Medical Xpress news

Medical Xpress / Rare genetic variant protects against malaria-causing parasite by making red blood cells bigger

Scientists have found that a special component in some people's blood provides them with natural protection against malaria. A recent study has demonstrated that a genetic variant named rs112233623-T reduces the activity ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Immunology
Medical Xpress / The hidden infections that refuse to go away: How household practices can stop deadly diseases

A 13-year study led by the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz reveals why a deadly parasitic infection targeted for elimination in China persisted in some areas even after decades of control. ...

Medical Xpress / Silencing bacteria can actually worsen heart infections, study reveals

A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have challenged the widely held assumption in infectious disease research that blocking bacterial communication ...

Medical Xpress / How the brain suppresses itch during stress

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have mapped a neural circuit in the brain involved in the complex relationship between itch and stress. Their findings, published in Cell Reports, reveal how specific ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Neuroscience
Medical Xpress / Faster cancer screening? New AI system offers a better way to detect abnormal cells

One way cancer specialists detect the disease is by examining cells and bodily fluids under a microscope, a time-consuming and labor-intensive process called cytology. It involves visually inspecting tens of thousands to ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Biomedical technology
Medical Xpress / When influencers raise a glass, young viewers want to join them

An attractive influencer couple chats in a kitchen as they prepare dinner. A wine bottle sits on the counter. Someone takes a sip. It looks less like an ad than a slice of ordinary life, the kind of moment that can pass unnoticed ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Addiction
Medical Xpress / New targeted base-editing tool corrects genetic brain disorder in mice

Researchers have found that a new base-editing gene therapy can help treat a rare neurodevelopmental disorder called Snijders Blok–Campeau syndrome caused by mutations in the CHD3 gene. A specialized gene-editing tool, ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Genetics
Medical Xpress / Engineers sharpen gene-editing tools to target cystic fibrosis

Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania and Rice University have refined a technology for editing individual genetic "base pairs" to a new level of precision, opening the door to safer, more reliable therapies for a wide ...

Medical Xpress / First evidence of a 'critical priority' fungal pathogen becoming more deadly when co-infected with tuberculosis

Cryptococcus neoformans is one of four fungi classified as "critical priority" on the WHO's Fungal Pathogens Priority List, which was published in October 2022 following decades of research and calls for fungal pathogens ...

Medical Xpress / You don't need to be very altruistic to stop an epidemic

Reducing social contact is widely understood to slow disease spread, but because there is no personal health benefit gained from self-isolating, this would seem to require some concern for others. But how much do you have ...

Medical Xpress / Microplastics discovered in prostate tumors

Small fragments of plastic were found in 9 out of 10 patients with prostate cancer, and in higher levels inside tumors than in nearby noncancerous tissue, a new study finds. The small, single-center study was led by researchers ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Oncology & Cancer
Medical Xpress / Women may face heart events at lower plaque levels than men, study finds

Less artery-clogging plaque in women's arteries did not appear to protect them from heart disease compared to men, according to a study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. While heart disease is the leading ...

Feb 23, 2026 in Cardiology