Study identifies that uranium’s isotopic composition can be used as a biomarker to noninvasively measure accumulation of uranium in the kidneys. Uranium from drinking water can accumulate in the kidneys—even at low levels of exposure—and this newly identified biomarker may serve as an early warning sign of kidney damage. The findings suggest a potential breakthrough in detecting and preventing chronic kidney disease caused by uranium toxicity. This discovery offers critical insights into a largely overlooked environmental health threat.

Scientists at UC San Francisco and Gladstone Institutes have identified cancer drugs that promise to reverse the changes that occur in the brain during Alzheimer’s, potentially slowing or even reversing its symptoms. 

Researchers at the Broad Institute and The Jackson Laboratory have used prime editing, a precise and versatile form of gene editing, to correct the root cause of alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC), a debilitating genetic condition, in mice. The team used a scalable approach to develop prime editing treatments that directly repaired five different AHC-causing genetic mutations. Mice that received the treatment had far fewer and less severe symptoms of AHC, and survived more than twice as long as untreated mice.

What makes the human brain distinctive? A new study published July 21 in Cell identifies two genes linked to human brain features and provides a road map to discover many more. The research could lead to insights into the functioning and evolution of the human brain, as well as the roots of language disorders and autism.