EurekAlert! National Institutes of Health

Latest news releases from NIH-funded organizations

Funded Research News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 15-Jul-2025 09:11 ET (15-Jul-2025 13:11 GMT/UTC)

13-Feb-2025

NTT Research and Harvard scientists optimize biohybrid ray development with machine learning

Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and NTT Research, Inc., a division of NTT, announced the publication of research showing an application of machine-learning directed optimization (ML-DO) that efficiently searches for high-performance design configurations in the context of biohybrid robots. Applying a machine learning approach, the researchers created mini biohybrid rays made of cardiomyocytes (heart muscle cells) and rubber with a wingspan of about 10 mm that are approximately two times more efficient at swimming than those recently developed under a conventional biomimetic approach.

Journal: Science Robotics
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, NIH/National Institutes of Health

13-Feb-2025

Landmark atlas reveals how aging breast tissue shapes breast cancer risk

Jackson Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Aging is a privilege, but it also brings risks—including an increased likelihood of developing age-related diseases including cancer. Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) have created a landmark atlas of how healthy breast tissue ages, revealing key cellular, molecular, and genetic changes that may tip the balance toward breast cancer development. Their findings, published recently in Nature Aging, provide a valuable open-access resource for the scientific community to explore aging and its role in increased cancer risk.

Journal: Nature Aging
Funder: The V Foundation, The JAX Cancer Center, The JAX Center for Aging Research, The Tallen-Kane Foundation, Scott R. MacKenzie Foundation, NIH/National Institutes of Health

13-Feb-2025

Tufts researchers discover how experiences influence future behavior

Tufts University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a first of its kind study, Tufts University School of Medicine researchers demonstrate that interfering with the neural circuits responsible for emotional decisions can increase or decrease socially avoidant behaviors in mice, regardless of whether they had enriched or adverse experiences as pups

Journal: JNeurosci
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health

13-Feb-2025

Rice-BCM research achieves gene-editing breakthrough that could improve treatment for liver disease, other disorders

Rice University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The Rice lab of bioengineer Gang Bao and collaborators at Baylor College of Medicine have developed a new gene-editing strategy that dramatically boosts the effectiveness of gene therapies in the liver, a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for about 700 genetic disorders in this vital organ as well as in other organs and tissues.

Journal: Science Translational Medicine
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Texas Digestive Diseases Morphology Core, Integrated Microscopy Core, Baylor College of Medicine

13-Feb-2025

Researchers identify a brain circuit for creativity

Brigham and Women's Hospital
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Brigham researchers analyzed data from 857 patients across 36 fMRI brain imaging studies and mapped a common brain circuit for creativity.

Journal: JAMA Network Open
Funder: German Academic Exchange Service’s Biomedical Education Program., NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, Harvard Medical School, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Foundation, Baszucki Brain Research Fund, NIH/National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Institutes of Health, Kaye Family Research Endowment, Ellison / Baszucki Family Foundation, Manley Family, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke