Delthia Ricks

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Scientists have developed a way to turn the body's own immune cells into cancer-fighting agents—without removing

Scientists have taken a giant leap forward with the development of tiny microneedles designed to detect subtle but critical changes in how the liver and kidneys process therapeutic drugs. The experimental technology, under development at the University of California, Los Angeles, aims to overcome longstanding limitations that have hindered wearable microneedle biosensors.

E-cadherin signal is reduced in aged epidermal stem cells, as shown by heatmaps of E-cadherin in young and aged epidermis. Credit: Molecular Cell (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2026.04.017

For decades, influenza vaccines have been judged largely by the antibodies they generate in the bloodstream, a measure that has remained the gold standard since the first flu immunizations were administered in the 1940s.

In the ongoing effort to find new therapeutics for infants born infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, an international team of investigators has discovered that babies can tolerate treatment with anti-HIV antibodies.

The technology that gave the world mRNA COVID vaccines is being tested in a variety of new ways, and emerging research reveals that a crucial T-cell population can be reprogrammed in animal models by reimagining the science that was introduced to the public at the height of the pandemic.

Type 1 diabetes is widely understood as an autoimmune disease, with the immune system attacking the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. But two new studies suggest those cells may be more than passive victims. Together, the findings indicate that beta cells' own stress responses and internal defense systems may help shape how the disease begins and progresses.

Every encounter between a T cell and a potential target—especially when that target is a developing tumor—begins with a rapid series of molecular decisions. Within seconds, the immune cell must determine whether to launch an attack or stand down. T cells are so potent, so potentially devastating, that misreading the situation can cause serious tissue injury.

Beyond the nucleus, no other organelle in eukaryotic cells captures the public's imagination quite like mitochondria: They are the engines of cellular

A host that sheds an abundance of parasites might seem like an obvious disease-spreading threat. But new research suggests that shedding large volumes of parasites does not dictate transmission efficiency—and "super-shedders" may not be the superspreaders of infectious disease outbreaks.