Longtime readers may recall that my first job after college was as a researcher in a cystic fibrosis (CF) lab at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. It was a transformative and deeply informative period of my life. I learned in the lab how frustrating science can be. For…

Treatment with Trikafta (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor) eased sinus symptoms and helped stabilize weight without evidence of worsening lung function in people with cystic fibrosis (CF) who had received a lung transplant, a study found. The researchers said the findings show that Trikafta “can be safely incorporated into post–lung transplant care…

A metabolic pathway shared by lung cells and bacteria may help explain two major features of lung disease in people with cystic fibrosis (CF): the gradual thickening of the airways and persistent lung infections. Researchers found that lab-grown human airway cells carrying disease-causing mutations increase their production of pyrimidines,…

Adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) who spent more time in homes with elevated indoor fine-particle levels tended to show changes in circulating inflammatory signaling proteins, a pilot study found. Researchers measured more than 40 signaling proteins and found that a blood marker linked to tissue repair was significantly associated with…

If I had a dollar for every awful word spoken to me over the years, I’d be a millionaire. “Are you anorexic? Or do you just throw up after you eat?” “Eww! You have alien fingers.” “Time to take your crazy pills at the nurse’s office, Lara!” These are…

French scientists have found that distinct patterns of DNA methylation — a type of chemical change that influences how genes are used without altering the underlying DNA sequence — are associated with cystic fibrosis (CF), and are also tied to lung function and CF-related diabetes in people with the…