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Credit: LSOphoto/Getty Images Research led by Harvard University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden shows a ratio of blood biomarkers is able to predict who will have a serious asthma flareup in the next five years with a high level of accuracy. The team measured sphingolipids and steroid hormones in the blood and found that the ratio between the two sets of biomarkers was predictive of asthma flareups, as outlined in a paper describing the work published in Nature Communications. “One of the biggest challenges in treating asthma is that we currently have no effective way to tell which patient is…
In June 2021, Australian forensic biologist Kirsty Wright was on holiday when she got a phone call from a journalist who was investigating a young woman’s unsolved murder and needed an expert to review the DNA evidence in the case. It seemed like a simple request, and Wright accepted. But over the next four years, the case would become the center of her life and work, and what she discovered would rock Queensland’s criminal justice system to its core. A Dream Job, and a Room Full of BonesShortly after graduating from her Honors degree in forensic biology at Griffith University,…
An increasing number of patients in the United States have been surviving cancer—even the fatal ones.Image credit:©iStock.com, Jaime Grajales BenjumeaCancer is the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular diseases. However, cancer mortality has declined steadily and significantly over the past few decades, thanks to new methods for early diagnosis and therapeutic breakthroughs such as immunotherapy.“Seven in 10 people [in the United States] now survive their cancer five years or more, up from only half in the mid-70s,” said Rebecca Siegel, a cancer epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society (ACS) in a statement. In a recent study, Siegel and her…
New regenerative platform claims to rewind cellular aging and, in doing so, rethink how we treat disease, decline and longevity itself. For so many years, regenerative medicine has circled the same hope: replace what the body has lost. New cells for failing hearts. Fresh neurons for damaged brains. And yet, most treatments stop short of true restoration. The reason is quietly frustrating, as many of the cells used to heal are already old, stressed or biologically compromised. South Korea-based biotech Clonell Therapeutics believes that is where the field has been going wrong. This week, the biotech company announced the launch…
Cancer cells that disseminate from a tumor can enter a period of dormancy that may persist from months to decades before metastasis. Efforts to improve adjuvant therapy to remove residual cancer cells are hindered by an insufficient understanding of the long-term viability of cancer dormancy. Identifying these mechanisms can greatly improve treatments and prevent relapse. In a study published in Nature Cancer titled, “TGFβ induces an atypical EMT to evade immune mechanosurveillance in lung adenocarcinoma dormant metastasis,” researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) have uncovered how cancer cells evade the immune system by changing their shape in a mouse model. “When cancer…
SAN FRANCISCO—No sooner did the J.P. Morgan 44th Annual Healthcare Conference kick off when Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) saw its stock skid 11% after the company announced preliminary unaudited 2025 sales results that missed analyst forecasts for its marketed Elevidys® (delandistrogene moxeparvovec-rokl), which reignited the longtime issue of gene therapy safety following the deaths of three Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients last year. Sarepta reported total net product revenue of $369.6 million for the fourth quarter, of which about one-third ($110.4 million) was generated by Elevidys, an adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy and the only gene therapy to win FDA approval…
Cell and gene therapies (CGTs) are expanding the boundaries of modern medicine, providing new avenues for treating cancers, genetic disorders, and other complex diseases.1 While they are promising, the broader impact of CGTs is limited by a highly complex manufacturing process, where even small variations in cell culture conditions can influence product quality and batch success.1 As researchers and manufacturers work to make these therapies available to more patients, they seek tools that provide greater control and insight into the cell culture environment.Tia Harmon, PhDTechnical Science LiaisonPHC Corporation of North America (PHCNA)In this innovation spotlight, Tia Harmon, technical science liaison…
A new Japanese model presents a more accurate way to calculate the value of health, age and longevity. Living longer has always been one of humanity’s success stories. Vaccines, antibiotics, safer cities and better nutrition have pushed average life expectancy upward across the globe. Yet this success carries a mystery: the longer we live, the more pressure we place on healthcare systems, especially when extra years are lived in poor health. Japan knows this so well. With one of the world’s longest life expectancies, the country is also facing a future in which healthcare spending is projected to nearly double…
Chicken salad is the quintessential versatile dish. Whether you are prepping for a sophisticated garden party, packing a quick weekday lunch, or looking for a way to use up Sunday’s leftovers, learning how to make chicken salad is a fundamental skill for any home cook. Its beauty lies in its adaptability; it can be a creamy, indulgent spread or a light, protein-packed Mediterranean feast. In this definitive guide, we will explore the nuances of creating the perfect bowl. We will cover how to make homemade chicken salad using various methods—from using a whole rotisserie bird to the convenience of canned…
An international team of scientists, headed by a team at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), has discovered a new way that could speed up the healing of chronic wounds infected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Collaborating with researchers at the University of Geneva, the team’s preclinical study showed how a common bacterium, Enterococcus faecalis, actively prevents wound healing. The results of their collective studies in mice and in human cells showed that, unlike other bacteria, which produce toxins when they infect wounds, E. faecalis produces reactive oxygen species (ROS), which impairs the healing process of human skin cells. The team identified extracellular electron…