Sarah CP Williams

Gut bacteria rewire fat tissue to burn more energy Study reveals how the gut microbiome and diet work together to transform white fat cells into energy-burning beige fat in mice.

How to turn energy-storing white fat into energy-burning beige fat? The answer lies in signals produced by your gut bacteria, @broadinstitute.org's @thexavierlab.bsky.social reports today in @nature.com. Mice with the right gut bacteria had more beige fat.
www.broadinstitute.org/news/gut-bac...

How DNA movements drive cell functioning For decades, textbooks depicted our genome as a disordered tangle of strands. Developmental biologist Alistair Boettiger is helping prove that wrong.

Inside every cell, DNA is dancing. Stretches loop and twirl until distant sections find each other, touch briefly, exchange information, and spin away. @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social scientists have developed methods to track this choreography & its role in cells. stanmed.stanford.edu/dna-movement...

Scientists at @rockefeller.edu, led by Junyue Cao, profiled nearly 7 million cells across 21 tissues in mice at three different ages, creating the most comprehensive map yet of how aging reshapes the body. www.rockefeller.edu/news/39031-s...

Vitamin B3 Therapy Offers Hope for Fatal Childhood Disease A new framework that matches vitamins with genetic diseases helped uncover that high-dose vitamin B3 can dramatically extend survival in mice with NAXD deficiency.

Children with NAXD deficiency typically die within their first few months of life. @gladstoneinst.bsky.social scientists reported in @cellpress.bsky.social that vitamin B3 therapy extended lifespan more than 40-fold in mice and eliminated symptoms.
gladstone.org/news/vitamin...

Red Blood Cells Soak Up Sugar at High Altitude, Protecting Against Diabetes New study shows red blood cells act as hidden glucose sponges in low-oxygen conditions, explaining why people living at high altitude have lower diabetes rates and pointing toward new treatments.

People living at high altitude have less diabetes. A new study by @gladstoneinst.bsky.social @ishahjain.bsky.social shows why: In low-oxygen conditions, red blood cells soak up sugar from the bloodstream. A drug mimicking this effect reversed high blood sugar in mice.
gladstone.org/news/red-blo...

Mapping protein production in brain cells yields new insights for brain disease

Scientists at @scripps.edu developed Ribo-STAMP to measure protein production in neurons. The method, described in @nature.com, revealed that some memory cells produce proteins at higher rates than others. It could help reveal what goes wrong in diseases.
www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...

How “invisible” vaccine scaffolding boosts HIV immune response

Most HIV vaccines attach viral proteins to protein scaffolds, but the immune system produces antibodies to the HIV proteins AND the scaffold. @scripps.edu scientists designed "invisible" DNA scaffolds that boost the immune response against HIV. www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...

Disrupted Boundary Between Cell Types Linked to Common Heart Defects Gladstone scientists identified a cellular boundary that guides heart development and revealed how disrupting it can lead to holes in the heart’s wall.

1 in 100 babies are born with holes in the wall between their heart chambers. @gladstoneinst.bsky.social scientists led by @benoitbruneau.bsky.social have uncovered why: a boundary of cells gets disrupted, causing left and right heart cells to mix. gladstone.org/news/disrupt...

Scientists develop molecules that may treat Crohn’s disease The molecules mimic a gene variant that protects against Crohn’s, demonstrating a roadmap for using genetics to develop therapies for inflammatory bowel disease and other chronic inflammatory disorder...

In 2011, @broadinstitute.org scientists discovered a rare gene variant that protects against Crohn's disease. Now, the team, led by @thexavierlab.bsky.social, developed molecules mimicking the protective variant's effects. The compounds could one day treat IBD. www.broadinstitute.org/news/scienti...

The Berkeley Department of Chemistry now has a record number of African faculty and students, and they're building bridges back to the continent. @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social
chemistry.berkeley.edu/news/chemist...

Do Hormones Explain Why Women Experience More Gut Pain? UCSF researchers showed that estrogen can turn on pain signals in the gut, offering new insights into conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, especially for women.

Women are dramatically more likely than men to suffer from IBS, and when male mice get estrogen, their gut pain matches females. @ucsanfrancisco.bsky.social scientists finally discovered why. www.ucsf.edu/news/2025/12...

Gene Editing Strategy Could Treat Hundreds of Inherited Diseases More Effectively Scientists at Gladstone show the new method could treat the majority of patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

One gene can have hundreds of disease-causing mutations. Creating a separate gene therapy for each? Impractical. @gladstoneinst.bsky.social @ucsanfrancisco.bsky.social scientists developed "haplotype editing" to remove an entire mutated gene, a more efficient strategy. gladstone.org/news/gene-ed...

Water & acids destroy most carbon capture materials in power plant emissions. A new solution by @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social @berkeleychemistry.bsky.social chemists: A three-layered nanocomposite with the CO₂-capturing core shielded on the inside.
chemistry.berkeley.edu/news/three-l...

Want to prevent tendon injuries? Eccentric exercises, like Nordic hamstring curls, don't just build muscle. They strengthen tendons too. A new study by @ccstorytime.bsky.social, funded in part by @wutsaialliance.bsky.social, suggests how. humanperformancealliance.org/news/study-s...

Why understanding stem cells lies as the root of treating diseases from psoriasis to cancer - News Your skin is in a constant state of reinvention. Every month, your body sheds and regenerates its entire outer layer—a complete turnover powered by tiny, tireless stem cells. These same cells spring i...

Did you know your skin completely regenerates every month?
@rockefeller.edu's Elaine Fuchs studies the skin stem cells behind this constant regeneration. Her work could transform treatments for aging, hair loss, psoriasis, and cancer. www.rockefeller.edu/news/38723-w...

Quantum calculations expose hidden chemistry of ice The new theoretical research by UChicago PME and ICTP researchers has implications for melting permafrost and climate change

When UV light hits ice—whether in Earth's polar regions or on distant planets—it triggers a cascade of chemical reactions that have long puzzled scientists. Now, @uchicagopme.bsky.social researchers have simulated how ice's crystal structure changes with UV exposure. pme.uchicago.edu/news/quantum...

A New Era in Organ Transplantation Columbia researchers are stretching the limits of what is possible for kidney, heart, and liver transplants, pioneering ways to expand the organ supply and avoid lifelong immunosuppressant drugs.

@columbiamed.bsky.social researchers are achieving transplant tolerance: patients receiving new kidneys without lifelong immunosuppression. The same science could soon enable pig-to-human organ transplants, offering hope to 100,000 people waiting for organs. www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/col...

QnAs with Graham F. Hatfull | PNAS QnAs with Graham F. Hatfull

50,000 students. Thousands of sequenced phage genomes. Nearly 50 patients treated for antibiotic-resistant infections. For @pnas.org, I spoke to @ghatfull.bsky.social of @hhmi.org about how strudent-driven research became a pipeline for phage therapy. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Evidence Builds for Disrupted Mitochondria as Cause of Parkinson’s A new study from Gladstone Institutes strengthens the links between energy breakdown in cells and the onset of Parkinson’s, potentially illuminating new paths for treatment.

“This mouse model provides some of the most compelling evidence to date for how mitochondrial dysfunction can cause typical late-onset Parkinson’s disease,” @gladstoneinst.bsky.social Investigator Ken Nakamura told me about his lab's new study in @science.org Advances. gladstone.org/news/evidenc...

Researchers Reveal Intricate Control System for Key Immune Gene Scientists learn to fine-tune a gene that is centrally involved in regulating the immune system, offering potential clues for future autoimmunity and cancer treatments.

FOXP3—identified decades ago in work that won this year's @nobelprize.org—prevents autoimmune disease.
Now @marsonlab.bsky.social & colleagues at @gladstoneinst.bsky.social @ucsanfrancisco.bsky.social have mapped how immune cells fine-tune FOXP3 levels. gladstone.org/news/researc...

Self-driving lab learns to grow materials on its own UChicago PME researchers built a fully automated system to optimize physical vapor deposition—a process used to make thin films for electronics.

Creating thin metal films for electronics usually takes months of trial and error. @uchicagopme.bsky.social researchers built a "self-driving" lab that does it autonomously, using robotics and AI to run experiments, measure results, and adjust parameters. pme.uchicago.edu/news/self-dr...

Scripps Research team identifies sugar molecules that trigger placental formation

How does the placenta form in early pregnancy? Scientists at @scripps.edu reported in @pnas.org how sugar molecules pull placental cells together. Understanding this process could eventually help prevent complications like preeclampsia & restricted fetal growth. www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...

The sugar-cancer connection: Five things you should know “The phrase ‘Sugar feeds cancer’ is a dangerous statement,” says Stanford Medicine oncology dietitian Erika Connor. “It switches people’s anxiety on and sets them up for misinformation and panic.”

"Sugar feeds cancer" is an anxiety-inducing message for cancer patients. Is it true? A @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social oncology dietitian sets the record straight: You can't starve cancer w/ diet. Cancer cells will find fuel regardless. Focus on nourishing your body. med.stanford.edu/news/insight...

Scientists Pinpoint a Key Gene Behind Heart Defects in Down Syndrome After decades of mystery, Gladstone researchers identify a gene that can derail heart formation—and show that fixing it prevents the problem in mice.

Scientists have long known an extra chromosome 21 causes heart defects in Down syndrome, but not which gene was responsible. Now they know: HMGN1. Removing extra HMGN1 in mice eliminated heart defects, @gladstoneinst.bsky.social scientists reported in @nature.com.
gladstone.org/news/scienti...

Innovations to help chronically ill people thrive Stanford Medicine experts are developing innovative approaches to preventing, diagnosing and treating chronic diseases so people can live healthier lives.

1 in 100 people have celiac disease, but there's no perfect test to diagnose it. Now, researchers at @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social have developed a glowing molecule that illuminates a celiac protein, eliminating the guesswork & paving the way for new treatments. stanmed.stanford.edu/innovations-...

Why Does Female Fertility Decline So Fast? The Key Is the Ovary New research shows that the surrounding cells and tissues of the ovary play a crucial role in how eggs mature and how quickly fertility wanes.

Female fertility decline isn't just about egg quality--it's about the entire ovarian environment. New study in @science.org from @UCSF, @chanzuckerberg.bsky.social team follows ovaries with age. Understanding the changes could extend fertility & healthspan.
www.ucsf.edu/news/2025/10...

How cells move and change shape—and why it matters for our health - News Inside each of your cells, there’s a microscopic scaffolding that helps determine what the cell looks like, how it moves, and how it responds to its surroundings. This internal structure, called the c...

How do cells move, divide, & sense their surroundings? The answer lies in the cytoskeleton--and when it malfunctions, cancer & birth defects follow. @alushinlab.bsky.social at @rockefeller.edu is developing new tools to probe this tiny, dynamic cell scaffolding.
www.rockefeller.edu/news/38446-h...

Innovations to help chronically ill people thrive Stanford Medicine experts are developing innovative approaches to preventing, diagnosing and treating chronic diseases so people can live healthier lives.

Chemical biologist Laura Dassama of @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social @stanfordchemistry.bsky.social is on a personal mission to design a simpler, more affordable sickle cell therapy. stanmed.stanford.edu/innovations-...

Rewriting Cancer’s Script | GW Research Magazine | The George Washington University GW researchers are discovering new ways that aggressive cancers hijack healthy cells to fuel their growth. Their findings could lead to new cancer treatments.

70 women are diagnosed with #ovariancancer daily in the U.S. Researchers like @chiappinellilab.bsky.social and Ed Seto at @gwcancercenter.bsky.social are developing epigenetic therapies that alter cancer's instructions without changing DNA—offering new hope.
researchmagazine.gwu.edu/rewriting-ca...

Reimagining Microbes to Revolutionize Medicine What if vaccines and cancer therapies could be applied to the skin like a simple cream? Hertz Fellow Michael Fischbach is working to make that idea a reality. By harnessing the power of genetically en...

What if vaccines and cancer therapy could be applied topically?
Hertz Fellow Michael Fischbach of Stanford modified harmless skin bacteria to teach the body to fight disease—eliminating cancer in mice with just a cream.
www.hertzfoundation.org/news/reimagi...