• piRNAs Emerge as a New Frontier in Longevity

    Bio-IT World | A new class of molecular biomarkers—piwi-interacting RNAs, or piRNAs—is emerging as researchers explore their potential not just to predict survival, but to actively modulate aging itself. In a study published in Aging Cell, a panel of five circulating piRNAs, combined with high-density lipoprotein particle counts and functional health metrics, demonstrated striking predictive power for short-term survival in older adults.

    Mar 19, 2026

  • Open Source ‘Floats All Boats’ in AI-Driven Drug Discovery

    Bio-IT World | More than two dozen “grand challenges” remain in small-molecule drug discovery, spanning everything from target selection to developing a medicine that can be safely used in the clinic. No single company can solve all these problems alone, which underscores the importance of computational tools, many of which are built on open-source software.

    Mar 17, 2026

  • Ancient Mushroom, Modern Medicine: Paul Stamets Says Agarikon Mycelium May Be Key to Fighting Viral Pandemics

    Bio-IT World | Paul Stamets has spent more than four decades in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, carefully prying tissue samples from the undersides of some of the world’s rarest mushrooms. On the stage of February’s Integrative Health Symposium, that lifetime of fieldwork converged with randomized clinical trials and Department of Defense contracts—a collision of ancient ethnobotany and 21st-century immunology that left the audience energized.

    Mar 12, 2026

  • Russia to Expand National Genetics Database to Ensure Treatment for Various Ethnic Groups

    Bio-IT World | Russia is significantly expanding the existing national database of genetic variant frequencies of the domestic population in a move to improve treatment of some socially important diseases and reduce the mortality rate from them.

    Mar 11, 2026