A team of researchers led by the University of Minnesota has 3D printed lifelike artificial organ models that mimic the exact anatomical structure, mechanical properties, and look and feel of real organs. These patient-specific organ models, which include integrated soft sensors, can be used for practice surgeries to improve surgical outcomes in thousands of patients worldwide.

Results from two Phase 1 clinical trials show an experimental Zika vaccine developed by government scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is safe and induces an immune response in healthy adults. The findings will be published on Dec. 4 in The Lancet. NIAID is currently leading an international effort to evaluate the investigational vaccine in a Phase 2/2b safety and efficacy trial.

In the science-fiction movie Gattaca, visitors only clear security if a blood test and readout of their genetic profile matches the sample on file. Now, cheap DNA sequencers and custom software could make real-time DNA-authentication a reality. Researchers at Columbia University and the New York Genome Center have developed a method to quickly and accurately identify people and cell lines from their DNA.

For the first time researchers have quantified the number of cancers likely to be caused by diabetes and high body mass index (BMI) worldwide. The study, led by Imperial College London, found that nearly six per cent of new worldwide cancer cases in 2012 were caused by the combined effects of diabetes and being overweight (BMI of over 25 kg/m2) or obese (BMI of over 30 kg/m2). For the 12 cancers types studied, diabetes and high BMI combined were responsible for nearly 800,000 new cancer cases.

An active sulphurous compound found in garlic can be used to fight robust bacteria in patients with chronic infections, a new study from the University of Copenhagen indicates. Here the researchers show that the garlic compound is able to destroy important components in the bacteria's communication systems, which involve regulatory RNA molecules.

Research published in Genome Medicine details a novel and promising approach in the effort to treat Alzheimer's disease. Brigham Young University professors Perry Ridge and John Kauwe led the discovery of a rare genetic variant that provides a protective effect for high-risk individuals - elderly people who carry known genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's - who never acquired the disease.

Researchers from the Biogerontology Research Foundation, Insilico Medicine, Life Extension and other institutions announce the publication of a landmark study in the journal Aging on the identification of natural mimetics of metformin and rapamycin. Metformin, a common type 2 diabetes drug, and rapamycin, a common anti-rejection drug, have both been shown to have substantial anti-aging and anti-cancer effects in a variety of model organisms.