What does the appendix do? Biologists explain the complicated evolution of this inconvenient organ
Most people know only two things about the appendix: You don't need it—and if it bursts, you need surgery fast.
Mar 9, 2026
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Spousal loss linked to higher risk of dementia and mortality among men, but not women
The loss of a spouse is an incredibly emotional and stressful experience, and as populations continue to live longer lives, more couples will experience this distress. But spousal bereavement appears to affect genders differently, ...
Mar 12, 2026
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Machine learning finds four behavior symptom profiles tied to early dementia processes
Behavioral changes—such as anxiety, depression, irritability, apathy or agitation, collectively known as neuropsychiatric symptoms—may appear long before a dementia diagnosis. A new study from Karolinska Institutet and ...
Mar 9, 2026
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FDA-approved cancer drug fedratinib reshapes how cell organelles communicate, providing new therapeutic avenues
Cells behave like cities and organelles carry out infrastructural roles: mitochondria are powerhouses, the endoplasmic reticulum serves as a transport hub and lysosomes help with waste disposal. Communication between different ...
Mar 13, 2026
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Dynamic gel helps scientists grow organs more reliably in the lab
Miniature organs grown in the lab can organize themselves into complex shapes. But they never do it the same way twice, which makes it hard to use these so-called "organoids" to study disease. Now, scientists at UC San Francisco ...
Mar 11, 2026
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Brain immune cells may help build Alzheimer's plaques
A new study led by researchers from VIB and KU Leuven shows that immune cells called microglia can actively promote the formation of plaques in Alzheimer's disease, challenging the long-standing view that these cells serve ...
Mar 10, 2026
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Study of 3 million Swedes links women's suicide risk to female relatives' attempts
A woman's suicide risk may be influenced by the suicidal intention of her female first degree relatives, with sex-specific effects of a shared familial environment and possibly other social factors having a key role, finds ...
Mar 10, 2026
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New 3D material enables brain cells to communicate
Until now, conventional 3D cell cultures have often been either too rigid or too unstable to realistically reproduce the complex interactions between brain cells. Researchers at Kiel University (CAU) have now developed a ...
Mar 9, 2026
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Mpox immune test validated during Rwandan outbreak
An antibody test for the infectious disease mpox was successfully developed during the new clade 1b outbreak in Rwanda, the first time that an assay of its kind has been validated within this setting. The test, an IgG ELISA ...
Mar 9, 2026
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Common p53 genetic mutation reveals Achilles' heel in lung cancer
A team of researchers at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center has identified a new pathway through which mutations in the tumor suppressor p53 gene—found very frequently in human tumors—hijack DNA replication in cancer ...
Mar 10, 2026
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