A research team led by Rice University’s Yang Gao has uncovered new insights into the molecular mechanisms of ADAR1, a protein that regulates ribonucleic acid (RNA) induced immune responses. Their findings, published in Molecular Cell March 17, could open new pathways for treating autoimmune diseases and enhancing cancer immunotherapy.

MIT engineers developed a method to grow artificial muscle tissue that twitches and flexes in multiple, coordinated directions. These tissues could be useful for building “biohybrid” robots powered by soft, artificially grown muscle fibers.

An NIAID-sponsored clinical trial of an experimental vaccine to prevent Lassa fever has begun.

The Zika virus builds tiny tunnels, called tunneling nanotubes, to stealthily transport material needed to infect nearby cells, including in placental cells, according to a team of researchers from Penn State and Baylor College of Medicine. It’s one way the virus crosses the placental barrier, transmitting from mother to fetus during pregnancy without raising alarm in the immune system. The team also demonstrated, for the first time, that one specific Zika protein — non-structural protein 1 (NS1) — is responsible for the formation of the nanotubes.