News

Two mutations in the melanocortin 2 receptor gene – which is involved in the production of the stress hormone cortisol – may have played a role in the domestication of dogs by allowing them to develop social cognitive skills in order to interact and communicate with humans. The findings are published in Scientific Reports.

According to new research, a region of the brain helps people make sense of information that is ambiguous or incomplete – and dismiss alternative interpretations.

A study in mice has shown the neuromodulator noradrenaline plays a large role in helping the brain learn from surprising outcomes.

A new, detailed genetic roadmap of glaucoma will help researchers develop new drugs to combat the disease, by identifying potential target areas to stall or reverse vision loss.

Researchers have demonstrated striking preclinical efficacy of a BRAF inhibitor, C1a, that can cross the blood–brain barrier and has potent activity against melanoma metastases in the brain.

20 new case studies have been reported where bacteriophages have been used to treat Mycobacterium infection, with successes in more than half of cases.

Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have developed a new chemical-only process that may represent an important breakthrough in creating customized mRNA vaccines for a variety of diseases and allow for the inexpensive preparation of mRNA in large quantities.

Researchers have identified a lipase that degrades triglycerides to produce fatty acids as a candidate therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease.

Androgens – sex hormones produced in higher amounts by males – have been reported to interfere with tumor-killing CD8+ T cells, promoting sex disparities in bladder cancer.

Researchers from the National Eye Institute (NEI) have identified a new disease that affects the macula, a small part of the light-sensing retina needed for sharp, central vision.