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Investigational daily pill doubles survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer, study shows

In an international study co-led by UCLA, investigators found an investigational targeted therapy significantly extended overall survival for patients with previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer and reduced the risk of death by 60% compared with standard chemotherapy in both the RAS G12 and the overall, or intent-to-treat (ITT) population, which included patients with and without identified tumor RAS mutations.

The team found patients who received the drug daraxonrasib, an investigational, first-in-class oral RAS(ON) multi-selective inhibitor designed to block active RAS signaling — one of the primary drivers of pancreatic cancer — lived a median of 13.2 months compared with 6.7 months for those who received investigator’s choice chemotherapy in the RAS G12 population.

The findings suggest a potential investigational treatment option for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, a disease that remains among the most lethal cancers and has limited effective therapies.

Designing supramolecular therapies to cross the blood-brain barrier

A new Northwestern Medicine study has uncovered key molecular design principles that could help supramolecular therapeutics cross the blood-brain barrier, a major challenge for this novel approach to treating neurological disorders.

Published in ACS Nano, the study examined how subtle changes in the structure of molecules called peptide amphiphiles affect their ability to move through brain endothelial cells and traverse the blood-brain barrier.

The findings provide a roadmap for developing new therapies capable of reaching the brain, including potential treatments for stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions.

AI MetaHacking: How 3 Microsoft Copilot Flaws Exposed A New Attack Method

Varonis Threat Labs found a critical Microsoft Copilot vulnerability, CVE-2026–24301, without reverse-engineering any code. Researchers simply asked Copilot to explain its own security limitations, and it did. Microsoft patched the flaw, nicknamed CoSnitch, on August 18. It’s the third Copilot vulnerability Varonis has disclosed this year, and the AI meta-hacking discovery method may matter more than the bug itself.

AI meta-hacking just proved an AI assistant can be talked into exposing its own attack surface. Varonis Threat Labs disclosed CoSnitch, a chain of three vulnerabilities in Microsoft Copilot Personal, discovered through what the firm calls meta-hacking: prompting Copilot to explain why certain actions shouldn’t be possible, then using its own answers to map the exact boundary of what actually was possible, according to The Register’s coverage of the disclosure. Microsoft assigned the flaw a CVSS severity score of 8.8 and shipped a fix on August 18, 2026.

Varonis researcher Håkon Måløy and colleagues didn’t start by probing code. They started by asking Copilot conversational questions about its own guardrails, and the assistant’s technical explanations revealed an undocumented URL parameter,?autorun=1, that could auto-execute a malicious prompt the moment a victim clicked a crafted link, according to The Hacker News. That single click gave an attacker’s prompt the ability to act inside the victim’s authenticated session, retrieving data from any connected app, Gmail, Google Drive, calendars, chat history, using Copilot’s own existing permissions. AI meta-hacking as a discovery method didn’t require finding a coding error at all; it required getting the AI to describe its own limits out loud.

‘Chameleon’ chip adapts to changing data speeds, cutting prediction errors by up to 40-fold

A research team led by Chair Professor Shinhyun Choi from the School of Electrical Engineering and the Graduate School of Semiconductor Technology has developed a programmable dynamic memtransistor (PDM), a semiconductor device whose time-response characteristics can be set to and retain multiple states, as well as an integrated array based on the device.

The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

A memtransistor is a next-generation semiconductor device that combines the information storage function of memory with the computing function of a transistor. In the PDM, the ability to process data while retaining previous information allows its response characteristics to be adjusted and retained for incoming data.

Brain test could predict dementia before doctors can see it, study suggests

Early symptoms include forgetting things or recent events, getting lost or confused even in familiar places, problems following or making conversation, and feeling anxious or angry and exhibiting inappropriate behavior.

There is no cure for dementia, and as the condition progresses, the patient may not be able to recognize loved ones, move around, eat, drink, or control their bladder or bowels.

Now, researchers have suggested that a measure of how old a person’s brain appears on brain scans, compared with their actual age, may be a predictor for developing dementia at a later age, and may predict the risk years before doctors can see it.

What the Microbiome Reveals About the Future of Cancer Research

Yet funding is only part of the equation. Microbiome science does not fit neatly within a single discipline or institution, and no single lab or cancer center can answer these questions alone. Advancing discoveries into clinical trials — and ultimately into standard care — requires coordination among research institutions, healthcare systems, government and philanthropy.

This effort also means untangling years of siloed work: sharing standards, building interoperable data systems and committing to long-term evidence generation. The infrastructure required will need to extend far beyond individual institutional priorities. Patients, too, must be willing to participate in clinical trials, and all stakeholders must share a commitment to understanding the biology within us.

The challenge is not a lack of scientific talent. It is the willingness to invest — and to bring great minds and communities together.

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