An immune system factor associated with severe asthma may actually reduce asthma attacks induced by viral infections.

Dietary variety – not high-fat or sugary foods – appears to stimulate overeating in a mouse model of an inherited obesity syndrome.

A gene associated with cell survival and longevity may protect the kidney from acute injury.

Dysfunction of the endothelial cells that line blood vessels may contribute to delirium and coma in critically ill patients – and could be a target for therapy.

Targeting repair pathways in the lung’s air sacs may be a valuable therapeutic direction for pulmonary fibrosis – the scarring of lung tissue.

Overexpression of a gene that is a common culprit in leukemia induces stem cell-like features in T cells, which may enable the cells to become cancerous.

Immune cells that recognize self antigens (e.g. insulin), but are functionally silent, can trigger autoimmune diseases such as diabetes.