Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

How cells move and change shape—and why it matters for our health - News

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · 5d

How do cells move, divide, & sense their surroundings? The answer lies in the cytoskeleton--and when it malfunctions, cancer & birth defects follow. @alushinlab.bsky.social at @rockefeller.edu is developing new tools to probe this tiny, dynamic cell scaffolding.
www.rockefeller.edu/news/38446-h...

Inside each of your cells, there’s a microscopic scaffolding that helps determine what the cell looks like, how it moves, and how it responds to its surroundings. This internal structure, called the c...

www.rockefeller.edu

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Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · 5d

Chemical biologist Laura Dassama of @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social @stanfordchemistry.bsky.social is on a personal mission to design a simpler, more affordable sickle cell therapy. stanmed.stanford.edu/innovations-...

Innovations to help chronically ill people thrive

Stanford Medicine experts are developing innovative approaches to preventing, diagnosing and treating chronic diseases so people can live healthier lives.

stanmed.stanford.edu

Rewriting Cancer’s Script | GW Research Magazine | The George Washington University

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · 7d

70 women are diagnosed with #ovariancancer daily in the U.S. Researchers like @chiappinellilab.bsky.social and Ed Seto at @gwcancercenter.bsky.social are developing epigenetic therapies that alter cancer's instructions without changing DNA—offering new hope.
researchmagazine.gwu.edu/rewriting-ca...

GW researchers are discovering new ways that aggressive cancers hijack healthy cells to fuel their growth. Their findings could lead to new cancer treatments.

researchmagazine.gwu.edu

Reimagining Microbes to Revolutionize Medicine

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · 8d

What if vaccines and cancer therapy could be applied topically?
Hertz Fellow Michael Fischbach of Stanford modified harmless skin bacteria to teach the body to fight disease—eliminating cancer in mice with just a cream.
www.hertzfoundation.org/news/reimagi...

What if vaccines and cancer therapies could be applied to the skin like a simple cream? Hertz Fellow Michael Fischbach is working to make that idea a reality. By harnessing the power of genetically en...

www.hertzfoundation.org

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · 17d

Imagine being able to test your tap water for toxic PFAS chemicals at home, instantly. @uchicagopme.bsky.social scientists are making this possible with portable AI-designed sensors that work in minutes instead of weeks. pme.uchicago.edu/news/tiny-se...

Tiny sensors rapidly detect “forever chemicals” in water

The new portable test has the potential to distinguish different PFAS chemicals, including those on which the US Environmental Protection Agency recently put new limits

Prime editing treats childhood brain disease in mice

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · Jul 21

Prime editing, a precise form of gene editing, can correct the DNA mutations that cause alternating hemiplegia of childhood (ACH), a rare genetic brain disease, according to a new paper in @cellpress.bsky.social by David Liu of @broadinstitute.org. www.broadinstitute.org/news/prime-e...

Scientists use a precise form of gene editing called prime editing to correct the most common genetic mutations that cause alternating hemiplegia of childhood, a rare and severe neurological disorder ...

www.broadinstitute.org

The brains of aging outliers hold lessons for neuroscientists.

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · Jul 11

The brains of people who stay sharp-witted in their 80s and 90s might hold clues to healthy aging for the rest of us. Emily Rogalski of UChicago is studying these "superagers" at the @haarccenter.bsky.social. I spoke with her for @uchicagomag.bsky.social mag.uchicago.edu/science-medi...

Aging against the odds

mag.uchicago.edu

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Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · Jun 25

Sunscreen science 101. I chatted with a handful of @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social dermatologists to clear up misconceptions about sunscreen. Their consensus: sunscreen is a safe, essential tool for preventing skin cancer, but not all products are created equal. med.stanford.edu/news/insight...

What does science say about sunscreen? Stanford Medicine experts apply the facts

Somehow, the idea that we need to protect our skin from the sun has blurred in recent years — largely due to online misinformation. We asked dermatologists about the science on sunscreen products.

med.stanford.edu

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · Jun 23

My first time writing for a high school alum mag--a profile of the illustrious Mark Bear of @mit.edu @picowerinstitute.bsky.social for St. Stephen's St. Agnes School. It was a pleasure to hear him reminisce about his early years & connect the dots of his career. sssasmagazine.org/wired-for-di...

Wired for Discovery | SSSAS

sssasmagazine.org

Mapping how nutrients move through the body to treat cancer - News

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · Jun 18

How do nutrients, including vitamins and supplements, move into cells where they do their job? Kivanc Birsoy of @rockefelleruniv.bsky.social is trying to map out nutrient highways -- work that he says has implications for the $200 billion supplement industry. www.rockefeller.edu/news/37920-m...

When you swallow a vitamin or eat a meal, the nutrients you’ve ingested flow into your stomach, break down, and enter your bloodstream. But what happens next? How do nutrients move from your arteries ...

www.rockefeller.edu

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · May 23

Stronger bones? A @cp-cellstemcell.bsky.social study by @drambrosi.bsky.social of @ucdavis.bsky.social, funded in part by @wutsaialliance.bsky.social, shed light on how skeletal stem cells change with age and how to boost their fracture-healing abilities. humanperformancealliance.org/news/skeleta...

Skeletal stem cells key to stronger bones, better healing - Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance

humanperformancealliance.org

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Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · May 23

A 55 cent, at-home device developed by a @uchicagopme.bsky.social team tracks levels of the hormone estradiol. The device could save time and money for IVF patients and others. pme.uchicago.edu/news/home-ho...

At-home hormone testing aims to transform fertility care

UChicago PME researchers developed a 55-cent home test that quantifies the female fertility hormone estradiol without specialized lab equipment

2025 Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology awarded to pioneers of CAR T-cell therapy

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · May 22

One of my favorite projects each year is getting to help write the award announcement for the @broadinstitute.org Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology. This year, it went to an oh-so-deserving group of researchers who pioneered CAR T-cell therapy. www.broadinstitute.org/news/2025-me...

The winners are Carl June, Bruce Levine, Isabelle Rivière, and Michel Sadelain, who developed technology that reprograms patients’ immune systems to target cancer, leading to several FDA-approved trea...

www.broadinstitute.org

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · May 21

Scientists led by Shuolong Yang of @uchicagopme.bsky.social were studying a promising quantum material when they stumbled upon a surprise: within its crystal structure, the material naturally forms one of the world’s thinnest semiconductor junctions. pme.uchicago.edu/news/scienti...

Scientists discover one of the world’s thinnest semiconductor junctions forming inside a quantum material

The unexpected discovery could lead to new kinds of tiny, energy-efficient electronics

Genome of near-extinct northern white rhino offers hope for reviving the species

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · May 15

A complete genome of the northern white rhino, published in @pnas.org by Jeanne Loring of @scripps.edu and colleagues at @maxplanck.de and the San Diego Zoo, could pave the way toward stem cells that save the critically endangered species.

www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...

www.scripps.edu

Twist the core, change the function: chemists discover shortcut for drug design | College of Chemistry

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · May 9

Chemists at @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social led by @sarponggroup.bsky.social figured out how to shuffle peripheral pieces of a molecule by twisting its interior structure, like rearranging a Rubik's cube. Their work, in @science.org, helps speed drug design. chemistry.berkeley.edu/news/twist-c...

chemistry.berkeley.edu

AI helps chemists design better sensors for pollutants and beyond

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · May 8

Researchers at @uchicagopme.bsky.social used a brain-inspired neural network to design new sensors for "forever chemicals."
pme.uchicago.edu/news/ai-help...

UChicago PME researchers used a brain-inspired neural network to optimize the design process of chemical sensors for the first time

New imaging technology helps Stanford Medicine surgeons reduce repeat breast surgeries

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · May 1

Breast surgeons at @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social are the first in the country to use a new technology that lights up cancer cells left behind when a breast tumor is removed. med.stanford.edu/news/all-new...

Stanford Medicine breast surgeons are the first in the country to use a new technology that lights up cancer cells left behind when a tumor is removed.

med.stanford.edu

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · Mar 4

Antibodies aren't the only part of the immune system that retain a memory of past infections. Research by @savastay.bsky.social and colleagues at @uchicagopme.bsky.social showed how white blood cells called macrophages change their behavior based on previous threats. pme.uchicago.edu/news/surpris...

A surprising way the immune system remembers – without antibodies

Antibodies always get the credit, but new UChicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering research shows how one type of white blood cell helps the body remember – and fight – invaders

How air pollution and wildfire smoke may contribute to memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease

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Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · Feb 27

Scientists at @scripps.edu discovered how a chemical change in the brain—which can be triggered by air pollution & wildfire smoke—disrupts brain cell function and could contribute to brain diseases like Alzheimers. Their results were published today in @pnas.org. www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...

www.scripps.edu

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Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · Feb 24

Today the @fda.gov approved Medtronic's new adaptive deep brain stimulation technology for treating Parkinson's. I spoke with @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social @stanfordneuro.bsky.social neurologist Helen Bronte-Stewart about how the new tech came about & its importance. med.stanford.edu/news/all-new...

The research behind adaptive deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease

We speak with neurologist Helen Bronte-Stewart, who conducted research that led to the development of a technology recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

med.stanford.edu

Daily Drug Captures Health Benefits of High-Altitude, Low-Oxygen Living

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · Feb 20

High-altitude, low-oxygen air is life-saving for children with rare mitochondrial diseases. Now, @gladstoneinst.bsky.social researcher @ishahjain.bsky.social has captured the benefits of mountain air in a daily pill targeting hemoglobin. gladstone.org/news/daily-d...

Gladstone researchers develop a drug that mimics the cellular effects of low-oxygen therapy for the treatment of inherited mitochondrial diseases.

gladstone.org

Working Toward a Virtual Cell

Sarah CP Williams @sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social · Feb 19

Powerful, AI-driven simulations of living cells will be a reality in less than 15 years, predicts @moalquraishi.bsky.social of @columbiamed.bsky.social. His lab, focused on using machine learning to predict how proteins fold, is looking toward this future. www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/working...

Columbia’s Mohammed AlQuraishi says such an AI-powered cell simulation might be less than 15 years away, and he is working to make it a reality.

www.cuimc.columbia.edu