Over the past 220 years, the connection between people and nature has declined by more than 60%. That’s the key finding of a study led by Miles Richardson, a professor of nature connectedness at the University of Derby in England.
Losing touch with nature is increasingly recognized as a contributing factor to the environmental crisis the planet is facing today. When people feel disconnected from the natural world, they are less likely to protect it.
“Immunotherapy has improved survival outcomes for patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), marking meaningful progress in a historically challenging disease. However, despite these advances, long-term outcomes remain suboptimal, underscoring the need for better strategies. The integration of lurbinectedin—a novel DNA-damaging agent—into the maintenance setting alongside atezolizumab following initial chemo-immunotherapy represents an important next step. This approach offers a way to extend disease control and may signal a shift toward more durable benefit for patients,” said Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, FASCO, Leslye M Heisler Professor of Lung Cancer Excellence at University of Pennsylvania – Abramson Cancer Center, and an ASCO Expert in lung cancer.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Results from a global phase 3 clinical trial found that maintenance therapy with a combination of lurbinectedin and atezolizumab helped some patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) live longer compared to maintenance therapy with atezolizumab alone. The research will be presented at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, taking place May 30-June 3 in Chicago.
About the Study
“While the introduction of immunotherapy in first-line treatment has improved outcomes, advanced small cell lung cancer remains difficult to treat. The phase 3 IMforte trial shows that the new treatment combination of lurbinectedin and atezolizumab given as maintenance therapy after first-line treatment helps people live longer and reduces the risk of disease progression or death. This outcome represents a major milestone and could provide a much-needed option for advancing the treatment of this aggressive disease,” said lead study author Luis G. Paz Ares, MD, PhD, 12 de Octubre University Hospital in Madrid, Spain.
One of the most exciting developments in cancer treatment is a wave of new cell therapies that train a patient’s immune system to attack cancer cells. Such therapies have saved the lives of patients with certain aggressive cancers and few other options. Most of these therapies work by teaching immune cells to recognize and attack specific proteins on the surface of cancer cells.
Unfortunately, most proteins found on cancer cells aren’t unique to tumors. They’re also often present on healthy cells, making it difficult to target cancer aggressively without triggering dangerous attacks on other tissue. The problem has limited the application of cell therapies to a small subset of cancers.
Now Senti Bio is working to create smarter cell therapies using synthetic biology. The company, which was founded by former MIT faculty member and current MIT Research Associate Tim Lu ’03, MEng ’03, PhD ’08 and Professor James Collins, is equipping cells with gene circuits that allow the cells to sense and respond to their environments.
Founded by MIT researchers, Senti Bio is is working to create smarter cell therapies for cancer using synthetic biology. The company equips cells with gene circuits that allow the cells to respond to their environments.
An influential scientific panel is pumping the brakes on stem cell-based embryo models — an umbrella term for the increasingly complex structures researchers are building from stem cells and growing in the lab to mimic aspects of embryonic development. In new guidelines released Monday, the International Society for Stem Cell Research called for stricter oversight of studies involving such models and the establishment of red lines against using them for certain activities.
Specifically, the latest guidelines say that researchers should not use any stem cell-based embryo models to try to start a pregnancy in a person or animal or grow them in an artificial womb to the point of viability, because of broad consensus that such experiments would be unethical. The new restrictions also extend to purposes beyond research, including commercial and reproductive.
Although the models that scientists have built thus far remain too primitive to reach that developmental milestone, the updated guidance is aimed at addressing an explosion of rapid advances in the field over the past several years that are already raising thorny ethical dilemmas.
Scientists at La Trobe University have produced a new, powerful electricity-conducting material in research which could revolutionize smartphones and wearable technologies like medical devices.
The new technique uses hyaluronic acid, well known due to its popularity in skincare, applied directly to a gold-plated surface to create a thinner, more durable film, or polymer, used to conduct electricity in devices like biosensors.
Lead researcher Associate Professor Wren Greene said the technique could lead to major improvements in the function, cost and usability of devices like touchscreens and wearable biosensors.
Drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro (known as semaglutide and tirzepatide) have changed the way clinicians manage diabetes and obesity around the world.
Collectively known as GLP-1 agonists, these drugs mimic the hormone GLP-1. This limits both hunger and interest in food, helping users lose weight, and helps control blood sugar levels.
But two new studies published today show that people taking these drugs may have a small increased risk of serious eye conditions and vision loss.
Scientists have made the first-ever direct measurement of atomic temperatures in extreme materials, shattering a four-decade-old theory about how far solids can be superheated.
Using a powerful laser and ultrabright X-rays, researchers at SLAC and collaborating institutions heated gold to an astonishing 19,000 K, more than 14 times its melting point, while it remained solid. This breakthrough not only redefines the limits of matter under extreme conditions but also opens the door to new insights into planetary interiors, fusion energy research, and high-energy density physics.
Measuring the unmeasurable: cracking the heat code.
