Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

A new study has identified, for the first time, how the mutated protein p53, present in half of all human cancers, drives tumor growth. The discovery will not only facilitate a rethink of the way cancer is treated but may lead to new therapeutics.

Researchers have found that millions worldwide carry a gene variant that controls ‘explosive’ cell death and is linked to inflammation. They say it may explain why some people are prone to developing inflammatory diseases.

An existing blood cancer drug has been used to eliminate dormant HIV-infected cells that can cause the infection to reactivate when suppressive antiretroviral treatment is interrupted. The drug could remove the current need for lifelong medication.

We may be one step closer to developing a treatment for Parkinson’s disease, thanks to new Australian research that has discovered how a protein called optineurin works in a distinct way to clear damaged mitochondria from the brain.

Scientists in Australia have opened up some new possibilities around oral insulin, by identifying a molecule that activates receptors in a similar way to the hormone, thereby laying new foundations to explore digestible drugs that mimic its effects.

A new discovery around inflammation and excessive cell death in the body illuminates the key role a certain enzyme plays in the process, and how targeting a "sugar tag" could lead to treatments for a wide range of conditions.

A new understanding of the way the body teaches immune cells to fight off threats has raised hopes of advanced treatments for autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis, along with other diseases such as cancer.

For around a decade, scientists researching Parkinson's disease have been probing a pathway involved in the way brain cells process energy, and now a mystery around the role of a particular protein has been solved thanks to a new live action view.

People with chronic respiratory disease tend to produce thicker forms of mucus and scientists have now uncovered one of the key reasons why, raising new treatment possibilities for conditions like asthma, cystic fibrosis and COPD.

New research into CAR-T cell therapy has revealed crucial mechanisms that could help the immunotherapy technique, which is currently only effective against blood cancers, be adapted for the treatment of brain tumors and other forms of solid cancers.

Using an advanced imaging technique, scientists have watched as treatment-resistant leukemia cells teased chemotherapy into a high-stakes game of tag, an observation that opens up new ways in which we may be able to stop the deadly disease in its tracks. ​​

Scientists have discovered a fast-acting insulin from a notoriously slow-moving source, finding the insulin in a certain type of snail venom can begin working in a third of the time of the fastest insulins currently on the market. ​