Mercury Pharmaceuticals

8

Sep 2026

Could scorpion venom inspire new treatments for liver disease?

Scorpion venom peptides show promising anti-inflammatory, antiviral, analgesic, and immunomodulatory effects, with experimental evidence suggesting that some candidates could target pathways involved in chronic liver disease and viral hepatitis. The review highlights Kv1.3-blocking peptides and antiviral compounds as potential therapeutic leads, while emphasizing that limited hepatic efficacy data, poor pharmacokinetics, immunogenicity, and manufacturing challenges must be overcome before clinical translation.

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8

Sep 2026

Why do older adults often feel better emotionally? Mindfulness may be part of the answer

In a cross-sectional U.S. sample of 129 adults, older age was associated with greater positive and lower negative emotional well-being, alongside greater dispositional mindfulness and lower neuroticism. Lower neuroticism statistically accounted for age differences in both positive and negative well-being, while mindfulness statistically accounted for differences in negative well-being only, although the study cannot establish causality.

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7

Sep 2026

Could one amino acid help explain why men tend to live shorter lives?

A UK Biobank cohort and Mendelian randomization study involving 272,475 participants linked higher circulating tyrosine with greater all-cause mortality and genetically predicted higher tyrosine with shorter lifespan. After accounting for phenylalanine, the relationship with shorter lifespan was clearest in men, while findings in women were less consistent, suggesting a potential sex-specific role for tyrosine in longevity.

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7

Sep 2026

Study reveals evolutionary advantage of human heel-first walking style

The average person takes thousands of steps each day, instinctively walking heel-to-toe. Although they hardly register them, those consistent heel-first strides are more unique to humans than previously thought and allowed early hominins to walk farther more efficiently, but at the cost of higher impact forces on bones and joints, according to a new study led by a researcher at Penn State.

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7

Sep 2026

LSD deconstruction reveals promising new drug candidates

University of California, Davis researchers have stripped down LSD to the base features responsible for its hallucinogenic and therapeutic effects.

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7

Sep 2026

Vaping rises among youth despite declining smoking rates

Three large studies together show that, although the number of people who smoke is declining, people are taking up smoking at a younger age and vaping has increased, particularly among children and younger people.

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7

Sep 2026

GLP-1 treatment linked to 40% fewer asthma attacks

The diabetes and weight loss injection semaglutide can reduce asthma attacks by up to 40 per cent according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

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7

Sep 2026

Scientists discover new mechanism for bacterial fosfomycin resistance

Bacteria can survive antibiotics in several ways, including by pumping the drugs out of their cells before they can take effect.

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7

Sep 2026

Teenagers from disadvantaged families show greater eating disorder risk

Teenagers who come from households with a lower income and lower level of education are more likely to have an eating disorder, finds a new study co-led by UCL researchers.

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7

Sep 2026

The vaginal microbiome may be an overlooked reservoir of antibiotic resistance

Researchers analyzed 1,957 vaginal metagenomic samples from 1,547 pregnant women and found that bacterial community structure was strongly associated with the diversity and distribution of clinically relevant antibiotic resistance genes. Lactobacillus crispatus-dominated communities carried comparatively few acquired resistance genes, while L. iners-dominated and anaerobe-rich communities showed greater resistance diversity, with PPROM associated with broader predicted resistance profiles among ARG-positive samples.

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