December 18, 2024

2024 NIH Research Highlights - Basic Research Insights

Noteworthy Advances in Fundamental Research

With NIH support, scientists across the United States and around the world conduct wide-ranging research to discover ways to meet the NIH mission to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. Groundbreaking NIH-funded research often receives top scientific honors. In 2024, these honors included three NIH-supported scientists who received Nobel Prizes. Here’s just a small sample of the NIH-supported research accomplishments in 2024. Also see this year's Human Health Advances and Promising Medical Findings.

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H5N1 avian influenza transmission

Researchers gained insights into whether the H5N1 flu outbreak in cows could lead to a human pandemic. H5N1 survived in raw dairy milk kept under refrigerated conditions for at least five weeks. When mice consumed infected raw milk, they showed signs of illness. This suggests that drinking raw milk may pose a risk for people. But pasteurization-like treatment significantly reduced levels of the virus. An H5N1 virus taken from cows was able to infect mice and ferrets, but airborne transmission wasn’t very efficient. Another H5N1 virus, from an infected farm worker, could transmit through airborne droplets and was lethal in mice and ferrets. The findings emphasize the risks from the current outbreak and the need for continued monitoring and testing.

Why protective antibodies fade after COVID-19 vaccines

Mature and durable antibody-producing cells are key to providing long-lasting immunity against infection. Researchers looked in the bone marrow of healthy, vaccinated adults and found such cells targeting tetanus and influenza, but not SARS-CoV-2. The findings could help explain why protection from COVID-19 vaccines tends to decline over time. A better understanding of how these long-lived immune cells are formed could lead to improved vaccines that provide enduring protection.

Mapping how cancers form and spread

3D maps of cancer from an NIH initiative provided critical information about how tumors develop, spread, and respond to treatments. Researchers were able to identify distinct substructures, called microregions, within many tumors. Cells in different microregions often behaved differently. These maps provide a better understanding of the development and progression of cancer. This could eventually lead to new prevention and treatment strategies.

Understanding how exercise affects the body

Exercise is one of the most beneficial activities that people can engage in. But exactly how exercise exerts its positive effects hasn’t been well understood. A study of endurance training in rats found molecular changes throughout the body that could help explain the beneficial effects of exercise on health. Large differences were seen between male and female rats, highlighting the need to include both women and men in exercise studies.

Advances in understanding the brain

Scientists generated a high-resolution map of all the cells and connections in a single cubic millimeter of the human brain. The map revealed details of brain structure never seen before. Other researchers fully mapped the connections between neurons for an entire adult fruit fly brain. This map is a stepping stone to creating whole brain maps in larger animals. Both maps can improve our understanding of brain function and provide resources for further studies. Researchers also created massive, advanced maps of the complex networks that regulate gene function in the brains of people with and without mental disorders. Their findings offer new insights into how gene activities affect the brain, which could lead to improved treatments for mental health conditions.

2024 NIH Research Highlights - Human Health Advances