) test specifically for multiple myeloma. Approximately 35,000 new cases of multiple myeloma are diagnosed annually in the U.S., making it the second-most common blood cancer. The JAYseq test, developed and performed by TGen Clinical Laboratory, a CAP‑accredited lab founded by TGen, is intended for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, relapsed or refractory disease, or related plasma cell disorders.