Penn-led researchers have turned a deadly fungus into a potent cancer-fighting compound. After isolating a new class of molecules from Aspergillus flavus, a toxic crop fungus linked to deaths in the excavations of ancient tombs, the researchers modified the chemicals and tested them against leukemia cells. The result? A promising cancer-killing compound that rivals FDA-approved drugs and opens up new frontiers in the discovery of more fungal medicines.

Lower blood sugar and increased fat burning - without negatively affecting appetite or muscle mass. These are some of the most promising effects of a new potential drug treatment for people with type 2 diabetes and obesity, according to a new study published in the journal Cell by researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University.

An article published in the journal Nature Metabolism presents an experimental drug that stimulates adipose tissue cells to produce heat through a process known as thermogenesis, thereby promoting weight loss. In animal tests, the compound prevented fat accumulation in response to a high-fat diet, treated existing obesity, and reversed associated metabolic disorders, including insulin resistance.

A new clinical trial found that taking a popular diabetes and weight-loss drug once weekly significantly improves blood sugar and leads to substantial weight loss in adults with Type 1 diabetes who use automated insulin delivery systems.

The results were published in the journal NEJM Evidence.

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute today report the identification of a novel combination therapy approach to treat pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Standard treatment is often ineffective against AML, a cancer that commonly relapses with poor prognosis, particularly when the disease is fueled by fusion proteins involving NUP98.

In a study published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence, Sheffield computer scientists in collaboration with AstraZeneca and the University of Southampton have developed a new machine learning framework that has shown the potential to be more accurate at inverse protein folding than existing state-of-the-art methods.

Obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are increasingly present in the population. Brown adipose tissue has a protective function against these prevalent diseases, as it burns calories and can produce body heat from fat. But as the body ages, the activity of brown adipose tissue decreases. This inactivation of brown adipose tissue - also typical of obese people - remains poorly studied in the scientific literature.