Bio Drugs
Chasing a cure for narcolepsy—and why it should be a priority
For the first 20 years of his life, Henry Nicholls had a healthy relationship with sleep. Shortly after his 21st ...
Migraine relief: First drug in 20 years that can prevent and cut in half length of attacks
A new migraine drug that can halve the length of attacks has been hailed as “the start of real change” ...
Bacterial DNA used in innovative Hepatitis B vaccines
Two hepatitis B virus vaccines are currently on the market. Earlier this month, however, the Food and Drug Administration licensed ...
Hepatitis B treatable with unique new strategy—using bacterial DNA
Two hepatitis B virus vaccines are currently on the market. Earlier in November, however, the Food and Drug Administration licensed ...
Synaesthesia: For those who lose their sight, colors can have sound
Vanessa Potter lost her sight. As she recovered, her senses mingled – hearing and touch changed the way she saw ...
How gene therapy could help fight methamphetamine addiction
Gene therapy, which modifies a person’s DNA, has long been thought of as a way to treat genetic diseases—and, more recently, ...
Food, vaccines and medicine: How plant scientists are changing the world
[Editor's note: Erica Hawkins is a PhD student at the John Innes Centre and the University of East Anglia studying medicinal plant ...
Checkpoint inhibitors fight cancer–but can have nasty side effects
Yale University immunologist Kevan Herold spoke about a few of his newest diabetes patients to an unlikely audience: oncologists and ...
Could ‘superantibiotics’ save us from rising drug resistance?
The need for new classes of antibiotics has repeatedly been emphasised, with researchers turning to some of the most extreme environments on ...
CRISPR at home: Is it really that easy to hack DNA?
I am not a DIY scientist, much less a professional scientist. You won’t find me swabbing my cheek cells for ...
‘Young blood’ infusions may boost cognitive abilities of Alzheimer’s patients
The first controlled, but controversial and small, clinical trial of giving young blood to people with dementia has reported that ...
Gene circuit triggers immune system to battle cancer
A research team at MIT has used synthetic biology to create a gene circuit that triggers the immune system to ...
Bioethics: What are CRISPR’s real threats and rewards?
[S]cientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research participated in an international think tank this month ...
When genetic engineering came of age: World’s first GMO—GE insulin—approved 35 years ago
It has been 35 years since genetically engineered insulin was approved by the FDA in a process that was quick ...
CAR-T engineering of patients’ own T cells for cancer therapy gains traction
The strategy of engineering patients' own T cells for cancer therapy got two major endorsements in late August, one financial ...
Unapproved stem cell therapy leaves elderly women blind
[E]ye doctors based primarily at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami had published a widely covered report describing three eerily similar cases: ...
Time to stop treating men and women the same when it comes to drug treatments
Studies have shown that males and females metabolize drugs differently, suggesting we should be spending more time studying those differences ...
Genetically modified skin grafts could monitor glucose, end needle sticks for diabetes
Painful and inconvenient, needle sticks are part of daily life for many people with diabetes. Wouldn’t it be great if ...
Growing cancer drugs in chicken eggs could lower costs by 90%
Researchers in Japan may have found a way to produce cheaper drugs that could be used to treat a range ...
Modeling human tumors in mice can be problematic—here’s why
[A] new study [read full study] suggests that an unfortunate side effect of ... evolutionary changes is that human tumors are ...
Drug that ‘mutes’ defective genes that cause nerve disorders effective in trials
A crucial, late-stage clinical trial showed that the [nerve disorder drug patisiran] works—and that it’s safe. And now the biotech company ...
Biologics joining fight against asthma
Should you be unfortunate enough to suffer from asthma, things are looking up. There are new biological therapies out there that ...
Synthetic bionics: E. coli pills could boost body’s ability to absorb ammonia in the gut
Synlogic of Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company behind the unusual study, is testing what it calls “synthetic biotics,” or bacteria engineered ...
CRISPR ear injections repair genetic hearing loss in mice
We all know that CRISPR is the next big thing in gene-editing treatments. But how do you get the versatile genetic scissors ...
Male contraceptive breakthrough? ‘Birth control gel’ ready for couples study
The creators of a male birth control gel designed to inhibit sperm production—while maintaining healthy testosterone levels in the bloodstream—will ...
Edible ‘CRISPR pill’ could make harmful bacteria self-destruct
As resistance to antibiotics grows in the U.S., researchers are looking for new ways to fight germs like Clostridium difficile, a ...
Insomnia cures: Do drug remedies provide the kind of sleep that our brain needs?
People spend billions on sleep remedies. The act of sleep and artificially assisting sleep are not on the whole a ...