Jen A. Miller, Author at ��ϳԹ��Դ

What can singing mice say about human speech?

Jen A. Miller — Wed, 06 May 2026 15:00:07 +0000

Speech is a crowning achievement of human evolution, the skill that separates us from every other animal. So, it would stand to reason that evolving this capability required some enormous leap in brain complexity. A study published today in Nature suggests otherwise. Alston’s singing mouse (Scotinomys teguina), a small rodent from the cloud forests of...

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Shapeshifting cancers’ masters, unmasked

Jen A. Miller — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 12:30:01 +0000

Some tumors are almost impossible to treat. That’s especially true for carcinomas, which don’t behave like other malignancies. Some of these tumors act as shapeshifters and start to resemble cells from other organs of the human body, such as skin. This bizarre behavior presents a challenge for existing therapies. “The tumors are notoriously plastic in...

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Breast cancer case study could inform clinical trials

Jen A. Miller — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 12:30:14 +0000

MALAT1 (pink) than the surrounding tissues." data-description="Fluorescent microscopy image showing clusters of blue and purple cells on a black background." />When researchers look for potential cancer therapy targets, they typically go after protein-coding genes that participate in disease progression. Disrupt them and negate whatever role they play in cancer’s development or spread. Researchers at ��ϳԹ��Դ (CSHL) have also been working on another kind of target. They’re studying a long non-coding RNA called...

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Why does cancer keep growing?

Jen A. Miller — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 11:30:24 +0000

Why do cancer cells keep dividing over and over? The answer can be found in fundamental biology breakthroughs of the late 20th century. In 1982, ��ϳԹ��Դ (CSHL) geneticist Michael Wigler helped identify the first known human oncogenes. When mutated, these genes produce an excess of proteins that cause uncontrolled cell growth. Soon...

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Ever use cortisone? Thank one farmer and two CSHL scientists

Jen A. Miller — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 13:00:16 +0000

Addison’s disease is no walk in the park. The disorder occurs when a person’s adrenal glands don’t make enough cortisol. This hormone plays a key role in multiple bodily functions, including metabolism and immune response. People with Addison’s disease can feel fatigued or nauseous, suffer from chronic pain, and lose unhealthy amounts of weight. If...

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��ϳԹ��Դ hope to thousands of families

Jen A. Miller — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 11:30:41 +0000

It’s a parent’s worst nightmare, finding out your newborn child may never walk or even stand on their own. That used to be the reality for as many as one in 6,000 babies born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic disorder that causes extreme nerve damage, muscle weakness, and sometimes, paralysis. For a long...

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Corn’s ancient ancestors are calling

Jen A. Miller — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:30:17 +0000

AI generated voice with Rob Martienssen’s and Thomas Gingeras’s actual voices The domestication of maize is one of the greatest examples of humankind’s impact on evolution. Early farmers’ pre-industrial plant breeding choices turned corn from a nearly inedible crop into the major global food source it is today. Now, ��ϳԹ��Դ Professors Rob...

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Nature is trying to tell you something

Jen A. Miller — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 12:30:52 +0000

“Nature is trying to tell you something.” Taken by itself, this quote from Nobel laureate and former ��ϳԹ��Դ (CSHL) scientist Richard Roberts suggests that the solutions to any number of problems may be within earshot. If only things were so simple. The fact is, scientific experiments go awry all the time. When...

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From trading faxes to changing lives

Jen A. Miller — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:00:40 +0000

Sometimes, scientific breakthroughs happen by accident. Penicillin was discovered when a British scientist left a petri dish uncovered while he was away on vacation. Other times, serendipity plays a role. Case in point: two chance meetings at ��ϳԹ��Դ (CSHL) led to the development of a drug that has vastly improved patient outcomes for...

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Big clues emerge in small RNA mystery

Jen A. Miller — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 12:30:00 +0000

Arabidopsis plant (as seen above) is loaded with a molecule called pseudouridine." data-description="" />AI generated voice with Rob Martienssen’s actual voice Not everything inside us is, strictly speaking, us. The closer we look at the genome, the more we appreciate the role of small RNAs in what we call epigenetic inheritance. That’s when traits get passed down without altering our basic DNA sequence. We now know that small...

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Vitamin K supplement slows prostate cancer in mice

Jen A. Miller — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 18:00:34 +0000

Science, shows that menadione significantly slows prostate cancer growth in mice and in human-derived cancer cells, as seen here." data-description="" />Prostate cancer is a quiet killer. In most men, it’s treatable. However, in some cases, it resists all known therapies and turns extremely deadly. A new discovery at ��ϳԹ��Դ (CSHL) points to a potentially groundbreaking solution. CSHL Professor Lloyd Trotman’s lab has found that the pro-oxidant supplement menadione slows prostate cancer progression...

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Putting out a brain on fire

Jen A. Miller — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 11:30:47 +0000

Imagine you wake up in a hospital without a single memory of the last month. Doctors say you had a series of violent episodes and paranoid delusions. You’d become convinced you were suffering from bipolar disorder. Then, after a special test, a neurologist diagnoses you with a rare autoimmune disease called anti-NMDAR encephalitis. This is...

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How does cancer spread? Follow the map

Jen A. Miller — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 11:30:07 +0000

Metastatic cancer can be a devastating diagnosis. The cancer is spreading. It may travel to multiple organs in the body. This could mean more pain and ultimately, death. Unfortunately, just how cancer spreads remains unclear. But now, ��ϳԹ��Դ (CSHL) Professor Adam Siepel and colleagues have a way to better understand that process....

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A century of women’s health breakthroughs

Jen A. Miller — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 11:30:17 +0000

Today, there’s a huge movement touting the benefits of breastfeeding over formula feeding. Doctors say breastmilk gives infants better versions of the nutrients critical for brain development. They even say nursing helps reinforce instinctual bonds between mother and child. Some of these claims are largely intuitive. However, much of what we know today about maternal...

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From plant genomics to a bioscience revolution

Jen A. Miller — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 11:30:22 +0000

Arabidopsis thaliana, rice, and corn. But these breakthroughs aren’t just about plants. They’ve changed the way scientists think about all life on Earth. AI-generated image: © LadyAI - stock.adobe.com" data-description="" />Farmers have been playing with plant genomics since before the world knew what genes were. Does one strawberry plant produce sweeter fruits? Encourage its growth over less tasty crops. Voilà! Your strawberry crop is now yummier than ever. Since the turn of the 21st century, ��ϳԹ��Դ (CSHL) breakthroughs have helped revolutionize the...

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From novel discovery to anti-aging therapy

Jen A. Miller — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 12:30:37 +0000

Major scientific breakthroughs are often dismissed as “novel” discoveries. This is especially true in fundamental biology. It’s hard to fathom the importance of something if its real-world applications are not readily apparent. And it’s even harder when dealing with a topic that isn’t well understood in the first place. Take, for example, the groundbreaking work...

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From cancer genetics to cancer treatments

Jen A. Miller — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 12:30:49 +0000

What is cancer? How does it develop and spread? And how do we stop it? Thanks to science, today’s doctors can better answer all of these questions. That’s not because of one eureka moment. Instead, it’s the result of thousands of discoveries that built upon each other. Case in point: two of the most important...

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Penicillin: From limited wonder drug to worldwide lifesaver

Jen A. Miller — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 12:30:00 +0000

Penicillium mold with X-rays. Incredibly, the mutated strain was able to produce double the penicillin. Demerec’s breakthrough led to research that allowed the U.S. to ramp up production of this much-needed medicine. Penicillium image: © sinhyu - stock.adobe.com." data-description="" />Penicillin changed the world. The drug turned infections that had threatened lives into something that could be cured with a shot. But there was a catch. It only worked if you could get it and distribute it. During World War II, the U.S. military could not. That was until discoveries at ��ϳԹ��Դ...

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Jen A. Miller, Author at ���ϳԹ���Դ