Research
Patients with Leber congenital amaurosis - a rare inherited disease affecting their sight - experienced a huge improvement in their vision after receiving gene therapy. The vision of the study participants was 100 times better after they received gene therapy to address the genetic mutation causing Leber congenital amaurosis. Some patients even experienced a 10,000-fold [...]
The surprising discovery of a bacterium in a marine sponge from the Great Barrier Reef with striking similarity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the pathogen responsible for tuberculosis (TB), could unlock and inform future TB research and treatment strategies. TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, yet the origins of M. tuberculosis are still not [...]
New research has discovered potential antibiotic candidates deep in the Arctic Sea, demonstrating that prospecting novel habitats can yield novel antivirulence drugs that are less likely to select for resistance. Antibiotics are the linchpin of modern medicine: without them, anyone with open wounds or needing to undergo surgery would be at constant risk of dangerous [...]
A multi-university research team has developed a system that can spot genetic markers of autism in brain images with 89 to 95 per cent accuracy. The findings suggest doctors may one day see, classify and treat autism and related neurological conditions with this method, without having to rely on, or wait for, behavioural cues. That [...]
New research suggests there may be a more effective method to detect bacteria during wound debridement, and has developed a new tool that could reduce complications. Over 6.5 million Americans experience chronic wounds — wounds that do not heal after a few months. Almost all such wounds contain bacteria, which, if not detected and removed, [...]
A type of drug developed for treating cancer holds promise as a new treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, according to a recent study by researchers at Penn State, Stanford University and an international team of collaborators. The researchers discovered that by blocking a specific enzyme called indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase 1, or IDO1 for short, they [...]
A new study challenges the belief that weight loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy or Monjaro work just by promoting satiety and making you eat less. The new trial enrolled with 30 patients and examined the family of medications based on the hormone Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). The findings show that there is a strong relationship [...]
A rare, mutated version of a protein called TNIP1 has been discovered that causes a chronic autoimmune disease similar to Sjogren’s Syndrome – a condition that leads to extreme dryness of the eyes and mouth that can cause blindness if left untreated. The discovery could lead to new treatments. The new study has revealed that [...]
A new study has shown that John Lennon may have been correct when he believed that cannabis helped keep his contact lenses in place. Lennon - who was commonly seen in his circular spectacles - had astigmatism, which is an imperfection in the curvature of the cornea. As contact lenses at the time were made [...]
Findings from a new study show how a mouthwash-based test may help predict head and neck cancer recurrence. Head and neck cancers account for nearly 4 per cent of all cancers in the U.S. and are more commonly diagnosed in people over age 50, according to the National Cancer Institute. Currently, primary treatment options include [...]
