CAMBRIDGE: Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking, whose mental genius and physical disability made him a household name and inspiration across the globe, has died at age 76, his family said Wednesday. Propelled to superstardom by his 1988 book “A Brief History of Time”, which became an unlikely worldwide bestseller, Hawking …

A tiny RNA molecule plays a big role in the development of two diseases affecting billions of people worldwide: heart disease and obesity. Yale researchers have found that by disrupting this microRNA in key tissues, they can reduce plaque buildup in arteries while avoiding unintended effects. Prior animal studies have …

Pharmaceutical companies once considered a protein called p38 a very attractive target for treating rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis patients usually have elevated activity of this inflammation-producing protein, and in lab studies p38 inhibitors appeared to soothe inflammation. However, these drugs failed in several clinical trials. A new study from MIT sheds …