Immune system
Inflammation, defence and how your immune system ages.
93 answers, from 659 studies
Last updated: October 2026
Key questions
What does ageing of your immune system mean for your health?
Your immune system ages in measurable ways: it responds less effectively to new threats and maintains a smouldering…
Moderate evidence
How does your immune system age and can a blood test measure that?
Your immune system ages in recognisable ways: exhausted immune cells and smouldering inflammation are clearly visible…
Preliminary evidence
How can poor oral health and periodontitis raise your blood pressure?
Gum disease is clearly associated with higher blood pressure, and there is good evidence that it genuinely contributes to it.…
What does regular sauna use do to your immune system?
Regular sauna use produces measurable changes in your immune system, but whether it actually makes you get sick less often has…
Does glyphosate increase your risk of lymph node cancer?
Whether glyphosate causes lymph node cancer remains unresolved after several large analyses. If you are occupationally exposed…
Moderate evidence
Which supplements genuinely support your immune system?
Some supplements genuinely support your immune system, but the effect is greatest when you have a deficiency: so first check…
Moderate evidence
How does nutrition strengthen your immune system?
Nutrition has a clear influence on the immune system: deficiencies weaken your defences, and correcting a demonstrable…
Moderate evidence
Can a past coronavirus infection weaken your immune system for a long time?
A past coronavirus infection can temporarily disrupt the immune system, and in Long COVID possibly for an extended period. If…
Yes · Moderate evidence
What does the thymus do, and can you rejuvenate that organ?
The thymus is indispensable for a well-functioning immune system, but inevitably shrinks with age. How this can be…
Moderate evidence
Can stem cell therapy slow down or cure rheumatoid arthritis?
Stem cell therapy may be able to slow the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, but it does not cure it. The research is still too…
Preliminary evidence
Can mesenchymal stem cells help with frailty in older adults?
Mesenchymal stem cells appear safe in the short term for frail older adults and do reduce certain markers of inflammation in…
Preliminary evidence
Does creatine do anything to your immune system?
Creatine influences immune cells via a specific switch, but whether the outcome is favourable or unfavourable depends strongly…
Preliminary evidence
What do immune cells in your brain do during ageing?
Microglia play an active role in brain ageing through fat build-up and energy shortage, but most of the evidence still comes…
Does quercetin help with hay fever and allergies?
Quercetin has a clear anti-allergic effect in laboratory research, and a small randomised study in humans shows improvement in…
Preliminary evidence
Does covid-19 have a lasting effect on the immune system?
Covid-19 has measurable, lasting effects on the immune system, including in people who do not have Long Covid symptoms. How…
Does long-term antibiotic use weaken your immune system?
Prolonged antibiotic use disrupts gut bacteria, and that disruption can influence your immune system, but how strongly this is…
Moderate evidence
What are the symptoms of a weakened immune system?
The clearest signs of a weakened immune system are recurrent or unusually severe infections, but skin problems, autoimmune…
Which factors weaken your immune system?
Several factors demonstrably weaken your immune system: deficiencies in vitamin A, zinc, and iron are the best supported, but…
How does your microbiome influence your health and longevity?
Your gut flora changes over the years and is associated with inflammatory processes, immune function and possibly how long you…
Can you slow down the ageing of your immune system?
The immune system demonstrably ages, and there are promising avenues for slowing that process, but no single approach has been…
Preliminary evidence
What does a disrupted gut barrier do to the rest of your body?
A leaky gut barrier is associated with chronic inflammation and a range of diseases, from diabetes and joint complaints to…
What is the role of chronic inflammation in the development of cancer?
Chronic inflammation is a proven driver of cancer: it promotes every step of tumour formation and makes tumours more resistant…
How harmful are microplastics in your body to your health?
Microplastics are demonstrably present in your body and have been linked in laboratory and animal research to inflammation and…
Is raw milk healthier than pasteurised milk?
Raw milk offers no proven health advantages over pasteurised milk, while its infection risk is considerably higher. For…
No · Preliminary evidence
Do functional mushrooms like reishi and cordyceps actually work?
Medicinal mushrooms such as reishi show promising effects in the lab, but convincing evidence from studies in people is still…
Preliminary evidence
Is colostrum (beestings) a worthwhile supplement?
For now, colostrum has the strongest indications as an aid against respiratory tract infections in athletes; for most other…
Preliminary evidence
Does liposomal vitamin C work better than regular vitamin C?
Liposomal vitamin C reaches higher blood levels than regular vitamin C, but whether that translates into real health benefits…
Moderate evidence
Does chronic inflammation accelerate the ageing of your cells?
Chronic inflammation demonstrably accelerates cellular ageing through a negative spiral that is difficult to break. The best…
Is moderate exercise good or bad for your immune system?
Moderate exercise (sessions up to 45 minutes) is good for your immune system and is associated with fewer infections. Only…
Moderate evidence
Why do older adults become seriously ill from an infection more quickly?
Ageing weakens the immune system in several ways simultaneously, making infections more dangerous. Keep vaccinations up to…
Can you strengthen your immune system by eating more fibre?
Eating more fibre has a clear biological mechanism, but in healthy people it does not automatically lead to a measurably…
Moderate evidence
Does too little sleep weaken your immune system?
Yes, too little sleep demonstrably weakens your immune system and increases the risk of infections and chronic inflammatory…
Does spending more time outdoors help your immune system as you get older?
Spending more time outdoors may support your immune system as you get older, mainly through improved vitamin D production, but…
Preliminary evidence
Does the flu shot work less well as you get older?
The flu shot demonstrably works less well in older adults than in younger people, but high-dose and other improved vaccines…
Yes · Strong evidence
Does your immune system really weaken as you get older?
Your immune system demonstrably weakens with age, but vaccinations remain worthwhile and a good diet can limit further decline.
Does your body age faster after a prolonged period of stress?
Prolonged stress is associated with signs of faster cellular ageing, but whether this is truly causal and applies to everyone…
Can you improve your gut microbiome by picking up bacteria while playing outside?
Playing outside exposes your child to more bacteria, and one small study observed a change in gut microbiome, but whether that…
Preliminary evidence
What is the connection between the thyroid and the immune system?
There is a clear and well-defined connection: autoimmune diseases of the thyroid arise because the immune system attacks the…
Why do cells lose their ability to repair themselves?
Cells lose their capacity for self-repair through a combination of declining energy supplies, impaired DNA repair and the…
Why do you develop thyroid problems after giving birth?
After delivery, the brake on the immune system lifts abruptly, which can trigger inflammation in women with an underlying…
Can your gut microbiome influence inflammation in your body?
Your gut microbiome can influence inflammatory processes throughout your body via the gut wall. Eating more fibre and…
What is the link between high blood pressure and inflammation?
High blood pressure and inflammation reinforce each other, and higher levels of inflammation signals in the blood mean a…
Why do some people develop better protection after vaccination than others?
How well you respond to a vaccine depends on your genetic predisposition, age, the condition of your immune system, and any…
Does sunbathing support your immune system beyond the vitamin D effect?
Sunlight influences your immune system beyond the vitamin D effect, through hormones, neuropeptides, and shifts in immune…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Can smoking permanently damage your immune system?
Smoking structurally damages your immune system and the damage can be lasting, especially with long-term smoking. Quitting…
Yes · Moderate evidence
What are T-cells and why do they decline with age?
T-cells are the conductors of your immune system, and they decline in number and diversity as you age, largely because the…
Does omega-3 from fish oil help with chronic inflammation?
Omega-3 from fish oil lowers inflammation markers in the blood and has the strongest evidence in rheumatoid arthritis. The…
Yes · Moderate evidence
What does chronic sleep deprivation do to your inflammation in the long run?
Chronic sleep deprivation demonstrably raises inflammatory markers in your blood and is linked to diseases such as…
Can air pollution weaken your immune system?
Air pollution disrupts your immune system in several ways at once: a greater chance of allergic reactions, less resistance to…
Yes · Moderate evidence
What is apoptosis and why is it a good thing that cells clean themselves up?
Orderly cell death is an essential clean-up mechanism that keeps your body healthy, but balance is everything: too little…
Is the appendix actually useful for your gut microbiome?
The appendix appears to play a real but modest role as a reservoir organ for gut bacteria, particularly in recovery after…
Why do some people experience symptoms for months after an infection?
After an infection, multiple biological processes can continue to smoulder simultaneously, but which mechanism plays the…
Can too little sleep make you more susceptible to infections?
Too little sleep demonstrably makes your immune system more vulnerable, including to infections and vaccinations. Make sure…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does sauna bathing help against infections?
There are preliminary indications that regular sauna bathing may have a beneficial effect on your immune system, but the…
Preliminary evidence
Can an overactive immune system also be dangerous?
Yes, an overactive immune system can cause serious harm, ranging from chronic autoimmune diseases to life-threatening cytokine…
What does loneliness do to your immune system?
Loneliness disrupts your immune system in multiple ways simultaneously: more inflammation, reduced antiviral defence, and…
What does long-term loneliness do to your brain?
Prolonged loneliness is associated with a higher risk of dementia and persistent low mood, and damages the stress system.…
Does fermented food like kimchi boost your immune system?
Kimchi and other fermented products can improve your gut microbiome and lower inflammatory markers, but whether that actually…
Preliminary evidence
What is the role of inflammation in cellular ageing?
Inflammation and cellular senescence reinforce each other in two vicious cycles, leading to tissue damage and age-related…
Can you test your immune system with a blood test?
A blood test can partially map the immune system, but the results are only meaningful when a doctor interprets them in the…
Yes · Moderate evidence
What does the HPV vaccine do against cervical cancer?
The HPV vaccine provides strong protection against cervical cancer, but works best when received before first sexual contact;…
Does melatonin support your immune system in later life?
Melatonin has clear effects on the immune system in animal and laboratory research, but whether supplements genuinely improve…
Preliminary evidence
Why are older adults more susceptible to influenza?
Older adults are more susceptible to influenza due to a combination of an ageing immune system, chronic diseases, and…
What does excess weight do to your inflammation levels?
Excess weight structurally raises your inflammation levels through multiple biological pathways. Exercise, and strength…
Can too much sugar weaken your immune system?
Consistently eating too much sugar disrupts the gut barrier, drives chronic inflammation, and locks immune cells into a state…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does your immune system age at a different rate than your heart?
Yes, your immune system and heart age at measurably different rates, and an ageing immune system is more strongly linked to a…
Does beta-glucan help strengthen your immune system?
Beta-glucan demonstrably activates parts of the immune system, but the evidence that a supplement genuinely protects healthy…
Moderate evidence
What is a cytokine storm?
A cytokine storm is a life-threatening syndrome in which the immune system reinforces itself in a spiral of inflammation that…
Does green tea help against infections?
For flu there is reasonable evidence that green tea catechins help; for most other infections the evidence is still limited to…
Moderate evidence
What does smoking do to your biological age?
Smoking measurably accelerates the biological ageing of lung cells, the immune system, and the reproductive system. Stopping…
Why do you get sick more often when you are on a diet?
A low-calorie diet can weaken your immune system through deficiencies in minerals such as magnesium, disrupted gut bacteria…
Does cold showering boost your immune system?
Cold showering does not demonstrably strengthen your immune system in the short term, but people who do it regularly do report…
Moderate evidence
What does alcohol do to your immune system?
Chronic excessive alcohol use weakens your immune system on multiple fronts simultaneously and increases the risk of serious…
Can anyone take rapamycin?
Rapamycin is a powerful drug with serious side effects, including reduced immune function and blood sugar disturbances, and is…
No · Moderate evidence
Does fasting reset your immune system?
Fasting lowers inflammatory markers and has measurable effects on the gut microbiome that appear to be beneficial for the…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does vitamin C actually help against a cold?
Taking vitamin C daily does not protect most people against colds, but does make a cold somewhat shorter and milder. Intensive…
No · Strong evidence
Does eating enough protein help my immune system as I get older?
Eating enough protein helps your immune system in later life. Aim sustainably for at least 1.0 to 1.2 grams per kilogram of…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does stress really lower your immune system?
Prolonged stress demonstrably lowers your immune system: fewer active immune cells, a weaker response to vaccines and a…
Does regular exercise help against that creeping chronic inflammation?
Regular, moderate exercise demonstrably lowers inflammatory markers such as CRP and IL-6; training too intensely can reverse…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does leaky gut actually exist?
Leaky gut is a recognised biological phenomenon that is associated with various diseases, but whether it also causes those…
Can long-term inflammation in your body cause cancer?
Prolonged inflammation is one of the most robustly supported risk factors for cancer. Well-known causes such as smoking,…
Does vitamin D help your immune system, or is that overrated?
Vitamin D genuinely helps your immune system, but the benefit of taking extra only really applies if you are deficient. If…
Moderate evidence
Does your immune system weaken as you get older?
Your immune system demonstrably weakens with age, but eating healthily and exercising can reduce the smouldering inflammation…
Yes · Strong evidence
Can a disrupted gut microbiome weaken your immune system?
A disrupted gut microbiome demonstrably throws your immune system off balance and increases the risk of chronic inflammation.…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does exercise help your immune system as you age?
Regular, moderate exercise helps your immune system by reducing smouldering inflammation. Suddenly training very hard without…
Yes · Moderate evidence
What does sleep deprivation do to your immune system?
Sleep deprivation demonstrably weakens your immune system: sleeping fewer than six hours significantly increases your…
Does low-dose naltrexone (LDN) work against inflammation?
LDN shows positive signals as an anti-inflammatory agent in small studies and cell research, but the evidence in humans is…
Preliminary evidence
Is taking extra vitamin C worthwhile?
Extra vitamin C offers little benefit for most people. Intensive athletes and people following a carnivore diet do have a good…
Moderate evidence
Which vaccinations belong to healthy ageing?
For healthy ageing, the flu vaccine (high dose), the pneumococcal vaccine, the shingles vaccine, and the RSV vaccine are well…
Moderate evidence
Is zinc useful for my immune system?
Zinc is useful for your immune system if you have a deficiency or belong to a risk group, such as older adults or severely…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does turmeric help against inflammation?
Curcumin has a biologically plausible anti-inflammatory effect, but the clinical results are mixed. If you want to try it,…
Moderate evidence
What is inflammaging?
Inflammaging is a smouldering, chronic inflammation that increases with age and is associated with frailty, muscle loss and…
How can I strengthen my weakening immune system?
Correcting vitamin and mineral deficiencies is the best-supported step for maintaining immune function. For more far-reaching…
Moderate evidence
Latest articles
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1 min
Plant compound eases joint inflammation in rats via fat metabolism
Rheumatoid arthritis is driven by chronic inflammation that damages joints from the inside.
1 min
Type 2 immunity acts as a brake on chronic inflammation in aging
Chronic low-grade inflammation is one of the most discussed features of aging. But the body also has a counterweight:…
1 min
Blocking immune cells spares brain tissue in mice with Alzheimer’s
Scientists have found a way to limit brain damage in Alzheimer’s disease without removing the well-known tau protein. In mice,…
1 min
Failing cellular cleanup drives a build-up of aging cells
Cells constantly break down and recycle their own damaged components. This internal cleanup keeps them functional.
1 min
Immune cells recruit T cells into lab-grown Alzheimer’s brain tissue
The immune system is involved in Alzheimer’s disease, but studying how that works in human brain tissue is difficult.
1 min
Gut microbiome predicts inflammation better than age
Your gut bacteria may say more about your health than your birth year.
2 min
Bone and joint disease share an immune aging root
Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis frequently occur together in older adults. That co-occurrence has long been treated as…
1 min
Ancient viral DNA in our cells fuels inflammation with age
Every human cell contains ancient stretches of DNA that originated from viruses. In youth, they are kept silent.
2 min
Immune signal drives bone loss by filling marrow with fat in mice
Bones don’t weaken with age by accident. Inside bone marrow, stem cells that normally build new bone start producing fat cells…
2 min
T cell loss weakens cancer immunity in middle-aged male mice
Why does the immune system of older people respond less well to cancer therapies?
1 min
Senescent-like B cells drive rheumatoid arthritis before diagnosis
Rheumatoid arthritis begins long before the first symptoms appear. Scientists are now looking at what changes in the blood…
2 min
Immune response limits heart repair via one protein in mice
The heart has almost no ability to repair itself after damage. New research in mice identifies a protein that appears to…
2 min
Men lose key immune cells faster as they age
Men age faster than women. New research offers a concrete mechanism: they lose a crucial type of immune cell earlier in life.
1 min
Immune cells in the thymus guide T cell development
The thymus produces T cells, the immune cells that protect us against infections and cancer.
1 min
A gut receptor controls fat absorption and inflammation
Your small intestine does more than digest food. New research shows that a receptor on gut cells simultaneously regulates fat…
1 min
Gut bacteria make stroke damage worse
Bacteria in your gut produce a compound that actively worsens brain damage after a stroke. The link turns out to be…
2 min
Blood immune cells drive tau brain damage
Brain degeneration linked to tau proteins may be triggered from outside the brain itself.
2 min
7 things that undermine your immune system after 40
What damages your immune system after 40? From chronic stress and heavy drinking to nutritional deficiencies and air…
4 min
Chronic inflammation links fragile bones and dementia
People with osteoporosis have a strikingly elevated risk of dementia. And people with dementia more often lose bone density.…
2 min
Drug boosts mitochondria in immune cells, extends worm lifespan
An existing antimicrobial compound has an unexpected effect: it improves the energy factories inside immune cells. In worms,…
2 min
Aging weakens immune clearance of senescent cells
Senescent cells accumulate as we age. That much is known. But why the immune system becomes progressively worse at clearing…
1 min
Sex chromosomes shape ageing and disease risk
Men and women age differently. That has long been known, but the biological reason remained unclear.
2 min
Gut bacteria use weapons to hold their ground
The gut is a battlefield. Bacteria use tiny injection systems to kill rivals and secure their place. New research shows how…
1 min
Immune cells protect pregnancy through hormones
Pregnancy is an immunological puzzle: the body tolerates a half-foreign embryo without rejecting it.
1 min
Stem cell therapies work via signals, not engraftment
Stem cell therapies are now widely available, but they work differently than originally assumed. Transplanted cells rarely…
2 min
Immune cells outside the brain drive Alzheimer’s damage
Brain damage in Alzheimer’s disease may begin far from the brain.
1 min
Blood test measures total burden of aging cells
Aging cells release harmful substances that drive inflammation and damage tissue. Until now, there was no reliable way to…
2 min
Transplanted immune cells donate mitochondria to brain cells
Immune cells delivered via bone marrow transplantation do more than restore the body’s defenses. They also transfer their own…
2 min
Chronic inflammation fuels arterial plaque buildup
Atherosclerosis is not simply a problem of fat and cholesterol. Inflammation plays an equally central role.
2 min
One wildfire smoke exposure may cause lasting harm
Breathing in wildfire smoke just once may leave lasting damage in the body. A natural experiment involving monkeys now…
2 min
A longevity gene that protects health but not hearing
Naked mole rats are remarkably long-lived for their size. One reason may be a special form of hyaluronan in their connective…
2 min
Body’s own protein keeps gut inflammation in check
Chronic gut inflammation affects millions of people and is closely linked to accelerated aging.
1 min
Aged cells help tumors block the immune system
Tumors have a strategy to keep the immune system out: they surround themselves with senescent cells that block immune access.
1 min
Mouth bacteria slow aging in worms and mice
A common bacterium that lives in the human mouth appears to slow aging. That sounds unlikely, but researchers found the link…
1 min
Cells speed up wound repair by fusing together
When tissue is damaged, some cells accelerate repair in a way nobody expected. They merge into large multi-nucleated giants.…
1 min
Immune sensor traps aging cells in chronic inflammation
Your body has a sensor designed to detect viruses. But in certain genetic conditions, that sensor misfires on your own DNA.…
2 min
Immune brakes turn into attackers in autoimmune disease
The immune system has suppressive cells that prevent the body from attacking itself. But that brake can fail. And when it…
1 min
Ageing cells dodge immune clearance via PD-L2
The immune system normally clears away damaged and aged cells. But senescent cells in old tissue often linger, even when the…
1 min
A brain protein reverses aging signs in mice
A protein in the brain declines with age. In mice, lower levels are linked to more inflammation, weaker bones, thinner skin,…
1 min
Vascular muscle turns into plaque fuel
Atherosclerosis grows partly through a surprising mechanism. Smooth muscle cells in the vessel wall change their identity and…
2 min
Bacterium rewrites gene regulation in host cells
A bacterium that causes pneumonia and sexually transmitted infections does something unexpected. It sabotages the way host…
1 min
Thymus transplant in the spleen restores aging immunity
The thymus is the organ where immune cells mature. After your thirties, it shrinks substantially, weakening adaptive immunity.
2 min
Immune cells drive inflammatory bone marrow shift with age
As people age, bone marrow increasingly produces inflammation-promoting immune cells. This fuels chronic low-grade inflammation.
2 min
The spleen controls platelet activity across the body
Platelets are tiny blood cells that seal wounds. But they also trigger inflammation.
2 min
The body has its own brake on inflammation
Your immune system has a built-in brake that can stop chronic inflammation. Researchers have now identified this mechanism and…
1 min
Blocking one receptor calms aging kidney immune cells
As kidneys age, senescent immune cells accumulate and damage tissue. Blocking a single protein on the surface of those cells…
1 min
Chronic inflammation helps tumours grow via interferon
Inflammation is generally seen as protection. But in cancer, it can flip into its opposite. New research shows how a chronic…
1 min
Immune cell clones grow unevenly after infection
Not all immune cells respond equally to infection. Even when they start out identical, some clones expand enormously while…
1 min
Breast fat cells kill tumour cells via iron-driven death
Healthy fat cells surrounding breast tumours are not passive bystanders. They secrete substances that can kill cancer cells…
1 min
Fat cells fuel artery plaque via inflammation
Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death worldwide. New research suggests that fat cells play a more active role than…
1 min
Immune protein sharpens lung cell memory
Lung cells respond faster after a previous infection. Not through new genes, but via a component of the innate immune system.
2 min
Immune cells guide T cells into the ageing brain
The brain has its own immune system, largely walled off from the rest of the body. Yet certain immune cells from the…
2 min
A lysosomal protein shields cells from iron-driven death
Cells can be killed by too much free iron. This form of cell death is called ferroptosis.
2 min
Targeting cell metabolism to clear aging cells
Senescent cells accumulate in the body over time and fuel chronic inflammation. Researchers have now found a new way to…
1 min
Surgery plus biological injection slows joint aging in dogs
Combining knee surgery with a biological injection controls joint inflammation and slows the progression of osteoarthritis in…
1 min
Anti-inflammation drug fails to protect the aging heart
A promising strategy to fight cardiovascular disease by dampening inflammation appears to have faltered again.
1 min
A gene-edited pig kidney made way for a human one
Two patients first received a kidney from a genetically modified pig and then, months later, a human kidney. Both transplants…
1 min
Seafood compound reverses aging signs in older mice
A substance found in edible sea squirts improved memory, reduced inflammation, and even gave older mice thicker, darker fur.…
1 min
Aged brain immune cells secrete a damaging protein
The brain’s own immune cells can become damaged with age. When they do, they release a protein that disrupts surrounding brain…
1 min
Tumours steal a signal from immune cells
Cancer cells are resourceful. They do not just compete for space and nutrients; they also hijack the molecular signals that…
1 min
Immune signatures may flag heart disease early
Most people who suffer a heart attack do not have high cholesterol. That observation has troubled cardiologists for decades.
2 min
Gut bacteria in infancy reshape the developing intestine
What happens in your gut during the first weeks of life may lay the groundwork for your health decades later.
1 min
Ageing cells get a precision medicine roadmap
Senescent cells accumulate as we age. They contribute to inflammation and tissue damage. Now researchers have drawn up a joint…
1 min
Tumors weaken immune cells using antioxidants
Cancer cells protect themselves by disarming the immune cells sent to destroy them. They do it using an unexpected tool:…
1 min
Aging brain immune cells leak damaging protein
The immune cells that protect your brain can grow old and start secreting something harmful to their neighbours. A newly…
1 min
One immune switch slows aging across organs
A single molecular switch in the immune system may help drive aging throughout the body.
1 min
Fatty liver disease starts with a damaged membrane layer
Millions of people have a fatty liver without knowing it. When that fatty liver tips into dangerous inflammation, the trigger…
1 min
Aging eggs ignite inflammation in surrounding cells
Why does female fertility decline with age? A new study points to a specific inflammatory process deep inside the ovary. And…
1 min
Personalised cancer vaccine gets new momentum with mRNA
The mRNA platform that powered Covid vaccines is now being used against cancer. Promising results in advanced melanoma are…
1 min
Gut inflammation starts with a cell death switch
Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis cause persistent gut inflammation, yet their molecular triggers are not fully understood.
1 min
Immune cells disrupt blood production with age
As we age, the composition of our blood changes. Certain white blood cells accumulate in increasing numbers, upsetting the…
1 min
Brain immune cells destroy neurons in ALS
In ALS, motor neurons die. New mouse research suggests the disease itself is not the only driver: specific brain immune cells…
1 min
Your gut bacteria shape how you age
Your gut bacteria do far more than digest food. They communicate constantly with your genes, immune system and brain. And as…
2 min
Losing a DNA sensor accelerates cell inflammation
A protein that protects cells from their own DNA turns out, when lost, to cause inflammation and accelerated aging.
2 min
Immune cells clear aged cells but also cause harm
Our immune system has its own category of cells that can directly clear out senescent cells. But the same cells also play a…
1 min
DNA sensor protects cells but speeds up aging
Our body has a system that detects and attacks unwanted pieces of DNA inside the cell nucleus.
1 min
Calorie restriction fights aging via one blood protein
Eating less slows ageing, but very few people manage to sustain it. Researchers have now identified a specific blood molecule…
1 min
Shingles vaccine linked to 24% lower dementia risk
A vaccine against shingles appears to do more than protect against a painful rash.
1 min
Why women’s immune systems are more prone to attacking themselves
Women make up around 80% of autoimmune disease patients. A new study points to a difference that begins before any disease…
1 min
Cell-cycle protein drives inflammation in aged cells
Senescent cells keep the body in a state of chronic inflammation. New research shows that a protein normally involved in cell…
1 min
Personalized cancer vaccine succeeds in melanoma trial
A vaccine built specifically for one person, based on that person’s tumor DNA, has shown impressive results in a large…
2 min
Age-related eye disease driven by retinal inflammation
Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of central vision loss in older adults. What exactly drives it has long…
2 min
In ALS, immune cells consume living neurons
In ALS, the brain’s immune cells turn against healthy motor neurons. They eat them alive, mistaking a stress signal for a…
2 min
Mitochondria produce their own immune weapon
Mitochondria do more than generate energy. They also produce a peptide that directly attacks bacteria and reprograms immune…
2 min
Brain immune cells turn inflammatory with age via metabolism
Microglia, the brain’s immune cells, change their behavior as you age. New research explains how shifts in their metabolism…
2 min
Gut microbiome aging drives age-related disease
The composition of gut bacteria changes dramatically as you age. That has consequences for your entire body, from your immune…
2 min
Aged fat cells fuel inflammation via blood protein
Fat cells that have become senescent release a protein that circulates through the blood. That protein appears to promote…
1 min
An aging immune system lets old cells run loose
Your body constantly produces cells that have done their job and stop dividing. Normally, the immune system clears them out…
2 min
Skin inflammation in aging tied to a shifted protein pair
Older skin is chronically mildly inflamed, even without any wound or infection.
1 min
Personalized cancer vaccine shows effect in major trial
A vaccine built specifically around each patient’s tumor works. That sounds almost too good to be true, but a large randomized…
2 min
Muscle disease patients outlive the general population by five years
People with a rare muscle disease live an average of five years longer than the general population. That sounds paradoxical:…
2 min
Senescent cells drive aging inflammation, but measuring it remains hard
As we age, certain cells accumulate that can no longer divide. Rather than staying quiet, these cells continuously release…
2 min
What actually strengthens your immune system after 50, backed by science
After 50, your immune system starts to lose ground, but you have more influence over the process than you might think. Here…
4 min
Stem cell therapy shows promise but lacks consistency
Stem cell therapies are offered globally, including in clinics with little regulatory oversight. They can temporarily reduce…
2 min
Immune memory trains aging blood stem cells to inflame
Aging blood stem cells drive chronic inflammation. But what pushes those stem cells into that state in the first place? A…
2 min
High blood pressure harms multiple organs at cell level
High blood pressure is the most common risk factor for cardiovascular disease worldwide. Yet how that damage unfolds across…
1 min
Brain immune cells from a sibling can live in your brain
What if some of the cells in your brain carried a sibling’s genome?
2 min
Aging blood stem cells ignite chronic inflammation
Your immune system remembers past threats so it can respond faster next time. But with age, that memory can go wrong.
1 min
Gut stem cells age through an inflammation signal
The lining of your gut is renewed constantly by stem cells. But with age, those stem cells falter.
1 min
Thymus hormone curbs aging inflammation in cancer
The thymus shrinks after your twenties and gradually loses its function. But a hormone it produces, thymulin, remains active…
1 min
Blood stem cells can be rejuvenated several ways
The immune system weakens as blood stem cells in the bone marrow age.
2 min
Dampening brain inflammation in Alzheimer is harder than expected
A promising principle from mouse studies turns out to be harder to apply in people.
2 min
Bile acids and gut bacteria age together
Your liver produces bile acids to digest fats. As you age, the composition of those bile acids shifts, and that shift appears…
2 min
Targeted light therapy clears gum bacteria linked to aging
Gum disease is not just a dental problem. Research suggests the bacterium driving gum inflammation also fuels age-related…
2 min
A cell-surface sugar guides coronavirus entry
ACE2 has long been considered the gateway through which SARS-CoV-2 enters cells.
1 min
Dangerous fungus hides in hair follicles to evade immunity
A drug-resistant fungus that increasingly infects hospital patients has found a clever hiding place: the hair follicle. There…
2 min
Energy molecule FAD keeps aging immune sensors in check
A molecule normally known for transporting energy inside cells also controls whether the immune system raises the alarm. That…
1 min
Chronic inflammation explains up to a quarter of aging risk
How large is the role of chronic inflammation in aging? Larger than many assume, but also smaller than some researchers hope.…
2 min
Stool transplant improves peanut tolerance in trial
Peanut allergy affects millions worldwide and has no real cure.
1 min
Ageing cells fuel inflammation through their mitochondria
Senescent cells stop dividing but do not go quiet. They continuously send inflammatory signals to surrounding tissue. New…
1 min
Ageing T cells fail through an energy-saving switch
Immune cells that ‘exhaust’ do not fail because they are broken. They switch to an energy-conserving mode. That distinction…
1 min
Blood cell cloning accelerates biological ageing
Some people carry a silent time bomb in their blood: stem cells with a small genetic mutation that gradually multiply and take…
1 min
Ageing brain swaps its immune cells for fiercer ones
The brain replaces its own immune cells as it ages. But the newcomers are more inflammatory than their predecessors.
2 min
Keeping inflammation balanced may slow ageing
Inflammation is not simply a defence mechanism that goes wrong. It is also a precision system, and losing that precision may…
1 min
Immune cells fail against cancer due to energy collapse
Immune cells tasked with attacking tumours burn out before completing the job. New research points to an energy deficit as the…
2 min
Cancer spreads by reshaping a living tumour ecosystem
How does cancer spread through the body? New research maps for the first time how tumours reshape their surroundings as they…
2 min
Blocking inflammation does not always protect the heart
Chronic inflammation is a well-known risk factor for heart disease. So reducing inflammation should protect the heart. That…
1 min
Blood stem cell mutations quietly drive aging
A small population of blood stem cells with a growth advantage can silently take over. This process, known as clonal…
2 min
Brain immune cells may decide Alzheimer’s fate
Not everyone with Alzheimer’s-related brain changes develops dementia. Why some people decline while others stay sharp has…
2 min
Immune cells worsen sun damage in aging skin
Your immune system is supposed to protect you from damage. But in aging skin, that same system can amplify the harm caused by…
2 min
Aging cells are finally getting a classification system
Not all senescent cells are alike. A new framework gives them an ordered classification for the first time, based on their…
1 min
Aging tissue makes breast cancer more likely in older women
Breast cancer affects older women more often and behaves differently than in younger women.
1 min
Thymus hormone restrains aging inflammation and cancer
A hormone produced by the thymus keeps inflammation under control. But as we age, the thymus shrinks and produces less of it.
2 min
The aging immune system loses ground on multiple fronts
Your immune system does far more than fight infections. It maintains tissues, clears damaged cells and keeps cancer in check.
2 min
Blood stem cell mutations accelerate biological aging
Your blood cells may be biologically older than your calendar age. New research links a common age-related mutation pattern in…
2 min
Sleep loss in Alzheimer’s is caused by immune cells, not plaques
Poor sleep in Alzheimer’s has long been blamed on the brain plaques that define the disease.
1 min
How immune cells reshape DNA to make better antibodies
The immune system learns from every infection it encounters. That ability depends on a process in which immune cells…
1 min
The aging immune system quietly dismantles bone
Bone loss is often seen as a routine part of getting older. But the immune system plays a larger role than most people…
2 min
A small molecule reactivates the aging thymus in mice
The thymus is a small organ that produces T-cells for the immune system. By your fifties, almost no active thymus tissue remains.
2 min
Merck’s HIV prevention pill reaches poorest countries first
A new once-a-month pill that may prevent HIV infection does not have to wait for wealthy countries first.
1 min
Aging brain immune cells fuel Alzheimer’s progression
Deep inside the brain, dedicated cells clean up waste, kill damaged cells and fight infection.
2 min
Immune cells build and maintain tumour defences
The body sometimes builds its own immune outposts near tumours. Whether those structures hold together and remain effective…
1 min
Blood stem cells drive chronic inflammation in aging
Chronic low-grade inflammation is one of the defining features of aging. But where does it originate? New research points to…
2 min
Gut microbiome diversity links to frailty in older women
Women aged 75 to 80 with less diverse gut microbiomes are more likely to fall, fracture a hip, or die earlier.
2 min
Targeting senescent cells cuts post-chemo inflammation
Chemotherapy saves lives but accelerates biological ageing in the body.
1 min
Chronic inflammation halts new brain cell growth
The brain keeps making new neurons throughout life. But chronic inflammation appears to shut that process down. Researchers…
2 min
Cancer signal both feeds tumors and boosts immunity
A signaling pathway that helps breast cancer grow also strengthens the immune response against the tumor. That paradoxical…
1 min
Body-wide inflammation may fuel Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s is widely seen as a brain disease. But new research suggests it may partly originate outside the brain, driven by…
2 min
Immune cleanup cells slow organ aging
Organs age faster when old immune cells linger too long. New research shows that tissue-resident macrophages, the body’s…
1 min
A receptor in the thymus slows immune aging
As we age, the thymus, the organ that trains immune cells, shrinks and fills with fat. That weakens immunity.
1 min
Early malaria reshapes children’s immune aging
A serious infection in early life leaves marks on the immune system that remain visible for years. New research from Kenya…
1 min
Body inflammation reaches the brain via tiny vesicles
Parkinson’s disease may not start in the brain at all. New research suggests that inflammation in peripheral tissues sends…
2 min
Senescent brain immune cells cluster in white matter
In the aging brain, damaged immune cells accumulate in a very specific region: the white matter.
1 min
Fasting switches fat cells into energy burners
White fat cells store energy. That is their function. But what if you could switch them into burning energy instead, like…
1 min
A long RNA molecule guards liver immunity with age
Inside the liver lives a long RNA molecule that keeps the balance between immunity and metabolism in check. In ageing mice,…
1 min
BCG vaccine may slow Alzheimer’s via brain immunity
A century-old tuberculosis vaccine appears to do something surprising in the brain.
2 min
AI imaging tool tracks immune cells in real time
How do immune cells kill a cancer cell? And how fast does it happen?
1 min
Antibodies shape brain circuits in adulthood
Antibodies are known for fighting infection. But new research shows they also help shape the connections between brain cells…
2 min
An immune enzyme quietly blocks cancer defense
The immune system has dedicated cells that detect and destroy cancer. But sometimes they don’t work as well as they should.
1 min
One amino acid fuels immune cells that attack the body
The immune system can turn against its own host. That is the core of autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis.
2 min
A longevity gene variant calms chronic inflammation
Some people reach a hundred years without succumbing to chronic disease. A variant of the gene BPIFB4 appears to help. New…
2 min
Immune cells maintain the pancreas repair niche
The pancreas does not repair itself alone. A specific group of immune cells turns out to play a key role in sustaining the tissue.
1 min
Blood vessel cells fuel inflammation by clearing mitochondria
When blood vessel cells clear out damaged energy units, they release signals that ramp up immune activity.
1 min
Immune cells guard the gut microbiome into old age
The composition of your gut bacteria shifts as you age. But why exactly?
1 min
Ecological rules decide who wins in your gut
Your gut is an ecosystem, much like a forest or an ocean. New insights show that ecological rules, competition for food and…
1 min
Blood stem cells age, but their successors do not
Blood stem cells become less reliable with age. But a layer of intermediate cells appears to compensate for that decline, and…
1 min
A protein stiffens ovaries and drives aging
As women age, the tissue around their egg follicles hardens. A specific inflammatory protein drives this process, and blocking…
2 min
DNA accessibility in immune cells tracks ageing
Not all cells read their DNA the same way. How a cell responds to disease depends partly on which stretches of its DNA are…
2 min
A molecular signal keeps blood cells young
As we age, our blood-making system weakens. Researchers have now identified a single molecular brake that drives that decline…
1 min
Immune cells get reprogrammed in first human trial
Exhausted immune cells that accumulate as we age. One company thinks it can reprogramme them to behave like young cells again.…
2 min
Diabetes accelerates shoulder damage through tendon decay
People with diabetes suffer from serious shoulder problems far more often than those without. The link has been known for some…
1 min
Liver cells protect themselves using a sugar mechanism
Not all immune cells in the liver do the same job. A new study shows that liver-resident immune cells protect themselves…
1 min
A rare gene in long-lived families curbs inflammation
Some families stay healthier into old age, generation after generation. A rare genetic mutation may explain part of that, and…
2 min
Centenarians carry a younger protein signature in their blood
People who live to 100 aren’t just older versions of 80-year-olds. Their blood tells a different biological story.
2 min
Exercise slows immune ageing via multiple pathways
Your immune system ages. It becomes slower, chronically inflamed, and less effective at fighting infection and cancer.
1 min
Fat around arteries fuels heart disease from within
A thin layer of fat wraps around most small arteries. In healthy people, it helps vessels relax. In obesity and high blood…
2 min
RNA-DNA structures in aging cells drive body-wide inflammation
Aged cells cause inflammation throughout the body. Now researchers have identified a specific mechanism that drives this process.
2 min
Lung cells stay young by ignoring inflammation
Some cells in your body are shielded from your own immune response.
1 min
New aging clock reads immune cells one by one
Aging clocks measure how old you are biologically. Most look at chemical tags on your DNA.
2 min
Shingles vaccine linked to lower dementia risk
Older adults vaccinated against shingles appear significantly less likely to develop dementia. That’s striking, because the…
2 min
How innate immune memory rewires cell metabolism
Your immune system remembers more than just infections. Immune cells can learn from earlier activation and respond more…
2 min
Immune cells fight tumors by damaging their blood supply
The immune system can attack cancer in a way researchers long overlooked: by damaging the blood vessels that feed a tumor.…
1 min
Plant extract reduces gut inflammation in animals
A plant extract long used in Southeast Asian traditional medicine significantly reduced signs of gut inflammation in animal…
1 min
A fatty acid in breast milk shapes infant immunity
What a mother eats shapes her newborn’s immune system. That idea is not new, but a study in Science now points to one very…
1 min
Senolytics reshape immunity and metabolism in aged mice
What happens inside the body after senescent cells are cleared? A new study maps the answer in unprecedented detail, and the…
2 min
R-loops exported from the nucleus drive inflammaging
Senescent cells are known to fuel chronic inflammation, but the precise molecular trigger has been elusive. New research…
1 min
A gut bacterium protects aging lungs from scarring
Pulmonary fibrosis is a serious condition in which lung tissue progressively stiffens and suffers irreversible damage.…
2 min
Mapping TYK2 reveals new paths for immune therapy
A protein long studied in autoimmune disease turns out to offer more drug targets than previously thought. And some people are…
2 min
Blueberry extract boosts blood vessels and cuts inflammation
An extract from a South American blueberry helps blood vessel cells form new branches. It also dampens one of the most…
2 min
IFNAR1 loss links the immune system to Parkinson’s
A protein in brain cells turns out to be critical for Parkinson’s disease.
2 min
Blood cancer mutations may trigger Alzheimer’s
Mutations typically linked to blood cancer also appear to play a role in Alzheimer’s disease. That unexpected finding could…
2 min
Your immune system polices your gut bacteria
Your immune system doesn’t just keep pathogens out. It also actively controls which gut bacteria get space to grow and which…
2 min
Damaged mitochondria fuel aging inflammation
The chronic low-grade inflammation that comes with old age has long been linked to dementia, heart problems and muscle loss.
2 min
Escaped DNA inside cells fuels aging inflammation
As we age, more and more of our own DNA ends up in the wrong place inside our cells. The immune system reads this as an…
2 min
One gut microbe raises your sepsis risk
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition where infection triggers uncontrolled inflammation and organ failure. New research…
2 min
A tiny RNA molecule shapes immune cells in plaques
Atherosclerosis turns dangerous when immune cells stop doing their job. A small piece of genetic material may decide which way…
1 min
One human protein controls how the coronavirus spreads
Why do some viruses replicate so efficiently that they overwhelm the immune system?
1 min
Immune cells linked to age-related blindness
Wet macular degeneration is one of the most common causes of blindness in older age.
2 min
A stuck protein keeps Alzheimer inflammation running
In Alzheimer’s disease, the brain’s immune system stays permanently switched on.
2 min
Beta-glucan calms the immune system in gut disease
Your immune system can learn from an infection and respond faster next time. That sounds helpful. But in chronic gut…
2 min
Infections leave a mark that speeds up aging
Much of the twentieth century’s gains in life expectancy came from controlling infectious disease. But even people who…
2 min
A molecule that helps brain cells clear Alzheimer’s waste
The brain has its own immune cells that are supposed to clean up toxic debris, including the protein clumps linked to…
2 min
Sepsis blocks the lungs through a platelet-immune cascade
Sepsis is one of the deadliest complications of severe infection, especially in older adults.
1 min
BRCA mutations reshape the immune landscape of lung tumours
People with certain cancer-linked gene mutations sometimes respond better to immunotherapy. New research explains why: faults…
2 min
Immune clusters in tumors follow a universal pattern
Organised clusters of immune cells inside tumours follow the same structural pattern across dozens of cancer types. That is…
1 min
CBD quiets brain immune cells in Alzheimer mice
CBD is best known for easing pain or anxiety. But new research in mice suggests it may also suppress inflammation in the brain.
2 min
B cells reprogram their metabolism upon activation
When the immune system detects a threat, B cells do not just produce antibodies. They also completely restructure their…
2 min
Microglia regulate sex hormones via brain receptor
Microglia, the immune cells of the brain, do more than clear damage. They also control hormone production through a specific…
2 min
Aged immune system fails against tuberculosis infection
Tuberculosis still kills more than a million people every year. Older adults are far more likely to die from it than younger…
2 min
Tumors Destroyed by a Smart mRNA T-Cell Therapy
Cancer immunotherapy only works for a minority of patients. The reason: many tumors leave the immune system cold. A new mRNA…
1 min
Cyclarity clears phase 1 trial for 7KC drug
Most treatments for cardiovascular disease work by lowering cholesterol or dampening inflammation. Cyclarity is taking a…
1 min
mRNA therapy sharply raises immune response to cancer
Most cancer immunotherapies work only for a minority of patients. A new mRNA treatment drastically increased immune responses…
2 min
CRISPR screen maps neutrophil gene function
Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells in the human body. They survive for only hours to days.
2 min
Bacterial toxin primes aged skin to heal better
Aged skin heals poorly. But a toxic bacterial substance, given before an injury occurs, makes that skin noticeably better at…
2 min
Long non-coding RNA controls immune cell development
Not all RNA in the cell makes proteins. Much of it stays untranslated and regulates other genes instead.
2 min
Toxic cholesterol cleared via urine in trial
Most cardiovascular therapies lower cholesterol or reduce inflammation. A new clinical result takes a different approach:…
2 min
The gut bacteria that act as traffic controllers for your immune system
A dietary amino acid shapes gut barrier function and immune regulation through a microbial pathway that has only recently been…
2 min
New therapy targets toxic cholesterol byproduct in arteries
Most cardiovascular treatments lower LDL cholesterol or reduce inflammation. A new drug candidate takes a different approach,…
2 min
Brain immune cells carry Alzheimer-linked mutations
The brains of Alzheimer’s patients contain cells with DNA errors not found in healthy brains.
2 min
Sepsis AI sends too many alerts to be
Doctors are increasingly ignoring sepsis detection alerts. Not because they take the condition less seriously, but because the…
2 min
Aging gut tissue isn’t just changing, it’s actively inviting harmful bacteria in
The bacterial community living in your gut shifts as you age, becoming less diverse, more inflammatory. For years, researchers…
2 min
Metal nanoparticles that wake up the entire immune system at once, breakthrough or risk?
Scientists have engineered nanoparticles capable of activating an immune response across the entire body simultaneously, not…
2 min
An aging immune system may be actively driving brain disease
The immune system doesn’t stay neatly separate from the brain.
2 min
How the immune system times its own responses, and why that timing breaks down with age
The immune system must constantly calibrate its own reactions. Too little and pathogens win. Too much and the body damages itself.
2 min
How T cells decide how hard to fight back, and what that tells us about immune aging
Your immune system is constantly making a judgment call: how strong should the response be? Too weak and an infection wins.…
2 min
Blocking two proteins reduces lung fibrosis in animal studies, pointing to a new target for a stubborn disease
Lung fibrosis is one of the hardest age-related diseases to treat. Scar tissue replaces healthy lung tissue, breathing grows…
2 min
Losing weight doesn’t fully reset your immune system, it may remember years of obesity
The weight can come off. But according to a new study in mice, the immune system may hold onto a memory of obesity long after…
2 min
The hidden evolution inside your immune system, and what it means for vaccines
Every time you fight an infection or respond to a vaccine, your immune system runs a miniature evolutionary competition. The…
2 min
Living at high altitude ages your immune system faster
People living at high altitude have less oxygen available. That has a surprising consequence: their immune systems appear…
2 min
The immune cells quietly destroying your liver as you age
Deep inside the aging liver, a rogue population of immune cells is fueling chronic inflammation and driving disease.
2 min
A protein in blood stem cells appears to drive immune aging
Researchers have identified a molecular switch inside the body’s blood-forming cells that gets triggered by stress and appears…
2 min
How cancer hides from immune cells, and the molecular trick it uses
Cancer cells have a way of making themselves invisible to the immune system’s hunters.
2 min
Why ant colonies slow down as they age, and what it tells us about biological aging
Not all ant colonies build at the same pace. New experiments show that the age structure of a colony, how many young versus…
2 min
Young ants build faster: what ant colonies can teach us about collective aging
Not all ant colonies build the same way. New experiments show that a colony's age structure, how many young versus old workers…
2 min
How immune cells recognize cancer, and how tumors hide from them
Cancer cells deploy a molecular trick to conceal themselves from the immune system.
2 min
A new anti-inflammation drug clears its first human safety test
A small molecule that blocks one of the body’s central inflammation engines has passed its first clinical test in humans.
1 min
Chronic inflammation and the biological aging clock are more intertwined than we thought
Two of the most discussed phenomena in aging research, chronic low-grade inflammation and the biological clock of cells, are…
2 min
Men and women’s immune systems age in fundamentally different ways
Women tend to mount stronger immune responses than men, but their immune systems also appear to shift more dramatically as…
2 min
A new anti-inflammation drug clears its first human trial
A small molecule that blocks one of the body's central engines of inflammation has passed its first clinical test in humans.
2 min
Chronic inflammation and biological aging are more deeply intertwined than we thought
Two of the most talked-about phenomena in aging research, chronic low-grade inflammation and the biological clock of cells,…
2 min
A brain-penetrating inflammation switch blocker passes its first human safety test
A small molecule that blocks a key inflammation trigger in the brain has cleared its first human trial without serious side…
2 min
Inflammation and biological age are intertwined, but which one drives the other?
Two of the most discussed processes in aging science, chronic low-grade inflammation and epigenetic changes in DNA, turn out…
2 min
The body’s own anti-inflammatory fades with age, and injecting it back seems to help
As people age, their risk of joint inflammation rises, not just because joints wear down, but because the body quietly loses…
2 min
Teaching biology to AI makes protein models dramatically better at predicting antibodies
AI models that study proteins have a blind spot: they learn from data without understanding how evolution actually works.
2 min
Engineered blood stem cells become lifetime antibody factories against HIV, malaria and flu
What if your immune system could be programmed once and then protect you for life, without ever needing a booster?
2 min
Silent inflammation speeds up biological aging, new research shows exactly how
Your body can be biologically older or younger than your birth certificate suggests, and a type of inflammation you never feel…
2 min
A single sauna session triggers an immune response similar to exercise
Sitting still in intense heat turns out to do something the body normally reserves for physical exertion.
2 min
The Aged Immune Cells Quietly Driving Liver Disease From Within
Hidden inside the livers of people with fatty liver disease is a population of immune cells that have biologically aged, and…
2 min
How fever helps insects fight viruses, and what that reveals about immunity
Fever is widely recognized as a defense mechanism, but the precise molecular pathway has remained poorly understood.
2 min
Eating less dials down the hidden inflammation that ages you
Scientists have known for decades that cutting calories extends lifespan in mice.
2 min
A forgotten brain signal reduces Alzheimer’s plaques and inflammation in mice
After decades of research focused on amyloid plaques and tau tangles, a study points to a neglected signalling molecule in the…
2 min
Tuberculosis hides inside our immune cells. Scientists just found two proteins that help unmask it
Tuberculosis kills more people each year than almost any other infectious disease. The bacterium survives by hiding inside the…
2 min
Thirty minutes in a sauna triggers a surge in immune cells, here’s what that means
A single half-hour sauna session causes a significant but temporary spike in circulating white blood cells, according to new…
2 min
CAR therapy for Alzheimer’s: reprogramming brain cells to fight the disease from within
The same technique that has transformed cancer treatment, reprogramming immune cells to hunt down disease, is now being aimed…
2 min
Leukaemia cells hide behind a sugar coat. Scientists are learning how to strip it away
Blood cancer cells cloak themselves in a layer of sugar molecules that tells the immune system to stand down.
2 min
Nipah virus kills up to three-quarters of those infected, and there’s still no vaccine
Nipah has caused small, deadly outbreaks across South Asia for decades. The conditions for a larger epidemic are worsening.…
2 min
A stronger flu shot appears to cut dementia risk more than the standard dose
Older adults who received a high-dose flu vaccine showed a greater reduction in dementia risk than those who got the standard…
2 min
A higher-dose flu vaccine may lower your risk of dementia
Older adults who received a high-dose flu shot were more likely to avoid dementia than those who got a standard dose.
2 min
Wildlife trade has been spreading diseases from animals to humans for decades, data now prove
The trade in wild animals has been one of the primary routes for new diseases jumping from animals to humans for at least…
2 min
Leukemia cells hide behind a sugar coat, making them invisible to your immune system
Cancer cells are skilled escape artists. But leukemia cells have a particularly elegant trick: they coat themselves in sugar…
2 min
Your immune system ages, and that makes every flu season more dangerous
Older people don’t die from the flu more often simply because they’re frail.
2 min
Women’s immune systems age more dramatically than men’s, and science is only now catching up
Immunity doesn’t age the same way in everyone. A new study of nearly a thousand people reveals that women and men follow…
2 min
Why cartilage stops healing as you age, and what immune cells have to do with it
Cartilage heals slowly even in young people, but in older age that capacity nearly disappears.
2 min
Getting a flu shot protects your heart too, not just your lungs
Influenza kills tens of thousands of people every year in the US alone, and many of those deaths aren’t directly from the…
2 min
Women’s immune systems age more broadly than men’s
Same species, same lifespan pressures, but the immune system ages in strikingly different ways depending on whether you’re…
1 min
A cancer therapy that targets aging cells could finally crack solid tumors
CAR T-cell therapy transformed blood cancer treatment. But for solid tumors, the most common cancers, it has largely failed.
2 min
How a More Powerful CAR T-Cell Therapy Could Finally Take On Solid Tumors
CAR T-cell therapy has saved lives in blood cancers. But in solid tumors, the most common forms of cancer, it has barely made…
2 min
AI Decoded a Hidden Immune Arsenal That Bacteria Developed Over Billions of Years
Bacteria have been fighting viruses for billions of years, and in doing so have evolved a vast and largely unknown arsenal of…
2 min
‘Cow flu’ has been spreading for two years, scientists still don’t understand it
In early 2024, a strain of bird flu turned up in American dairy herds.
2 min
Cured by blood: the hidden healing powers circulating inside you
Your blood does far more than carry oxygen. A new piece in Science describes how blood components can directly neutralise…
2 min
The tiny power plants in your cells are key to fighting cancer, and they weaken as you age
Mitochondria have long been known as the cell’s energy generators.
2 min
How Tuberculosis Hacks the Nucleus to Hide from Immunity
Tuberculosis bacteria survive inside the very immune cells meant to destroy them.
2 min
How bacteria trick your immune system
Tuberculosis bacteria survive in the body by hiding inside your own cells.
2 min
Astronauts age faster in space - and that's good news for the rest of us
Microgravity wastes muscle, radiation damages DNA, and the immune system goes haywire. A few months in space does to the human…
2 min
Dendritic cells as key players in tumors: mitochondria call the shots
Not all immune cells are created equal in the fight against cancer.
2 min
Attacking Atherosclerosis from Within: Immunotherapy Takes Aim at the Most Dangerous Cells in Artery Walls
Arterial plaque is the silent engine behind most heart attacks and strokes.
2 min
Modified immune cells sniff out cancer, quite literally
Cancer cells produce chemical compounds that healthy cells do not. Researchers have now reprogrammed immune cells to detect…
2 min
How microglia age: seen at the cellular level for the first time
The brain has its own immune cells, called microglia, and it turns out they age very differently from what scientists assumed.
2 min
Breast Tissue Ages in a Specific Pattern, and Inflammation Is Central to It
A study of 527 women has mapped how breast tissue changes with age in unprecedented spatial detail: cell density drops,…
2 min
Breast tissue ages differently than we thought: fewer cells, more inflammation
A study of 527 women shows that as breast tissue ages, it doesn't just shrink; it also becomes richer in immune cells and more…
2 min
Microplastics in your tissues: a hidden accelerator of aging?
Animal studies show that nanoplastics cause tissue dysfunction at high doses.
2 min
How gut bacteria may be slowly breaking down your brain, and what science is doing about it
Your gut microbiome sends messages directly to your brain through metabolites and inflammatory signals.
2 min
Immune cells that can sniff out tumors: a new chapter in cancer therapy
Cancer cells leak specific metabolites, chemical byproducts of their abnormally high energy use. Researchers have now…
2 min
Built to Remember: The Secret Behind Lasting Immune Memory
Why does one vaccine protect you for life, while another barely lasts a year?
1 min
How your immune system remembers inflammation, and why that speeds up aging
The immune system has a memory. Everyone already knew that from vaccines.
2 min
The Shrinking Thymus: A Hidden Predictor of How Long You’ll Live
A small organ tucked behind the breastbone, largely ignored after childhood, turns out to be one of the more powerful…
2 min
Building CAR T Cells Inside the Body: A New Frontier in Cancer Therapy
CAR T-cell therapy is one of the most powerful tools oncology has produced in decades, but its complexity and cost put it out…
2 min
Your thymus shrinks as you age, and it's costing lives
A small organ behind your breastbone that most people never think about turns out to be a powerful predictor of death.
2 min
Pollution-triggered asthma: how pain sensors in the lungs derail the immune response
Asthma caused by air pollution responds differently to treatment than classic allergic asthma, and now we know why.
2 min
Tuberculosis and genetic ancestry: how co-evolution shapes who gets sick
Tuberculosis kills more than a million people every year. Yet only a small fraction of those who breathe in the bacteria ever…
2 min
Mapping immune aging: what goes wrong and what you can do about it
Your immune system ages differently from most organs: it does not simply weaken, it also becomes chronically inflamed.
2 min
Your immune system as gardener: how aging loses control of your gut bacteria
The composition of the gut microbiome shifts with age, and not for the better. But why, exactly?
2 min
Building CAR T cells inside the body: cancer research takes a new turn
CAR T-cell therapy is one of the most promising weapons against cancer, but producing it is slow, expensive and fiendishly…
2 min
The Shrinking Thymus: A Hidden Predictor of How Long You’ll Live
A small organ tucked behind the breastbone, largely ignored after childhood, turns out to be one of the more powerful…
2 min
mRNA technology takes on Alzheimer's: stopping toxic tau tangles
The same technology behind mRNA vaccines is now being aimed at one of the world's most devastating diseases.
2 min
Stress triggers skin inflammation through a direct nerve-immune pathway: a new mechanism uncovered
Scientists have discovered a direct biological circuit linking stress to skin inflammation.
1 min
How your immune system works like a spring: the discovery of 'coiled' proteins that detect disease
Scientists have uncovered a fundamentally new principle behind how your immune system senses danger and responds at lightning…
1 min
Toxic relationships age you faster: the science behind the draining people in your life
We have long known that strong social bonds keep you healthy, but a new study now reveals the flip side: people surrounded by…
1 min
Building CAR T Cells Inside the Body: A New Frontier in Cancer Therapy
CAR T-cell therapy is one of the most powerful tools oncology has produced in decades, but its complexity and cost put it out…
2 min
How Stress Hijacks the Brain’s Habit System to Drive Alcohol Relapse
Stress is the most reliable trigger for alcohol relapse. A new study in mice and rats maps the specific neural circuit…
2 min
Your immune system as a clock: how aging dismantles your defenses from the inside out
Your immune system is not just your shield against pathogens; it is also one of the first systems to buckle under the weight…
1 min
Your metabolism as a smoke detector: this molecule puts the brakes on the inflammation that ages you
Chronic low-grade inflammation, known as "inflammaging," is one of the most dangerous silent drivers of aging.
1 min
Microglia: how your brain's guardians change as you age
Your brain has its own immune system. The cells that make it up are called microglia, and they do far more than fight infections.
1 min
The mysterious metabolite that puts the brakes on inflammaging
As you get older, your immune system is increasingly on high alert, even when there is no real threat.
2 min
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