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At first glance, you might think that sugar substitutes are a more calorie-conscious way to sweeten your coffee without the extra calories. Most packets clearly state they are a zero-calorie sweetener—but just because it’s not adding any calories to your daily calorie intake doesn’t mean it’s not causing weight gain in more indirect ways. A new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature Metabolism found that consuming sucralose, a common artificial sweetener, stimulates the brain to send out signals involved in feelings of hunger. Research also found evidence of sucralose interfering with communication between different brain areas, including those involved in motivation. Splenda is one of the most common sucralose-based sugar substitutes. (Solis-Moreira, 3/26)

Chinese researchers are reporting new steps in the quest for animal-to-human organ transplants – with a successful pig kidney transplant and a hint Wednesday that pig livers might eventually be useful, too. A Chinese patient is the third person in world known to be living with a gene-edited pig kidney. And the same research team also reported an experiment implanting a pig liver into a brain-dead person. (Neergaard, 3/26)

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the first medicine to treat people with Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic disease that causes an insatiable desire to eat. The drug, a once-daily pill called Vykat XR, was developed by Soleno Therapeutics. (Feuerstein, 3/26)

Ticks, once latched onto a fleshy target with their barbed, needle-like mouths, are ready for almost anything. They glue themselves to the skin using a complex, cement-like substance. And then, like a “little pharmacological company,” they dole out proteins to keep the blood flowing, make it relatively painless, and hamper any immune response that might reveal their parasitic presence, Yale University researcher Erol Fikrig says. (Cueto, 3/26)

The NCAA basketball tournament is not only exciting, it's loud! The roar of the crowd and the buzzing of the buzzer as time expires can reach the same volume levels as a jackhammer! Those noises can also be too much for little ears, according to Dr. Emily Boss, director of children's ear, nose and throat surgery at Johns Hopkins University. (Gordemer, 3/27)