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Category: biotech/medical

The thymus is a crucial training ground for T-cells, the body’s “white knights,” where they learn to battle the various diseases they may encounter. Thymic function shrinks to nearly nothing as we age, severely limiting our ability to recognize and defend against cellular infiltrators.

Scientists at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) discovered a crucial pathway in the thymus that determines the rate of growth and functional preservation. Surprisingly, this pathway appears to act through both indirect and direct methods. Understanding these functions could help produce treatments that preserve thymic function for longer, boosting the immune system’s power to fight disease.

A UT Health San Antonio-led study, published in Nature Aging in February 2025, highlights the role of the peptide hormone fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) in regulating T-cells and, potentially, preserving thymic size over time.

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Born and brought up in East Germany, Professor Franka Kalman is a much-respected figure in the field of separation sciences. Following undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the Technical University Budapest, Hungary, where she learned about the then emerging technique of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), she applied that knowledge to complete her PhD looking at the analysis of novel opioid peptides at Martin Luther University Halle, Germany.

Her postdoctoral studies in the lab of the late, great Professor Csaba Horvath at Yale University, a placement that by all accounts provided both a grounding and springboard for her future career, were to be transformative and the techniques she developed there have gone on to be game-changing in the world of pharmaceutical development, analysis and quality control. Work for which she was recognized in 2012, when she was presented with the prestigious CEPharm Award from the Californian Separation Science Society (CASSS) for significant contributions to the practical application of capillary electrophoresis (CE) in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

After her time as a postdoc, she spent 13 very successful years in the pharmaceutical industry, working at the interface between science and industrial applications.

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Researchers have identified a key enzyme driving forms of Parkinson’s disease, and have shown how blocking it restores normal function in animal and cell models, offering a promising new drug target for the condition.

The work is published in the journal Neuron.

In Parkinson’s, a protein known as alpha-synuclein builds up in clumps called Lewy bodies in nerve cells in the brain. These clumps of protein stop these cells from functioning normally, eventually leading the cells to die.

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In a world-first, scientists have figured out how to reprogram cells to fight — and potentially reverse — brain diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine created lab-grown immune cells that can track down toxic brain buildup and clear it away, restoring memory and brain function in mice.

They did this by turning stem cells — which can become any cell in the body — into brain immune cells called microglia.

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A groundbreaking gene therapy has restored sight in four young children born with severe blindness due to a rare genetic deficiency. Scientists at UCL and Moorfields Eye Hospital successfully injected healthy copies of the defective gene into the retina, leading to life-changing improvements. Gr

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A new bacteria-killing paint shows powerful promise in eliminating dangerous pathogens like MRSA and COVID-19 from hard surfaces. Infused with chlorhexidine, a trusted dental disinfectant, the coating works on plastics and metals and activates once dry. Collaborating with industrial paint maker I

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