Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) was associated with a 35% reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in studies presented at the plenary session of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting on Sunday.

A group of scientists at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital has used separate lines of human induced pluripotent stem cells to create stomach organoids with a three-layered structure and gastric function such as smooth muscle contraction and glandular secretion. The team reported its results in the December 2021, issue of Cell Stem Cell.

A faithful model of the human blastocyst has been developed which replicates key phases of very early development from 4 to 13 days post fertilization, including attaching to layers of hormone-stimulated endometrial cells in vitro, mimicking implantation in the uterus.

Far from the Groundhog Day spectacle of amyloid-targeting antibodies that do little to nothing for patients in trial after trial, researchers have reported success in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in unexpected ways. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation have discovered that a Viagra prescription was associated with a roughly 70% reduced risk of being diagnosed with AD. And investigators from the University of Washington reported that in the prospective Adult Changes in Thought study, a long-term study into risk and protective factors for dementia, persons who underwent cataract surgery reduced their risk of AD by 30%, an effect that lasted for 10 years after surgery.

In the Dec. 3, 2021, issue of Science, researchers reported that a missense variant that is highly enriched in the Amish population was associated with reduced levels of both LDL cholesterol and fibrinogen. To date, very few variants have been identified that affect more than one risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Far from the Groundhog Day spectacle of amyloid-targeting antibodies that do little to nothing for patients in trial after trial, researchers have reported success in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in unexpected ways. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation have discovered that a Viagra prescription was associated with a roughly 70% reduced risk of being diagnosed with AD. And investigators from the University of Washington reported that in the prospective Adult Changes in Thought study, a long-term study into risk and protective factors for dementia, persons who underwent cataract surgery reduced their risk of AD by 30%, an effect that lasted for 10 years after surgery.

In the December 3, 2021, issue of Science, researchers reported that a missense variant that is highly enriched in the Amish population was associated with reduced levels of both LDL cholesterol and fibrinogen. To date, very few variants have been identified that affect more than one risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Investigators at the University of Wisconsin have decreased anxiety-related behaviors in monkeys with an anxious temperament by treating them with a combination of gene therapy and low doses of the atypical antipsychotic drug clozapine, which is approved for the treatment of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.

Stimulating the innate immune system with defective viral genomes (DVG)-based strategy provided broad-spectrum protection against RNA viral infections, including SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory diseases in animal models, according to a U.S.-led international collaborative study reported in the Nov. 17, 2021, edition of Cell.

Targeting the epigenetic histone modifier BMI-1 in B cells restored effective humoral immune responses to control chronic viral infection in mice, according to new multicenter Australian study led by immunologists at Monash University in Melbourne, Victoria.