University of Virginia

Researchers have identified how Lactobacillus, a member of our guts’ microbiome community, affects a critical immune system protein, influencing stress levels and mental health. The findings could lead to new treatments for depression and anxiety.

A team of scientists led by University of Virginia professor Patrick Hopkins is developing a plasma "freeze ray" that will be less interesting to super villains than to engineers looking for ways to cool electronics in the vacuum of space.

Traditionally, doctors have linked waist fat to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes. New research says that our waist size is only part of the equation, and that some of the same genes that make us store belly fat may also protect us from the disease.

Many of us accept that we’ll naturally lose some hearing as we age, but there may be a way to slow that down. Scientists have identified a mechanism that lets hair cells repair themselves, which could be hacked for therapies that restore lost hearing.

Investigating ways to head off the chain of events that leads to multiple sclerosis, researchers have found a chemical regulator in mice that causes the inflammatory cascade associated with the disease. They also figured out how to switch it off.

When sea turtles lay and bury eggs in a nest on a beach, that beach is often closed to the public until those eggs hatch. A nest-monitoring sensor – which looks like an egg – has been created to help predict when such beaches can be reopened.

Scientists have pinpointed a set of neurons that regulate the body's response to severe blood loss, expanding our understanding of how brain pathways control blood pressure and opening up a new approach to preventing cardiovascular collapse.

Scientists are turning considerable attention to the role our genes might play in obesity, and a new study has offered up some new potential targets by identifying groups of genes that appear to both cause weight gain and prevent it.

Given that they're such good swimmers, the structure of fish is increasingly being copied in the design of underwater robots. Scientists have now discovered that by adjusting the stiffness of their tails, those bots can swim much more efficiently.

Researchers have discovered a population of natural barometers that monitor and maintain our blood pressure. The cellular sensors have for decades been presumed to be located in a certain type of cell in the kidney, but have only now been detected.

Microglia are immune cells that clean out unwanted debris in the brain and central nervous system, but it turns out they might help heal injured neurons too – a discovery that could pave the way for new treatments for epilepsy and other conditions.

An extraordinary new study has detailed the development of a nearly complete mouse embryo – with muscles, blood vessels and a tiny beating heart – grown in a lab dish out of stem cells, presenting the most sophisticated “embryo in a dish” created to date.