While many American adults are trying to reduce cholesterol levels, certain cancerous tumors have a relentless appetite for the metabolite. Some tumor cells use as much cholesterol as they can access to accelerate their growth beyond the capabilities of normal cells.

Turning tumors’ cholesterol cravings into weakness
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and their collaborators at the University of Illinois Chicago have published findings in Science Advances regarding a potential method for turning the tables on these tumors by subverting their cholesterol cravings. The researchers revealed new insights into enzymes that help move cholesterol around cells...

2D nanocavity exciton polaritons. (a) Schematic of the coupled TMD-PhC nanocavity. (b) Schematic of the gate-tunable TMD stack. (c) Scanning electron microscope image of the suspended Si₃N₄ nanobeam cavity, with the inset showing the simulated cavity mode profile. The dark area is suspended from the SiO₂ substrate. Scale bar, 500 nm. Credit: Physical Review Letters (2026). DOI: 10...

A record-shattering particle from deep space may have exposed some of the universe’s most extreme black hole engines. A mysterious particle from deep space has scientists buzzing after the most energetic neutrino ever detected slammed through the Mediterranean Sea. Now, researchers think they may have identified the cosmic “culprits” behind it: blazars — supermassive black holes blasting jets of matter straight toward Earth.

Three years ago, scientists detected something extraordinary deep beneath the M...

Why do cells age—and why do we lose our energy and vitality as we get older? This question is one of the central challenges of modern biomedicine. The focus is particularly on mitochondria—tiny cellular organelles long known as the cell’s powerhouses but now understood as dynamic control centers that not only produce energy, but also coordinate cellular communication, adaptation, and many of the processes essential for life.

They supply us with the energy that our body needs for movement, growth, and re...