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The extent to which transcription is higher in tumor cells than in surrounding nontumor cells is associated with bad prognoses in several cancer types.

Inactive synapses—found on tiny neuronal projections called filopodia—are abundant in the adult brain, a mouse study suggests.

The HIV protein Nef can cause long-term genetic changes that lead to hyperreactive immune cells, according to research in human cells and mice. 

Scientists use locust brains as living biosensors to perform cancer cell breath tests.

Researchers found that the ApoA1 protein can restore ALS epithelial cell survival in vitro.

Expected increases in lightning strikes due to climate change could alter the botanical composition of tropical forests.

Researchers identified mutations in genes that may be involved in fat regulation, fur growth, and morphology.

This year’s crop of winning products features many with a clinical focus and others that represent significant advances in sequencing, single-cell analysis, and more.

In the largest study of its kind, scientists find nearly 4,000 genetic variants that may predispose people to alcohol and tobacco use behaviors. 

A mouse study concludes color-detecting cones in the eye and a subset of neurons in the brain’s thalamus are why green light exposure has an analgesic effect.

After injecting moderate doses of the dissociative anesthetic into the animals, previously “awake” brain cells go dark, and those that had been dormant suddenly light up.

Dialing up the activity of a protein called SYK in the brain’s “janitors” could provide an avenue to treat Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.