Tumors are stressful places for cancer-fighting immune cells. Low oxygen, high acid levels, and other stressors put strain on ...

Imagine your DNA as a set of shoelaces. Telomeres are like the plastic tips at the ends of those shoelaces, preventing them from fraying and unraveling. Structurally, telomeres are repetitive ...

Vitamin D is one that has found itself in the spotlight often in recent years. Also known as the "sunshine vitamin", it has ...

New research published in Immunity by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that, in mice, the toxic tumor ...

A new study suggests that spending time in space can actually speed up the physical aging process on a cellular level.

Don’t know your telomeres from your mitochondria? You will soon enough. It's all about tapping the true source of your cells' vitality—and their decline. Don’t know your telomeres from your ...

Our genome is organized into chromosomes, which are shaped like little X's. Every time a cell divides, the genome has to be replicated, and there are protective caps called telomeres on the ends of ...

One protein appears to play an integral role in protecting telomeres, and possibly preventing cancerous growth, according to a study published this week in Science. Chromosomes with fluorescently ...

Aparna is a freelance science writer with a PhD in bioinformatics and genomics at Harvard University. Her writing has also appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Popular Science, PBS NOVA, and more.