Delthia Ricks

Chloride ions, best known for helping cells maintain fluid balance and electrical stability, may also play a more direct role in regulating brain development than previously thought. In a new study, published in the journal Science Signaling, scientists have found that the ions can alter the activity of a key RNA-processing enzyme, resulting in severe neurodevelopmental disorders.

Deep in the lungs, resident memory B cells stand guard against influenza reinfection—but whether they remain there may depend on how strongly they are signaled through their own receptors. New research using an animal model of influenza infection provides fresh insight into how these cells form and persist, findings that could inform the design of vaccines aimed at strengthening immune defenses in the lungs.

Credit: Image generated by the editorial team using AI for illustrative purposes.

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.