Article
Featured Articles
Read our latest stories on the people and scientific innovations making a difference in patients’ lives.
Treating Cancer by Using Epigenetics, the ‘Software’ of Our Genes
All of our cells possess the same set of DNA. So, why is it that some cells turn into skin cells while other cells turn into lung cells — and still other cells go rogue and turn into cancer cells? The key lies in the epigenome — the naturally occurring chemical markers that accompany your genes and act as molecular switches that can turn a gene on or off without changing your DNA itself. For example, in agouti mice, even identical twin siblings with the same DNA can have different fur colors...
How Genetically Related Are We to Bananas?
Gene sequencing reveals that we have more in common with bananas, chickens, and fruit flies than you may expect. We’ve long known that we’re closely related to chimpanzees and other primates, but did you know that humans also share more than half of our genetic material with chickens, fruit flies, and bananas? Since the human genome was first sequenced in 2003, the field of comparative genomics has revealed that we share common DNA with many other living organisms — yes, including our...
The Great Migration: Tracking Immune Cells’ Travels
Scientists are studying how immune cells move to develop better treatments for autoimmune diseases. Birds migrate. People migrate. And so do cells. T-cells squeezing between collagen fibers. PLOS ONE/Coles JA Our immune cells, in particular, are always on the move, constantly patrolling the body for foreign invaders. If an unwelcome visitor enters through the nose, mouth or eyes, or there’s a break in the skin, these nimble soldiers are ready to flood the attack site and send out signals...
Got the Flu? It May Be Because of Your Genes
Genetic factors may explain why some people get sick and others avoid infectious diseases. When flu season strikes, why do some people get sick, some get by without even a slight cough, and an unfortunate few land in the hospital with a severe illness? We’ve long known that a complicated mix of factors — from age and stress to environment and illness history — can impact whether we get sick and how long it takes to recover. Now a growing area of research, aided by advances in human...
Tapping Coding Virtuosos to Solve Research Challenges
Medical researchers turn to crowdsourcing in the coding community to crack DNA data challenges. In 2014, a team of Pfizer scientists faced a data bottleneck. While conducting a study to find genetic variations that could increase a person’s risk of developing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) — a group of lung diseases that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis — they collected millions of data points. With their best available software at the time, it took up to ten hours...
foundations-science
Hungry, Hungry Macrophages (video)
Macrophages, the human immune system’s horde of cells that clear the body’s detritus by eating it, may be induced to gorge — in the name of helping combat Alzheimer’s and other diseases. Macrophages have an appetite for destruction. (Their name means “big eater” in Greek.) As the immune system’s primary phagocyte — or cell that has the astounding ability to engulf and digest another particle — macrophages are, among other things, the human body’s primary cleanup system. They exist in every...
Good Guy/Bad Guy: Macrophages vs. Pinworms
In the battlefield that is our human bodies, pathogen-chomping macrophages face off against harmful intruders that include the likes of parasitic pinworms. Bad Guy: This foe seems like something out of a horror film, a parasitic worm named Enterobius vermicularis (above right), commonly called a pinworm. Pinworms hatch in the small intestine after its eggs are accidentally, and unknowingly, ingested after contact with fecal matter and improper hand-washing. The pinworm is particularly...
Good Guy/Bad Guy: B-Cells vs. Ebola
(CDC/Dr. Frederick A. Murphy; Steve Gschmeisserner/Science Photo Library) In the fight for immunity, our B-cells play the role of watchful attack dogs. A virus like Ebola has other ideas. Unbeknownst to most of us most of the time, there are death matches on the microscopic level going on in our bodies most every minute of every day, instigated by everything from paper cuts to viral infections. This new series we call Good Guy/Bad Guy offers a close-up look at the battlefield that is...
Media Resources & Contact Information
Anyone may view our press releases, press statements, and press kits. However, to ensure that customers, investors, and others receive the appropriate attention, Pfizer Media Contacts may only respond to calls and emails from professional journalists.