Health

a head of lettuce on a colorful background

Insulin grown in lettuce can be taken orally

New synthetic insulin harvested from lettuce plants can be made cheaply, taken orally, and transported at room temperature.

Kristin Houser

Brain

Cancer med appears to prevent brain aneurysms

Japanese researchers have discovered that the cancer drug sunitinib can prevent the formation of brain aneurysms in mice.

Kristin Houser

“Nature’s own Ozempic” or berberine is all over social media

Does berberine work as well as Ozempic to help people lose weight? Social media seems to think so, but it’s not likely.

Rebecca Roubin and Nial Wheate and Tina Hinton

Medicine

UK scientists solve a decades-long blood mystery

Researchers have discovered a new blood group which may have been behind the tragic loss of two babies.

B. David Zarley

Fertility

Male birth control options are in development, but a number of barriers still stand in the way

A survey of over 9,000 men in nine countries found that over 55% would be willing to use a new method of male birth control.

Christina Chung-Lun Wang

Biology

Like genes, your gut microbes pass from one generation to the next

Not only did microbes diversify with their early modern human hosts as they traveled across the globe, they followed human evolution.

Ruth Ley and Taichi A. Suzuki

Surgery

First-of-its-kind surgery may have helped reverse baby’s paralysis

The first recipient of a groundbreaking spina bifida treatment is now one year old and showing no signs of leg paralysis.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

It may be possible to treat inherited blindness, even in adults

A new mouse study suggests that synthetic retinoids may be able to help restore vision in adults with Leber congenital amaurosis.

Kristin Houser

Medicine

Cambridge researchers have discovered how cancer spreads

New research out of the University of Cambridge may have discovered a mechanism behind metastasis.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

New test catches deadly bloodstream infections much faster

Bloodstream infections have a high mortality rate. But a new test to catch them faster could lead to more saved lives.

B. David Zarley

Prosthetics

A cure for blindness may be first product made in space

An ISS experiment suggests that manufacturing artificial retinas in space will make them more effective at reversing blindness.

Kristin Houser

Virology

A newly discovered class of RNA can fight off multiple viruses, including flu and SARS-CoV-2

Harvard-affiliated researchers have discovered a form of double-stranded RNA which may be a potent antiviral.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

Tiny robots completely clear out deadly pneumonia infection in mice

Researchers have created microscopic robots capable of clearing pneumonia from the lungs of mice.

B. David Zarley

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