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STAT+: Borrowing an idea from cancer immunotherapy, scientists make old-mice immune systems youthful again

STAT

Researchers studying the ways these systems change with age refer to them collectively as “immunosenescence,” or, more poetically, the “ twilight of immunity. ” But even as scientific understanding of the phenomenon has grown over the past decade, the forces driving it remain murky.

Immunity 280
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Smoking impairs immune response, even after quitting, new study says

STAT

The study , published Wednesday in Nature, underscores the importance of never lighting up that first cigarette, based on its conclusion that smoking has much longer harmful effects on immune responses than previously understood. Read the rest…

Immunity 363
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Amid measles outbreaks, U.K. launches vaccination ad campaign to boost childhood immunizations

STAT

The ads, which tell parents to contact their general practitioners if they’ve missed getting their kids immunized, are designed to capture parents’ desires to keep kids safe. Read the rest…

Immunity 363
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STAT+: Prometheus team launches new startup with $400 million to tackle immune-driven disorders

STAT

This “summer of discovery,” as McKenna called it, brought him back to the immune system. McKenna discussed possibilities with his teenagers and Prometheus’ chief scientific officer.

Immunity 331
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STAT+: Like a vampire, some cancer cells can suck the energy source from immune cells

STAT

As elite hunters of the immune system, T cells are constantly prowling our bodies for diseased cells to attack. New research shows that some cancer cells can fire a long nanotube projection into the T cell that, like a vampire’s fang, sucks energy-creating mitochondria from the immune cell, turning the predator into prey.

Immunity 363
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Opinion: The next frontier in biomedicine: AI models of the human immune system

STAT

If the Covid-19 pandemic has shown us one thing, it is how little we really know about how the human immune system works. Decoding and harnessing the power of the human immune system is one of the great frontiers of biomedicine.

Immunity 349
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Could long Covid’s signs of immune dysregulation in the blood lead to a diagnostic test?

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New research published Thursday in Science has identified proteins present in the blood of people with long Covid that could point the way to a much-needed diagnostic test and possibly to future therapeutic targets.

Immunity 363