mouse model

Immune cells and pain neurons form complex partnerships to protect our bodies from pathogens, new research reveals.

A battery that charges itself in salty fluids starves tumors of oxygen, helping improve some drugs treat cancer, a study finds.

A new microrobot uses algae to transport antibiotics into the lungs of mice with pneumonia.

Microscopic algae dotted with drug-filled nanoparticles may offer a more effective means of treatment than traditional delivery methods.

A study finds that T cells induced by heroin cross the blood-brain barrier to wreak havoc on the brain, hinting at new ways to prevent withdrawal.

A study finds roflumilast can reverse sleep deprivation–induced amnesia in mice, hinting at pathways to treating memory loss in people.

Repairing damaged DNA appears to drive aging by causing the loss of epigenetic information, but restoring that information reverses such effects, a study finds.

The expansion of mucus-degraders in the mouse gut—possibly due to poor nutrition—thins the colon’s mucus layer and may weaken defenses against blood-infecting microbes.

This year, cancer researchers uncovered a variety of ways that tumors can survive and spread, ranging from damaging their own DNA to exploiting the nearby microenvironment for nutrients.

A previously unknown kind of ribosome is responsible for folding sperm proteins, which decay before fertilization if prepared by other ribosomes.

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.

It’s not clear why grain-fed mice are better able to recover after infection, but a study’s findings suggest food type may skew the results of animal studies.