Science & academia

3d illustration of gut and stomach pain

79% of Crohn’s disease patients in remission after early intervention

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Led by researchers from the University of Cambridge, a clinical trial examined the effectiveness of giving the immunotherapy drug infliximab earlier, as soon as possible after diagnosis. They employed what’s called a ‘top-down’ strategy, meaning the drug was given straight after diagnosis regardless of the patient’s symptom severity. They found that this early intervention significantly reduces complications of this often debilitating disease, including the need for surgery by a factor of 10.

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Brain scan

Belgian boy becomes first child in the world to be cured of brain stem glioma

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Brain stem glioma, officially called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), is rare and lethal, diagnosed in just 300 children annually in the United States. The two-year survival rate is 10%, and no drug is widely available for its treatment beyond radiotherapy. After the boy’s diagnosis, the family traveled to France to take part in a randomized controlled trial. He was randomly assigned the drug everolimus, which he took for more than 5 years with remarkable success.

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Solar panels

Turkish scientists develop “bumpy” solar panel concept that can harvest up to 66% more energy

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Solar cell efficiency may get a bump from bumps. New research from Turkey’s Abdullah Gül University suggests that building tiny domes into the surface of organic solar cells could boost their efficiency by up to two-thirds, while capturing light from a wider angle.

Turkish scientists develop “bumpy” solar panel concept that can harvest up to 66% more energy Read more

Dentist's Hand Taking Saliva Test From Woman's Mouth

Hand-held test for breast cancer uses your saliva and gives accurate readings in 5 seconds

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A new hand-held portable device is not only extremely quick and easy to use but very cost effective, say scientists from the University of Florida and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. Compared to the costly alternatives of Mammograms, which expose women to radiation—or MRIs and ultrasounds which require expensive equipment—researchers called the device revolutionary.

Hand-held test for breast cancer uses your saliva and gives accurate readings in 5 seconds Read more

Colorful ribbons on pink background

New drug offers breakthrough in treatment of asbestos-linked cancer

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Scientists at Queen Mary University of London have developed a drug to treat mesothelioma, a notoriously deadly and hard-to-treat cancer linked to asbestos, in the biggest breakthrough in two decades.
An international trial spanning five countries found that the new drug, ADI-PEG20, cuts off the tumor’s food supply and quadruples three-year survival rates. It is the first of its kind to be successfully combined with chemotherapy in 20 years.

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Aerial view of container ship

Decarbonization containers turn 78% of marine emissions into limestone in new pilot

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A remarkable pilot project installed on a 787-ft. container ship has proven it’s possible to capture emissions from the smokestacks of cargo ships with 78% efficiency and convert the CO2 into limestone pebbles, which can be offloaded and sold. London startup Seabound, funded by a US$1.5-million grant from the UK Government, partnered up with global shipping company Lomar to install the carbon capture equipment on one of its older and dirtier-burning ships, a medium-sized vessel capable of carrying more than 3,200 shipping containers.

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Hands making hear shape over transgender flag in background

More than 90% of trans people are more satisfied with life after transitioning, massive new study finds

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Ninety-four percent of transgender people said that they were either a little or a lot more satisfied with their lives since they transitioned, the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS) by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) found. The study, which is the latest edition of the influential survey of transgender people, involved 92,329 transgender and nonbinary respondents answering questions about various aspects of their lives from October 19 to December 5, 2022.

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Assortment of pills

Novel AI model rapidly determines if an antidepressant will work

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Amsterdam University Medical Center (UMC) and Radboud UMC researchers have developed an algorithm that, based on patient MRI scans and other data, can determine within a week if a particular antidepressant will, offering faster relief and minimizing often painful and damaging side effects. “This is important news for patients,” said Liesbeth Reneman, Professor of Neuroradiology at Amsterdam UMC. “Normally, it takes six to eight weeks before it is known whether an antidepressant will work.”

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Depiction of nerve cells

Researchers discover an effective non-opioid treatment for nerve pain

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Many available pain medications aren’t effective in reducing this often-debilitating type of chronic pain. However, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), in collaboration with UT Dallas and the University of Miami, may have advanced the treatment of neuropathic pain by discovering a molecule that reduces mechanical hypersensitivity in mice.

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Chromosomes

Gene therapy hailed as ‘medical magic wand’ for hereditary swelling disorder

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Hereditary angioedema, or HAE, is a rare disease that affects about one in 50,000 people. It is caused by a genetic mutation that leaves patients with leaky blood vessels, causing erratic bouts of swelling. Dr. Hilary Longhurst, the principal investigator at New Zealand’s Te Toka Tumai, Auckland City hospital, said the new single-dose therapy appeared to provide a permanent cure for her patients’ “very disabling symptoms”.

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