In August, a press release from HHS announced the cancellation of 22 vaccine research projects based on mRNA, the latest available technology aimed at developing therapies for viral infections, cancer, and genetic conditions. What happens to mRNA innovation when funding dries up? This series explores how reductions in funding could impact mRNA technology, affecting innovation, research and future therapies.
Researchers from the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center and their collaborators recently published a paper in Science Advances on Aug. 27, 2025, about synthetic carbohydrate receptors (SCRs) and their potential as broad-spectrum antivirals by targeting the viral envelope N-glycans. They described the antiviral activity of a series of tetrapodal SCRs both in vitro and in vivo, showing their potential as broad-spectrum inhibitors of viral infection.
“The impoverished laboratory environment in which mice and rats are maintained has been very good at increasing experimental replicability,” Steven Austad told the audience at the 12th Aging Research & Drug Discovery Meeting (ARDD) in Copenhagen last week. “But at the cost of sacrificing translational relevance.”
New research has filled in missing links between gene variants that have been implicated in disease through genome-wide association studies and how the variants drive disease pathology. The research involved using induced pluripotent stem cells derived from healthy donors and transforming them into macrophages. These were then exposed to 24 different stimuli mimicking infection and inflammation, and the gene expression profiles assessed six and 24 hours later, to see which genes were turned on or off in response.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration another significant victory in its attempts to defund NIH-sponsored research. In a 5-4 decision, the justices paused the June 16 order of U.S. District Judge William Young to restore funding for hundreds of canceled NIH research grants focusing on gender and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The funding had first been cut through a series of executive orders shortly after President Donald Trump resumed power in January.
An investigation of the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of neuropathic pain in the UK Biobank has led to the discovery of a new pain gene and potential analgesic drug target in the peripheral nervous system. The gene, SLC45A4 (solute carrier 45A4), codes for a transporter that is involved in trafficking polyamines known to be involved in pain, across the cell membrane.
A new method for accelerating the maturation of neuronal cell models and brain organoids is poised to make it possible to track the etiology of neurodegenerative diseases that develop over decades. The non-invasive technique uses graphene to convert light into electrical cues that prompt neurons to connect and communicate in vitro.
German researchers have cracked the decades-long mystery of why males are more susceptible to acute kidney injury than females, demonstrating that estrogen has a protective effect in females.
The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Agency (MHRA) is calling for more research into the vaginal microbiome as a way to redress the historic under-representation of women in clinical studies, which it said has contributed to “critical shortcomings” in understanding of female-specific conditions.
The largest genome-wide association study to date of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome has identified eight genetic loci that are significantly associated with the chronic debilitating condition. Onset of ME/CFS often is traced back to an infection and four of the loci involve genes that are expressed in response to viral or bacterial infections.
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