Using genetically-edited cells to supercharge the immune system caused no adverse effects in cancer patients. It’s too soon to tell if it can be a cure.
Scientists from the UNC School of Medicine, Columbia University, and Rockefeller University have revealed the inner workings of one of the most fundamental and important molecular machines in cells.
The researchers, in a study published in Science, used biochemical experiments and cryo–electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to determine the atomic structure of a complex assembly of molecules known as the histone mRNA three-prime (3’) end-processing machine. This machine plays a fundamental role in proper activity and duplication of the cell genome and when defective, it may lead to human diseases, including cancers.
Histone proteins are found in all plants and animals, and they form a “beads-on-a-string” arrangement where the DNA in chromosomes is wrapped around the beads of histones. Histones ensure the efficient packaging of DNA and help regulate which genes are turned “on” and which are kept “off,” processes needed for all cells to function properly.
China has applied to patent a drug candidate being developed by US biotechnology firm Gilead Sciences in its search for a cure for coronavirus infection. It could raise questions on intellectual property and marketing rights.
MDMA and psilocybin have been granted breakthrough therapy status by the FDA, signaling a shift in the future of mental health treatment.
Clinical studies are underway. How we treat them moving forward matters.
Extreme cold is being utilized to bring humans back from the brink of death; after being shot or stabbed and losing half of your blood there is only a 5% chance for survival, but this experimental procedure may help to increase these dire odds.
It is not unheard of for victims of cold water drownings to be successfully resuscitated, this led to Mads Gilbert coining the phrase “nobody is dead until warm and dead” after resuscitating a woman who fell through ice and her temperature dropped to 13.7C. Incidents such as these also raise questions about the likelihood of the science of cold helping to bring humans back from the brink of death.
Trauma surgeon Samuel Tisherman is putting the science of cold to the test, rather than warm patients up he is cooling them down. In 2019 a patient was placed into suspended animation for the first time by Tisherman and his team at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The procedure described in New Scientist details how the patient was rapidly cooled down to 10-15C which temporarily stopped vital functions to put the patient into a state somewhere between life and death. The team was investigating whether stimulating the same situation as drowning in cold water in a hospital setting could help patients.
A recent study by MIT found a low-pitched buzz-like sound and strobe lights can be used to replicate brain waves impeded by Alzheimer’s, which improved cognitive function and helped remove plaque in mice displaying symptoms of the disease. The approach hasn’t been tested in humans yet, but if it’s possible to copy these results, it might turn into a drug-free, inexpensive way to treat this condition.
The Secret: Applying Sound and Light at the Same Frequency
The study in question follows up on a previous one, which showed that flashing light and playing sound 40 times a second into the eyes of mice with Alzheimer’s, improved their condition. According to MIT researcher Li-Huei Tsai, there is substantial reduction of amyloid protein and increased prefrontal cortex engagement when visual and auditory stimulation is combined over a period of one week. The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain most active in cognitive functions.
Circa 2016
We ask a philosopher about the scientifically-debated concept of genetic memory.
A massive, decade-long study sequencing the genomes of dozens of cancers has revealed the secrets of how tumours form and may pave the way for better and more targeted treatment.
The Pan-Cancer Project brought together over 1,300 researchers globally to tackle the mammoth task of sequencing the genomes of 38 types of cancer in nearly 2,800 patients.
Continue reading “Massive New Genome Study Unlocks The Mysterious Secrets of How Cancers Form” »
For years, scientists have hoped to use the gene-editing technology CRISPR to help treat all sorts of diseases, including cancer. Now for the first time in the U.S., researchers say they’ve shown that CRISPR-edited immune cells can be safely given to cancer patients and survive for up to nine months—a finding that may signal CRISPR’s future as part of an emerging cancer treatment known as immunotherapy.
The idea that we can boost the human immune system to help it fight off cancer isn’t new. But it’s only recently that researchers have been able to make substantial advances in the field. There are different techniques, but one that’s received lots of attention involves reprogramming our immune system’s shock troops, known as T cells, to attack cancer. T cells are drawn out from a patient’s blood, grown and modified in the lab so that they target tumor cells, and then reintroduced back into the body.
Cancer is a hugely complicated disease, and understanding how it starts and how it can be treated requires an equally enormous effort from scientists. That effort is well underway with the Pan-Cancer Project, an international collaboration dedicated to analyzing thousands of whole cancer genomes. And now, the comprehensive results are being published in 23 separate papers, revealing new details about cancer’s causes and development, and how it can be classified, diagnosed and treated.
Otherwise known as the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Project, the collaboration involves over 1,300 scientists from 37 countries. These researchers analyzed over 2,600 whole cancer genomes of 38 different types of tumors, probing deeper than ever into how the disease alters DNA.
One of the most optimistic outlooks from the project is that while the cancer genome is incredibly complex, it’s also finite. That means that it should be technically possible to document every genetic change that cancer can possibly induce. That information can then be used to diagnose which type of tumor a patient has and personalize a treatment plan based on the unique genome of their cancer.
