Category Health/Medical

A more effective vaccine technology may be on the horizon. In a new study in mice, researchers from the University of Copenhagen demonstrate that a simple addition to mRNA vaccines can significantly enhance their effectiveness. The innovation could become a powerful tool in the next pandemic. The next step is human trials.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it wasn’t just face masks that became part of everyday conversation—so did a new vaccine technology: the mRNA vaccine.

As the first of its kind, the COVID-19 vaccine was developed using mRNA technology, which proved both highly effective against the virus a...

UM-led study explores how sea cucumber sugars could be used in cancer therapy. Sea cucumbers are the ocean’s janitors, cleaning the seabed and recycling nutrients back into the water. But this humble marine invertebrate could also hold the key to stopping the spread of cancer.

A sugar compound found in sea cucumbers can effectively block Sulf-2, an enzyme that plays a major role in cancer growth, according to a University of Mississippi-led study published in Glycobiology.

“Marine life produces compounds with unique structures that are often rare or not found in terrestrial vertebrates,” said Marwa Farrag, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the UM Department of BioMolecular Sciences.

“And so, the sugar compounds in sea cucumbers are unique...

Get on your bike and ride, a new study recommends.
Biking regularly for transportation appears to lower risk of dementia by 19% and Alzheimer’s by 22%, according to results published June 9 in JAMA Network Open.

The results also suggest that cycling might even help increase the size of a brain region important for memory, researchers noted.

“Cycling is a moderate- to high-intensity workout, and also requires balance,” said Dr. Liron Sinvani, director of geriatric services at Northwell Health in Manhasset, N.Y., who reviewed the findings. “It requires more complex brain functions than walking, which is why maybe it was a better reducer of dementia risk.”

“It’s not about just doing exercise and making that part of your...

Erythritol may impair cellular functions essential to maintaining brain blood vessel health, according to researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder. Findings suggest that erythritol increases oxidative stress, disrupts nitric oxide signaling, raises vasoconstrictive peptide production, and diminishes clot-dissolving capacity in human brain microvascular endothelial cells.

Erythritol has become a fixture in the ingredient lists of protein bars, low-calorie beverages, and diabetic-friendly baked goods. Its appeal lies in its sweetness-to-calorie ratio, roughly 60–80% as sweet as sucrose with a tiny fraction of the energy yield, and its negligible effect on blood glucose...