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Medicine + Health

A rat sits on a bag of grain.
Photo Credit
H. Zell via Wikimedia
The non-native black rat was the only small mammal infected with Hantavirus in an immensely biodiverse region of Madagascar. Animals trapped in agricultural fields carried the disease more often than those trapped in homes or in the rainforest.

Hantavirus in Madagascar linked to black rats in agricultural areas

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abstract image of the brain disintegrating

Researchers uncover a potential method for interrupting the misfolding of tau protein that underlies neurodegenerative disease
the cellular development of an embryonic tooth
Photo Credit
Neha Pincha Shroff and Pengfei Xu
Tooth epithelium (cell surface; yellow) and mesenchyme (cell surface; magenta). Proliferating cells (cyan) expand the tissue, generating a mechanical pressure at the tissue center that drives the formation of the main tooth signaling center or organizer, the enamel knot.

Pressure determines which embryonic cells become ‘organizers’
Beijing’s Forbidden City lies shrouded in industrial smog.
Photo Credit
Holger Kleine via iStock
China’s infamous air pollution affects its citizens’ minds as well as their bodies.

Clearing the air reduces suicide rates
a cathedral in the middle of a mountain town in Colombia
Yarumal, a municipality in the foothills of the Andes north of Medellín, is one of several communities in Colombia that host a large kindred with a genetic form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease

Untangling a sticky mystery: Researchers make precious headway into a genetic form of Alzheimer’s disease
three blue-gray petri dishes against a black background testing the resistance of bacteria to antimicrobials

Researchers develop molecules for a new class of antibiotics that can overcome drug resistant bacteria
A blue macrophage engulfs a magenta lymphocyte, as rendered by ChatGPT4.
Photo Credit
ChatGPT4, prompt by Denise Montell
A blue macrophage engulfs a magenta lymphocyte, as rendered by ChatGPT4.

When bad cells go good: harnessing cellular cannibalism for cancer treatment
an array of food that is part of the ketogenic diet

Clinical trial shows that the ketogenic diet is effective at controlling polycystic kidney disease
two blue-green mitochondria against a lighter blue-green background

Zen and the art of mitochondrial maintenance: The machinery of death makes a healthier life
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Examining the effects of climate change and extreme weather on HIV
Portrait of Kenneth Kosik
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Kenneth S. Kosik

A peek inside the quickening race to understand, treat — and even cure — Alzheimer’s disease
Emily Jacobs seated, looking upward, seated in front of a backdrop of brain imagery
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Emily Jacobs’ lab primarily examines how hormones affect the brain

The current landscape of women’s health — and how it might be improved
Bolivian tribe receiving health education regarding COVID-19
Photo Credit
Michael Gurven
A health educator conveys information about COVID-19 transmission to members of Bolivia's Tsimané population

Remoteness did little to reduce COVID-19 spread to Amazonian Tsimané
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