Category Health/Medical

A study conducted at Harvard University identified a group of metabolites that travel from the intestine to the liver and then to the heart, where they are pumped throughout the body. These metabolites play an important role in controlling metabolic pathways in the liver and insulin sensitivity. This discovery may contribute to future treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes. The results were published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

“The hepatic portal vein drains much of the blood from the intestine to the liver...

Detailed mapping of CD4⁺ T cells from children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has revealed distinct immune cell subsets with likely roles in disease pathogenesis, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings are poised to redirect lupus research and open the door to more precise therapies that avoid broad immune suppression.

Published in Nature Immunology, the study used single-cell RNA sequencing to profile CD4⁺ T-cell subtypes from children with SLE and healthy controls...

Amid concerns about the simultaneous spread of multiple respiratory diseases, such as colds and influenza, with the change of seasons in current times, a clinical study has scientifically proven that kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented food, enhances the function of human immune cells and maintains the balance of the immune system.

The World Institute of Kimchi has reported the results of a single-cell genetic analysis that suggests that kimchi consumption has immunomodulatory effects, which include the suppression of excessive immune responses while simultaneously enhancing defense functions.

The results of the research are published in npj Science of Food.

This is the first study in the world...

A chromosome pulled from the flowers of Arabidopsis thaliana (green and white) unspools to reveal DNA (blue) coiled around packaging-proteins called histones (purple). The direction of epigenetic changes by genetic features begins as the RIM transcription factor (pink) docks on a corresponding DNA sequence (pink). Once docked, the RIM transcription factor directs methylation machinery to tack methyl groups (orange) onto specific nearby cytosines (orange).
Click here for a high-resolution image.
Credit: Salk Institute

All the cells in an organism have the exact same genetic sequence. What differs across cell types is their epigenetics—meticulously placed chemical tags that influence which genes are expressed in each cell...