Basic Science News at Duke School of Medicine

A short piece of DNA that changed rapidly in humans compared with other mammals appears to act like a volume knob for brain growth.

Researchers at Duke University School of Medicine, working in collaboration with scientists at University of California, San Francisco, and University of California, Berkeley, have developed a new approach that could expand the reach and accessibility of CAR-T cell therapy. The findings were published in Nature. 

Duke University School of Medicine scientists have discovered a hidden brain circuit that helps explain how we learn from experience.

Duke University School of Medicine researchers led by cancer biologist Zhao Zhang, PhD, have discovered the keys to survival for a circular form of DNA that drives many aggressive cancers.  

Researchers at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill have uncovered a set of bacterial survival genes activated only inside TB’s hard‑to‑study granulomas, revealing new clues to how the pathogen endures our immune defenses.

Duke Eye Center discovery may explain how vision can stay surprisingly strong even when the eye’s structure is disrupted.

Two faculty in the Duke University School of Medicine have been elected as fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology. Ed Miao, MD, PhD, Duke Health Distinguished Professor of Integrative Immunobiology, and Emily Derbyshire, PhD, Eads Family Professor of Chemistry, who has a secondary appointment in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, are among 63 new fellows elected for 2026.

One of the reasons cancer cells are so dangerous is their ability to shift between distinct “cell states,” a trick that helps them spread, survive treatment, and come back even after therapy initially works.   

Duke University School of Medicine has launched Discovery AI, an ambitious research initiative that aims to accelerate the application of artificial intelligence (AI) an

Electrical nerve stimulation shows promise in preventing post-surgery delirium