Science Spotlight: AI studies link preserved thymic function to longer life

In dual Nature papers, a team led by Hugo Aerts at Harvard Medical School introduced an AI-based way to quantify thymic health from routine CT scans and then link that score to major clinical outcomes.

The thymus is a small gland located in the upper chest. During early life, the thymus trains T cells to recognize the difference between the body’s own tissues (self) and foreign invaders (non-self) so that the immune system knows what to attack and what to leave unharmed...