Over 65 million years ago, an asteroid some 10 km (6 mi) wide crashed into the Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs. Strangely, the legacy of this huge space rock could include a treatment for cancer after scientists from the UK and China demonstrated that iridium – a rare metal delivered to Earth by the asteroid – can be enlisted to kill cancer without harming healthy cells. read more
According to the World Health Organization, snakes bite an estimated 5 million people each year, killing more than 100,000 of those victims and permanently injuring hundreds of thousands more. Current antivenoms might not be saving lives as efficiently as they could be, given that they’re difficult and expensive to produce, distribute and administer. Now, researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have developed a synthetic alternative with a long shelf-life that can neutralize the venom from several species of snakes. read more
Spinal injuries can be like downed power lines – even if everything on either side of the injury is perfectly functional, the break can effectively shut down the whole system. Now, researchers at the University of Minnesota have designed a device that could link everything back together again. A silicone guide, covered in 3D-printed neuronal stem cells, can be implanted into the injury site, where it grows new connections between remaining nerves to let patients regain some motor control. read more
A new study from researchers at the Mayo Clinic may shed some light on why certain people can lose more weight than others despite adhering to the same regime of exercise and caloric restriction. Alongside a myriad of other recent medical discoveries, the secret may lie in the unique make-up of our gut bacteria. read more
Yeah Right!
A controversial abortion drug rushed through the government’s approval process by the Clinton administration has killed nearly two dozen women and produced serious adverse effects in thousands of others, according to records obtained by Judicial Watch. Nearly 100 women who took the drug (Mifeprex) had ectopic pregnancies, the records show, and hundreds of others required blood transfusions and hospitalization. Judicial Watch has investigated the government’s handling of Mifeprex, also known as RU-486, since the Clinton administration aggressively shoved the abortion pill through the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval process in an effort to appease radical pro-abortion activists. read more
Cancer treatment is often a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. You may well have some success with chemotherapy, but subsequent damage to otherwise healthy organs and tissue is a trade-off that clinicians and patients have had to juggle with for decades. But, thanks to a chance meeting at the Hudson Institute in Melbourne, lung cancer patients could be looking at more effective chemo with fewer side effects. read more
The bacteria that call your gut home can have a tremendous impact on your overall health, but exactly how the bugs do so is a web that’s still being untangled. To investigate, researchers at Harvard Medical School have deleted a single gene from one gut bacteria species and found that it alters the metabolism of the host, reducing their weight gain. read more
Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is one of the most commonly associated causes of age-related dementia and stroke. New research, led by the University of Edinburgh, may have finally uncovered the mechanism by which SVD causes brain cell damage, as well as a potential treatment to prevent the damage, and possibly even reverse it. read more
Although finger-prick blood glucose tests are a daily necessity for millions of diabetics, a less-painful alternative may be on the horizon. Led by Prof. George Shaker, a team from Canada’s University of Waterloo is looking at using radar and artificial intelligence (AI) to do the job. read more
Cancer is one of humanity’s biggest killers, but scientists are coming up with some creative ways to fight back. Researchers at the University at Buffalo have developed new kinds of nanoparticles that can infiltrate, heat up and kill cancer cells more effectively and efficiently than similar methods. read more
