Lots of interesting information! The Zevaskyn (“a first cell-sheet-based gene therapy”) approval for treating epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is particularly uplifting. Back in high school, I knew someone with EB. It is a devastating disease. On the less happy side, an AAV9 therapy and an oncolytic virus therapy were rejected this year. [ https://www.nature.com/articles/d41573-026-00001-z](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41573-026-00001-z)
The US FDA approved 46 new drugs in 2025, despite a tumultuous year at the regulatory agency.
Treatment with an immune and cancer cell-targeting antibody therapy eradicates residual traces of the blood cell cancer multiple myeloma, according to interim results from a clinical trial conducted by researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
None of the 18 patients who completed up to six cycles of treatment with the antibody linvoseltamab had detectable disease on highly sensitive tests. This preliminary success suggests linvoseltamab, a bispecific antibody, could allow patients to avoid bone marrow transplants, which involve intense, high-potency chemotherapy. It also points to the long-term possibility of improving patients’ odds against this disease.
Lead researcher Dickran Kazandjian, M.D., a Sylvester physician and professor in the Myeloma Division at the Miller School, presented updated results today at the American Society of Hematology meeting in Orlando. Dr. Kazandjian conducted the research in collaboration with C. Ola Landgren, M.D., Ph.D., director of Sylvester Myeloma Institute.
“These patients received modern and effective, up-front treatment that eliminated 90% of their tumor,” said Dr. Kazandjian. “Usually, patients like these would receive high-dose chemotherapy and transplant. Instead, we give them a treatment with the drug linvoseltamab.”
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers are investigating ways to eradicate residual traces of multiple myeloma.
After years of fast expansion and billion-dollar bets, 2026 may mark the moment artificial intelligence confronts its actual utility. In their predictions for the next year, Stanford faculty across computer science, medicine, law, and economics converge on a striking theme: The era of AI evangelism is giving way to an era of AI evaluation. Whether it’s standardized benchmarks for legal reasoning, real-time dashboards tracking labor displacement, or clinical frameworks for vetting the flood of medical AI startups, the coming year demands rigor over hype. The question is no longer “Can AI do this?” but “How well, at what cost, and for whom?”
Learn more about what Stanford HAI faculty expect in the new year.
Postpartum prescription of GLP-1RAs in Denmark increased between 2018 and 2024, with semaglutide accounting for most prescriptions since 2023.
Most users had overweight or obesity, and only 23% had a diabetes diagnosis, suggesting weight reduction as the main reason for use.
This study uses data from the Danish Medical Birth Register to examine postpartum use of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists.
Jung, Yu, Choi et al. reveal a critical neuroprotective role of PTMS, while loss of this protein causes severe neurodegeneration. Hypothalamic neural stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles carrying PTMS protect neurons by preventing DNA damage and offer therapeutic benefits against aging-related neurodegenerative and Alzheimer’s-like conditions in animal models.
The prevalence of prediabetes has increased significantly in recent years among Finnish children living with overweight or obesity, a recent study by Tampere University and the University of Eastern Finland shows. In the early 2000s, 11% of those studied had prediabetes, whereas 20 years later, the prevalence of prediabetes was 50%. The prevalence of obesity remained unchanged during the study period, but prediabetes became more common among children, which could, in part, be due to a simultaneous increase in maternal overweight.
The study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, included 602 children aged 6 to 16 who had been assessed for overweight or obesity in primary health care or specialized health care in Tampere between 2002 and 2020. The study also included a control group of 483 children aged 7–16, which had been drawn from the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) study, underway at the University of Eastern Finland.
According to the study, 34% of children who had been assessed for overweight or obesity had prediabetes, and 1% had type 2 diabetes. In the control group, 7% had prediabetes, while type 2 diabetes was not observed. Prediabetes was more common in older children and those in more advanced stages of puberty. Its prevalence was also associated with fatty liver disease and acanthosis nigricans, a skin condition often linked to overweight and disturbances in glucose metabolism.
From work meetings to first dates, it’s essential to adjust our behavior for success. In certain situations, it can even be a matter of life or death. So how do we switch our behavior when situations change? Published in Nature Communications, neuroscientists describe the neural basis of behavioral flexibility in mice, with insights which may help us understand a wide variety of diseases and disorders, from addiction to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) to Parkinson’s disease.
“The brain mechanisms behind changing behaviors have remained elusive, because adapting to a given scenario is very neurologically complex. It requires interconnected activity across multiple areas of the brain,” explains a co-author. “Previous work has indicated that cholinergic interneurons—brain cells that release a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine—are involved in enabling behavioral flexibility. Here, we were able to use advanced imaging techniques to see neurotransmitter release in real time and delve into the fundamental mechanisms behind behavioral flexibility”
In their investigations, the researchers trained mice in a virtual maze, teaching them the correct route to receive a reward. They then switched the route, leading to an unexpected loss of reward for the mice, and observed the effects of this disappointing change using two-photon microscopy.
Yale School of Medicine (YSM) scientists have discovered a molecular difference in the brains of autistic people compared to their neurotypical counterparts.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition associated with behavioral differences including difficulties with social interaction, restrictive or intense interests, and repetitive movements or speech. But it’s not clear what makes autistic brains different.
Now, a study in the American Journal of Psychiatry has found that the brains of autistic people have fewer of a specific kind of receptor for glutamate, the most common excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. The reduced availability of these receptors may be associated with various characteristics linked to autism.