Interactions with friends and family may keep us healthy because they boost our immune system and reduce our risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, new research suggests. Researchers drew this conclusion after studying proteins from blood samples taken from over 42,000 adults recruited to the UK Biobank. Their findings are published today in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

Tumor cells circulating in the blood are the “germ cells” of breast cancer metastases. They are very rare and could not be propagated in the culture dish until now, which made research into therapy resistance difficult. A team from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the Heidelberg Stem Cell Institute HI-STEM* and the NCT Heidelberg** has now succeeded for the first time in cultivating stable tumor organoids directly from blood samples of breast cancer patients. Using these mini-tumors, the researchers were able to decipher a molecular signaling pathway that ensures the cancer cells' survival and resistance to therapy. With this knowledge, the team was able to develop an approach to specifically eliminate these tumor cells in lab experiments.

Scientists have uncovered a powerful ally in the fight against neurodegenerative diseases: a nucleolar complex that plays a pivotal role in maintaining cellular health through protein homeostasis (proteostasis), by which cells maintain the balance and proper functioning of their proteins. By suppressing this complex, researchers have shown it’s possible to dramatically reduce the toxic effects of Alzheimer’s-causing proteins, boosting the cell’s natural defenses through enhanced degradation of hazardous proteins. This mechanism regulates proteostasis across tissues by modulating TGF-β signaling, a pathway involved in cell growth, differentiation, and tissue homeostasis. This breakthrough opens exciting new possibilities for the development of new therapies that could slow or even prevent diseases like Alzheimer’s, offering hope for a future of healthy aging. 

Brazil’s Bolsa Família Program, one of the  world’s largest conditional cash transfer programmes, was responsible for the reduction of more than half the number of tuberculosis cases and deaths among those living in extreme poverty and indigenous groups

A new Tulane University study suggests the Mediterranean diet's brain-boosting benefits may work by changing the balance of bacteria in the gut. In a study published in Gut Microbes Reports, researchers at Tulane University School of Medicine found that subjects following a Mediterranean diet developed distinctly different gut bacteria patterns compared to those eating a typical Western diet. These bacterial changes correlated with better memory and cognitive performance.