Although long life tends to run in families, genetics has far less influence on life span than previously estimated, according to a new analysis published in GENETICS.  Ruby et al. used a data set of over 400 million historical persons obtained from public pedigrees on Ancestry.com to estimate the heritability of life span, finding it to be well below 10%.

Elevated levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO)—a compound linked with the consumption of seafood and a primarily vegetarian diet—may reduce hypertension-related heart disease symptoms. New research in rats finds that low-dose treatment with TMAO reduced heart thickening (cardiac fibrosis) and markers of heart failure in an animal model of hypertension. The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Heart and Circulatory Physiology and was chosen as an APSselect article for November.

Eating Brazil nuts and other varieties of nuts daily may prevent weight gain and provide other cardiovascular benefits, according to two separate preliminary studies to be presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2018 in Chicago, a premier global exchange of the latest advances in cardiovascular science for researchers and clinicians.

When patients with broken heart syndrome survive a life-threatening complication that renders the heart suddenly unable to pump enough blood, they remain at greater risk of death for years afterwards, according to research to be presented in Chicago at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2018, a premier global exchange of the latest advances in cardiovascular science for researchers and clinicians. The study will also be simultaneously published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.

Mental health diagnoses and treatment of college students increased substantially between 2007 and 2017. More than one-third of students reported a diagnosed condition in 2016–2017, according to a study published online today in Psychiatric Services in Advance.

The largest ever study of the mosquito evolutionary tree, going back 195 million years, suggests that present-day climate change could result in the spread and return of dangerous mosquito-borne diseases to new places or areas where they had previously been eradicated, scientists are warning.

Video games and a robotic glove that help stroke survivors regain dexterity in their hands and arms. A robot named Casper that assists older adults with everything from fixing a tuna sandwich to communicating with loved ones.

Last year’s flu season was the worst in decades, leading to more than 80,000 deaths in the U.S. alone.

Serotonin (3A) receptors are common drug targets in the treatment of pain, gastrointestinal dysfunctions, and mood disorders yet little is known about their three-dimensional structure. Details about serotonin receptor structures could provide important clues to designing better drugs with less side effects. Now, a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have used high-powered microscopes to view serotonin activating its receptor for the first time. Images published in Nature reveal molecular details about the receptor that could improve drug design to treat a multitude of diseases.

The trick to boosting crops in drought-prone, food-insecure areas of West Africa could be a ubiquitous native shrub that persists in the toughest of growing conditions.