STD News

July 22, 2026

Top Headlines

Tiny Plastics in Drinking Water May Be Making Dangerous Bacteria Stronger

July 17, 2026 Tiny plastic particles in drinking water may be doing more than contaminating the environment. New research suggests nanoplastics can actually help harmful bacteria survive by strengthening the slimy biofilms they form inside water systems. These ...

Scientists Tested 39 Sweeteners and Found Unexpected Gut Effects

July 17, 2026 A large laboratory study found that many commonly used sweeteners can directly change the growth of gut bacteria. Researchers identified more than 100 cases in which sweeteners behaved differently when combined with medications, caffeine, or ...

July 14, 2026 Researchers found that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, slowed biological aging markers in adults with HIV, marking the first clinical evidence that the drug may influence human aging. Although the findings are encouraging, ...

This Frog Bacterium Wiped Out Cancer Tumors in Mice with a Single Dose

July 10, 2026 A naturally occurring bacterium from amphibian intestines completely eliminated colorectal tumors in mice with a single treatment by both attacking cancer cells and activating the immune system. The findings point to a promising new type of cancer ...

This Common Amino Acid Helped Mice Survive Deadly Inflammation

June 1, 2026 A Salk Institute study found that a simple dietary amino acid, methionine, dramatically improved survival in mice facing severe infections and inflammatory conditions. Rather than directly targeting the immune system, methionine boosted kidney ...

Omega-3 Fish Oil Shows Promise Against Type 2 Diabetes

May 31, 2026 A new study suggests fish oil may help reduce insulin resistance even in people who aren't obese. In diabetic rats, omega-3 supplementation improved blood sugar levels, cholesterol, and inflammation by shifting immune cells into a more ...

Scientists Discover a New Way to Prevent Gum Disease Without Killing Good Bacteria

May 8, 2026 Scientists have uncovered a surprising way to influence the bacteria living in our mouths — not by killing them, but by interrupting how they “talk” to each other. Researchers found that dental ...

This Simple Blood Test Might Detect Depression Before Symptoms Appear

May 4, 2026 A new study suggests depression may soon be detectable through a simple blood test—by tracking how certain immune cells age. Researchers found that accelerated aging in monocytes, a type of white blood cell, is closely tied to the emotional and ...

Scientists Discover Bacteria Can “Explode” to Spread Antibiotic Resistance

Apr. 17, 2026 Scientists have uncovered a surprising twist in how bacteria share genes—including those that spread antibiotic resistance. Tiny virus-like particles called gene transfer agents (GTAs), once ...

Scientists Discover Spice Synergy That Boosts Anti-inflammation 100x

Apr. 9, 2026 Chronic inflammation often works quietly in the background but can fuel serious diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. New research reveals that everyday plant compounds—like menthol from mint, cineole from eucalyptus, and capsaicin ...

What’s Hiding Inside Colon Cancer Could Change Treatment

Apr. 1, 2026 Colorectal cancer may carry a unique microbial “fingerprint,” setting it apart from other cancers and opening a new frontier in diagnosis and treatment. By analyzing DNA from over 9,000 patients, researchers discovered that only colorectal ...

This Virus Therapy Supercharges the Immune System Against Brain Cancer

Mar. 20, 2026 Scientists have found a way to make one of the most aggressive brain tumors vulnerable to the immune system. A single injection of a modified virus can invade glioblastoma, kill cancer cells, and summon immune fighters deep into the tumor. These ...

Latest Headlines

updated 9:18am EDT

Common Pneumonia Bacterium May Fuel Alzheimer’s Disease

Feb. 21, 2026 A common bacterium best known for causing pneumonia and sinus infections may also play a surprising role in Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers found that Chlamydia pneumoniae can invade the retina ...

This Reengineered HPV Vaccine Trains T Cells to Hunt Down Cancer

Feb. 18, 2026 Northwestern researchers have shown that when it comes to cancer vaccines, arrangement can be just as important as ingredients. By repositioning a small fragment of an HPV protein on a DNA-based ...

Breakthrough CRISPR System Could Reverse Antibiotic Resistance Crisis

Feb. 18, 2026 Antibiotic resistance is racing toward a global crisis, with “superbugs” projected to cause over 10 million deaths annually by 2050. Now, scientists at UC San Diego have unveiled a powerful new ...

Hearing Aids Didn’t Boost Memory Tests but Dementia Risk Dropped

Feb. 10, 2026 A long-term study of older adults with moderate hearing loss found that hearing aids did not lead to better performance on memory or thinking tests, but the story did not end there. Over seven years, ...

Scientists Found a Sugar That Could Defeat Deadly Superbugs

Feb. 6, 2026 Scientists in Australia have uncovered a clever new way to fight some of the most dangerous drug-resistant bacteria by targeting a sugar that exists only on bacterial cells. By designing antibodies ...

A Lost Disease Emerges from 5,500-Year-Old Human Remains

Jan. 26, 2026 A 5,500-year-old skeleton from Colombia has revealed the oldest known genome of the bacterium linked to syphilis and related diseases. The ancient strain doesn’t fit neatly into modern categories, ...

A Hidden Immune Loop May Drive Dangerous Inflammation With Age

Jan. 24, 2026 Aging immune cells may be sabotaging the body from within. Researchers found that macrophages produce a protein that locks them into a chronic inflammatory state, making infections like sepsis more ...

Tiny Doses of THC Show Big Benefits for HIV Treatment

Jan. 21, 2026 A new study suggests that micro-doses of THC could help counter many long-term side effects of HIV treatment without causing intoxication. In animal models, low-dose THC reduced inflammation, ...

New Antibiotic Pill Shows Promise Against Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea

Jan. 3, 2026 A one-dose oral drug called zoliflodacin has proven highly effective against gonorrhoea in a major international trial. The pill matched the success of current treatments while avoiding injections ...

AI Found a Way to Stop a Virus Before It Enters Cells

Dec. 15, 2025 Researchers discovered a hidden molecular “switch” that herpes viruses rely on to invade cells. By combining AI, simulations, and lab experiments, they identified and altered a single amino acid ...

Inflammation Turns Bone Marrow Into a Breeding Ground for Disease

Nov. 18, 2025 Researchers discovered that chronic inflammation fundamentally remodels the bone marrow, allowing mutated stem cell clones to quietly gain dominance with age. Reprogrammed stromal cells and ...

Ancient Viruses Hidden Inside Bacteria Could Help Defeat Modern Infections

Nov. 3, 2025 Penn State scientists uncovered an ancient bacterial defense where dormant viral DNA helps bacteria fight new viral threats. The enzyme PinQ flips bacterial genes to create protective proteins that ...

A 25-Year Crohn’s Disease Mystery Finally Cracked by AI

Nov. 3, 2025 UC San Diego researchers combined artificial intelligence with molecular biology to unravel how immune cells in the gut decide between inflammation and healing, a process gone awry in Crohn’s ...

Exercise Might Be the Key to a Younger, Sharper Immune System

Oct. 14, 2025 Endurance exercise may train the immune system as much as the muscles. Older adults with decades of running or cycling had immune cells that functioned better and aged more slowly. Their inflammation ...

Scientists Finally Explain the Real Reason Pregnant Women Get Morning Sickness

Sep. 29, 2025 Morning sickness isn’t just random misery—it’s a biological defense system shaped by evolution to protect the fetus. By linking immune responses to nausea and food aversions, UCLA researchers ...

This New Blood Test Can Catch Cancer 10 Years Early

Oct. 13, 2025 Scientists at Mass General Brigham have created HPV-DeepSeek, a blood test that can detect HPV-linked head and neck cancers nearly a decade before diagnosis. By finding viral DNA in the bloodstream, ...

In the Dark for 11 Million Years: How Blind Cavefish Rewrote Evolution

Aug. 29, 2025 Yale scientists discovered that cavefish species independently evolved blindness and depigmentation as they adapted to dark cave environments, with some lineages dating back over 11 million years. ...

How NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer Was Lost Before Reaching the Moon

Aug. 11, 2025 NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer, a mission designed to create high-resolution maps of water on the Moon, ended after losing contact with the spacecraft just one day after its February 26 launch. Despite ...

A Deadly Virus No One Talks About — and the HIV Drugs That Might Stop It

July 24, 2025 HIV antivirals may be the key to stopping HTLV-1, a deadly virus with no cure. In a decade-long study, researchers successfully suppressed the virus in mice and discovered a way to kill infected ...

AI Unravels the Hidden Communication of Gut Microbes

Nov. 10, 2025 Scientists have turned to advanced AI to decode the intricate ecosystem of gut bacteria and their chemical signals. Using a Bayesian neural network called VBayesMM, researchers can now identify ...

This Virus Infects Millions—and We Just Discovered Its Secret Weapon

June 30, 2025 Scientists have discovered a stealthy mechanism that cytomegalovirus (CMV)—the leading infectious cause of birth defects in the U.S.—uses to infiltrate blood vessel cells while evading immune ...

Cold Sore Virus Hijacks Human Genome in 3D--and Scientists Found Its Weak Spot

June 20, 2025 Cold sore-causing HSV-1 doesn't just hijack cells it reconfigures the entire architecture of our DNA to aid its invasion. Researchers discovered that it actively reshapes the 3D structure of the ...

One Shot to Stop HIV: MIT's Bold Vaccine Breakthrough

June 19, 2025 Researchers from MIT and Scripps have unveiled a promising new HIV vaccine approach that generates a powerful immune response with just one dose. By combining two immune-boosting adjuvants alum and ...

5-Minute STI Test Poised to Transform Sexual Health Diagnostics

June 9, 2025 A revolutionary STI test developed by UK-based Linear Diagnostics is on track to dramatically reduce the time it takes to detect infections like gonorrhea and chlamydia. Built on ultra-fast EXPAR DNA ...

Preventing Chronic Inflammation from Turning Into Cancer

June 2, 2025 Chronic inflammatory bowel disease is challenging to treat and carries a risk of complications, including the development of bowel cancer. Young people are particularly affected: when genetic ...

HIV Discovery Could Open Door to Long-Sought Cure

May 29, 2025 New HIV research shows that small changes in the virus affect how quickly or slowly it replicates and how easily it can reawaken in the body. These insights bring researchers closer to finding ways ...

Researchers Engineer a Herpes Virus to Turn on T Cells for Immunotherapy

May 28, 2025 A team identified herpes virus saimiri, which infects the T cells of squirrel monkeys, as a source of proteins that activate pathways in T cells that are needed to promote T cell ...

HIV Vaccine Study Uncovers Powerful New Antibody Target

May 27, 2025 In the long battle to create an effective HIV vaccine, scientists have made a major leap forward. A new study shows that a series of vaccines can coax the immune system to produce powerful antibodies ...

How Cholera Bacteria Outsmart Viruses

May 22, 2025 Researchers uncover a notorious cholera strain that contains sophisticated immune systems to fend off viruses, which potentially helped it to fuel a devastating epidemic across Latin ...

New Blood Test Shows Superior Sensitivity in Detecting HPV-Associated Head and Neck Cancers

May 20, 2025 Head and neck cancer researchers are reporting the development and testing of HPV-DeepSeek, a novel liquid biopsy assay. In their new study, HPV-DeepSeek achieved 99% sensitivty and specifity for ...