Researchers have discovered a “control switch” inside our immune cells that helps the body destroy dangerous fungal infections.

The team found that a protein called RAB5c helps white blood cells kill Aspergillus fumigatus – a common airborne fungus that can cause life‑threatening lung infections in people with weakened immune systems.

The study reveals that without this protein, immune cells are effectively disarmed – even though they appear to be attacking at full force.

The findings could have major implications for treating fungal infections – which are notoriously hard to diagnose and often resistant to drugs.

The team hope their breakthrough could lead to new treatments for vulnerable patients.

Researchers at the Ruhr University Bochum have developed a novel antiviral concept: using the CRISPR/Cas13 system, they were able to specifically suppress the replication of the hepatitis E virus in human cells.Hepatitis E is a common cause of acute liver inflammation worldwide, yet effective specific therapies are still lacking. A team at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, has now demonstrated that the virus can be targeted using an RNA-directed CRISPR system. The results, published on May 4, 2026 in the journal JHEP Reports, open up new perspectives for the development of antiviral strategies.

Researchers at University of Tsukuba examined Japanese-language Instagram advertisements to determine how the linguistic features of ad copy are associated with click-through rates (CTR). The findings reveal marked differences by product category. While linguistic expressions related to health risk and discrepancies between a current and an ideal state were positively associated with CTR in supplement advertisements, expressions related to visual perception, positive emotion, and motion were associated with higher CTR in cosmetic advertisements. This study provides one of the first large-scale empirical examinations of the association between linguistic features in Japanese-language Instagram ad copy and CTR across product categories.

JACIE has successfully completed its first-ever inspection under the 3rd Edition Immune Effector Cells (IEC) Standards at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust — marking a major milestone for the certification of cellular therapy programmes beyond Stem Cell transplantation.

Type 2 diabetes affects millions of people worldwide and now a new international study, jointly led by Adelaide University, University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, and Stanford University, has found one in ten people may not be benefiting from common medications used to treat the condition.

A new analysis to be presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026, Istanbul, Turkey, 12-15 May) examined daily oral orforglipron treatment for the treatment of obesity, with or without diabetes, in users aged 65 years and over, with results and a safety profile similar to that seen in the ATTAIN clinical trial programme population. Lead author for this post-hoc analysis is Dr Deborah Horn, Director of the Center for Obesity Medicine and Metabolic Performance at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Houston, Texas, USA, and colleagues.