Medicine & Health

Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis studied the gut microbiomes of wild apes in the Republic of Congo, of captive apes in zoos in the U.S., and of people from around the world and discovered that lifestyle is more important than geography or even species in determining the makeup of the gut microbiome.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and elsewhere are investigating whether transfusions of blood plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 can prevent or treat the disease. The approach was used with some success during the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Among the research programs racing to develop therapies and vaccines for the new pandemic virus COVID-19 is one of the largest crowdsourced supercomputing projects in the world. Led by computational biophysicist Greg Bowman, at Washington University School of Medicine, the project is called Folding@home.

Nautral killer (NK) cells may be more effective as immunotherapy for cancer treatment than adult NK cells that come from bone marrow, according to a new study from the School of Medicine.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., have found — in newborn mice — that a component of breast milk may help protect premature babies from developing life-threatening sepsis.

Soon after a novel coronavirus first appeared, School of Medicine researchers, doctors and staff began preparing for a possible outbreak. Infectious disease physicians started planning how to respond, and researchers got to work finding drugs or vaccines for COVID-19.

A mouse study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests a type of immune cell may play a surprising role in the structure and rhythm of the heart.

A drug strategy aimed at revving up the immune system and boosting a type of immune cell known as natural killer cells appears, at least in mice, to effectively treat the skin condition eczema. A team led by the School of Medicine’s Brian S. Kim, MD, is behind the strategy.

Jeffrey R. Millman and his team at the Washington University School of Medicine produced human insulin-secreting beta cells from stem cells using a new efficient technique. The cells were able to rapidly cure diabetes in mice for at least nine months.

Studying mice, researchers at the School of Medicine and their colleagues have shown that a drug compound can block damage caused by too much glutamate signaling, raising the possibility of medication that prevents noise-induced hearing loss.