Mice

Fat may be a villain of our time, but it’s not fair to paint it all with the same brush. Researchers at the Salk Institute have identified the protein that allows brown fat to expend energy, opening up a new potential avenue for treating obesity and its related diseases.

Researchers have developed a new stem-cell-based treatment for strokes. When tested in animal models, the technique was found to reduce brain damage and help the brain heal itself faster, and the results have been promising enough that clinical human trials may follow as soon as next year.

Like the horse of Troy, scientists have developed a way to sneak synthetic cells right into tumor tissue, where they then begin producing cancer-fighting proteins from the inside. The technique was tested in both cell cultures and in mice, and found to be an effective treatment in both cases.

Researchers have discovered a surprising secondary function for an existing drug. Tandospirone is used to treat anxiety and depression, but now Australian researchers have found that it can “reboot” the brain to reverse some of the negative effects of heavy alcohol consumption.

A drug dubbed J147, developed by the Salk Institute, is a promising candidate to treat Alzheimer’s, but how it worked at the molecular level remained a mystery. Now Salk scientists have figured out the mechanism behind it, which could see J147 used to fight other age-related illnesses as well.

For people suffering from chronic pain conditions, conventional painkillers often aren’t effective. Now, a new hope for relief might have been found in the strange case of an Italian family, who all have a genetic mutation that makes them feel almost no pain at all.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have come up with a novel way to fight back against drug-resistance in bacteria and viruses. By pitting pathogens against each other, then using drugs to wipe out the leftovers.

CRISPR-Cas9 shows incredible promise, but the long term effects of cutting DNA in living organisms isn’t known. Now scientists from the Salk Institute have modified it to work without cutting, switching targeted genes on and off instead, and used it to treat diabetes and muscular dystrophy in mice.

Scientists at MIT have developed a new way to carry the CRISPR gene-editing tool to the target genes. Normally the system uses harmless viruses, but patients can develop resistance. The new study has used nanoparticles instead, leading to the best success rate for the technique in adult animals.

Researchers at Northwestern University believe they’ve discovered a way to trigger an ancient genetic "kill switch"for cancer. This could lead to a therapy where cancer cells commit suicide, which would be impossible for cancer cells to adapt a resistance to.

Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a promising new gene therapy against multiple sclerosis (MS). Tested in mice, the treatment was effective in preventing the mouse equivalent of the disease, and almost completely reversed the symptoms in animals already suffering from it.

Researchers at Duke University have combined two techniques for fighting cancer. In one case, the mouse’s immune system not only destroyed the tumor, but stayed strong enough to ward off a later injection of cancer cells, raising hopes that the strategy could one day lead to a viable cancer vaccine.