Long-time Slashdot reader sixoh1 shares “an interesting spin on biotechnology tools that we’ve been seeing explode lately like Crisper-CAS and mRNA.” Ars Technica writes: This is in no way a route to a practical therapy, but it does provide a fantastic window into what we can accomplish by manipulating biology. The whole effort described in the new paper is focused on…
Tag: therapies
Reversal of Biological Clock Restores Vision In Old Mice
John Trumpian shares a report from SciTechDaily: Harvard Medical School scientists have successfully restored vision in mice by turning back the clock on aged eye cells in the retina to recapture youthful gene function. The team’s work, described today in Nature, represents the first demonstration that it may be possible to safely reprogram complex tissues, such as the nerve cells of…
Is the coronavirus evolving and will it become more or less deadly?
So far, we haven’t seen much change in the coronavirus, but as we develop more therapies and potentially a vaccine it could mutate Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24833053-600-is-the-coronavirus-evolving-and-will-it-become-more-or-less-deadly/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
The Race for a Super-Antibody Against the Coronavirus
A network of scientists is chasing the pandemic’s holy grail: an antibody that protects against not just the virus, but also related pathogens that may threaten humans. From a report: Dozens of companies and academic groups are racing to develop antibody therapies. Already Regeneron and the drug company Eli Lilly have requested emergency use authorizations for their products from the Food…
Scientific American Endorses Joe Biden For Its First Presidential Endorsement In 175 Years
goombah99 shares a report from The Washington Post: Four years ago, the magazine flagged Donald Trump’s disdain for science as “frightening” but did not go so far as to endorse his rival, Hillary Clinton. This year, its editors came to a different conclusion. “A 175-year tradition is not something you break lightly,” editor in chief, Laura Helmuth told The Washington Post…
Some Scientists ‘Uneasy’ About the Race For a Covid-19 Vaccine
The Guardian ran an article by the author of Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World looking at problems with our own race for a vaccine in 2020: On 2 August, Steven Salzberg, a computational biologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, suggested in Forbes magazine that a promising vaccine be rolled out to…
AI Invents New ‘Recipes’ For Potential COVID-19 Drugs
sciencehabit writes: As scientists uncover drugs that can treat coronavirus infections, demand will almost certainly outstrip supplies — as is already happening with the antiviral remdesivir. To prevent shortages, researchers have come up with a new way to design synthetic routes to drugs now being tested in some COVID-19 clinical trials, using artificial intelligence (AI) software. The AI-planned new recipes –…
Alzheimer’s disease may start in the gut and spread to the brain
A protein linked to brain damage in people with Alzheimer’s disease may come from the gut, which could lead to new therapies to prevent the condition Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2248778-alzheimers-disease-may-start-in-the-gut-and-spread-to-the-brain/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Cancer Patient Complains: My Facebook Feed Is Full of ‘Alternative Care’ Ads
The author of an opinion piece in the New York Times describes what happened after sharing their cancer diagnosis on Facebook:
Since then, my Facebook feed has featured ads for “alternative cancer care.” The ads, which were new to my timeline, promote everything from cumin seeds to colloidal silver as cancer treatments. Some ads promise luxury clinics — or even “nontoxic cancer…
Delays Reported For Possible Covid-Inoculating Plasma Shot
“It might be the next best thing to a coronavirus vaccine,” writes the Los Angeles Times. “Scientists have devised a way to use the antibody-rich blood plasma of Covid-19 survivors for an upper-arm injection that they say could inoculate people against the virus for months.”
Using technology that’s been proven effective in preventing other diseases such as hepatitis A, the injections would…