Quantum dots, a phenomenon in quantum physics that alters the energy of electrons and changes the properties of particles, caught the attention of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA) for the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Researchers who follow their instincts and achieve slow results while trying to break barriers have little support. They replace it with persistence. This is the story of Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. What was once a dream in their minds was later a success.

The vast variety of tumors makes each cancer a world. For researchers, understanding the commonalities and divergences in their molecular underpinnings could help find successful treatments. Scientists from the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) have addressed these similarities and differences in 10 different types of cancer with two proteogenomic studies to unravel the genes that lead to cancer and the galaxy of interactions that regulate them.

A base-by-base comparison of the genome sequences of 240 species of mammals has pinpointed sites in the human genome where mutations are likely to cause disease. The sites are all perfectly conserved across the mammalian family tree over 100 million years of evolution, indicating they underlie fundamental biological processes that do not tolerate diversity or change very well.

Performing experiments and potentially manufacturing products in space offers some unique advantages in a near-zero gravity environment. Space changes buoyancy, hydrostatic pressure and convective heat flow. Researchers are studying how those changes affect cells, but also looking to take advantage of the changes to create products in manufacturing processes that wouldn’t be possible on earth.

The positively charged nanoparticle polyamidoamine generation 3 (P-G3) can be specifically targeted to either visceral or subcutaneous fat, and affects both types of fat in different ways, researchers from Columbia University reported in two papers recently published.

Researchers have identified a link between amyloid plaques and dysfunctional neuronal conduction in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Their study, which was published in the Dec. 1, 2022, issue of Nature, suggests new ways to think about AD, as well as badly needed potential alternatives to plaque removal to fight the disease.

A combination of radiation therapy and CD47 blockade induced an abscopal effect in animal studies even in animals that lacked T cells, researchers reported in the Nov. 21, 2022, online issue of Nature Cancer.

Diwali, the Festival of Light, marks different events depending on where it is celebrated. In some areas of India, it marks the return of Lord Rama to his birthplace of Ayodhya after defeating the demon Ravana.

Peking University researchers in collaboration with the NIH have discovered a new biochemical pathway related to a bacterium that eliminates nicotine in the intestine. The findings could lead to new ways to improve nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in smokers.