Researchers have demonstrated that a fatty acid called dihomogamma-linolenic acid, or DGLA, can kill human cancer cells. DGLA can induce ferroptosis in an animal model and in actual human cancer cells. Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent type of cell death that was discovered in recent years and has become a focal point for disease research as it is closely related to many disease processes.

Jennifer Watts, a Washington State University associate professor and corresponding author on the paper, said this discovery has many implications, including a step toward a potential treatment for cancer.

“If you could deliver DGLA precisely to a cancer cell, it could promote ferroptosis and lead to tumor cell death,” Watts said...

With the help of citizen scientists, astronomers have discovered two highly unusual brown dwarfs, balls of gas that are not massive enough to power themselves the way stars do.

Participants in the NASA-funded Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project helped lead scientists to these bizarre objects, using data from NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) satellite along with all-sky observations collected between 2009 and 2011 under its previous moniker, WISE...

A groundbreaking study published today and led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, identifies unique lung cells that may drive Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), a deadly lung disease that affects hundreds of thousands of Americans, and for which there is no cure.

This is one of the first comprehensive looks at lung cells using a technology called single-cell RNA sequencing. Instead of examining a mash-up of many cells from a tissue sample, single-cell sequencing allowed researchers in this study to closely examine the individual cells that make up the lungs; to identify their function, and ultimately understand the molecular changes that may be driving the disease.

Using this met...

Findings from an Oregon State University study into the effects of radiofrequency radiation generated by the wireless technology that will soon be the standard for cell phones suggest few health impacts.

Fifth generation or 5G wireless technology, which began being deployed worldwide in 2019, provides faster connectivity and more bandwidth, meaning higher download speeds.

But because 5G technology is so new, little is known about the potential health effects from its radiofrequency radiation, which is higher than the current industry standard 4G. The Oregon State study begins to change that.

“Based on our study, we don’t think 5G radiation is that harmful,” said Subham Dasgupta, a postdoctoral fellow working in the lab of Robyn Tanguay at Oregon State...