Science & academia

Insulin pens

New treatment eliminates insulin for 86% of patients in early trials

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New research from Amsterdam University Medical Center introduces a promising new treatment approach for type 2 diabetes (T2D) that has the potential to greatly reduce or even eliminate the need for insulin therapy. This innovative approach, which combines a novel procedure known as ReCET (Re-Cellularization via Electroporation Therapy) with semaglutide, resulted in the elimination of insulin therapy for 86% of the 14 patients participating in initial trials. Globally, T2D affects 422 million people. While insulin therapy is commonly used to manage blood sugar levels in T2D patients, it can result in side effects such as weight gain and further complicate diabetes management.

Man clutching his chest from acute pain

New heart attack detector gives results in minutes, not hours

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Someone presenting to the emergency room with a suspected heart attack will undergo a number of standard blood tests to determine heart muscle damage. The problem is that it can take one or two hours to receive the results. Now, Johns Hopkins University researchers have led the design of a tiny chip that diagnoses heart attack by detecting these important biomarkers in minutes rather than hours, even if they are present at very low concentrations. The researchers foresee an at-home heart attack detector in the future.

Ovarian and Cervical Cancer Awareness. a Teal Ribbon

New cervical cancer treatment regime ‘cuts risk of dying from disease by 40%’

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Doctors are hailing a “remarkable” new treatment regime for cervical cancer developed by researchers at University College London that reduces the risk of dying by 40%, in the biggest advance against the disease in 25 years. The new treatment plan was tested in patients recruited over 10 years from the UK, Mexico, India, Italy, and Brazil. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally, with about 660,000 new cases and 350,000 deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization.

Pollution from industrial facility

Study finds mercury pollution from human activities is declining

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In a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researchers analyzed measurements from all available monitoring stations in the Northern Hemisphere and found that atmospheric concentrations of mercury declined by about 10% between 2005 and 2020. They used two separate modeling methods to determine what is driving that trend. Both techniques pointed to a decline in mercury emissions from human activity as the most likely cause.

Scientists in the U.K. developing world’s first vaccine to prevent ovarian cancer

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Researchers at the University of Oxford are working on the world’s first ovarian cancer vaccine, aiming to prevent the disease that kills nearly 26,000 women in the European Union every year. The vaccine, called OvarianVax, would train the immune system to recognize and fight back against the earliest stages of ovarian cancer, one of the most common forms of cancer among women which often isn’t detected until a later stage when it’s harder to treat. Cancer Research U.K. will fund the OvarianVax research with up to £600,000 for the effort.

Good news for scientific research

University of Toronto researchers develop method to accelerate forensic analysis in sexual assault cases

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The entire process currently can take days, weeks, or longer. To speed things up, the researchers focused on the first step: separating two individuals’ DNA from a single sample. At present, this is usually done manually by trained and experienced experts. The new method uses a process called ’differential digestion” using digital microfluidics that helped simplify the overall process and reduce the number of manual steps needed to isolate the assailant’s DNA from 13 to five.

A close-up of a medical syringe and insulin vial for an article about stem cell therapy for type 1 diabetes

Chinese researchers reverse type 1 diabetes using a patient’s own stem cells

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Type 1 diabetes reversal using a patient’s own stem cells marks a historic milestone in medicine. A 25-year-old woman in China received a transplant of insulin-producing cells reprogrammed from her own body, and within three months was generating insulin naturally — eventually eliminating her need for external injections entirely. Published in Cell in 2024, the research is significant because it bypasses donor tissue and immunosuppressant drugs entirely, dramatically reducing rejection risk. For the roughly 8.4 million people worldwide living with type 1 diabetes, this proof of concept offers a genuinely new direction for treatment.

Medical researcher in a lab examining vials related to asthma and COPD treatment and mRNA vaccine development

World’s first mRNA lung cancer vaccine enters human trials in seven countries

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A landmark mRNA lung cancer vaccine is now being tested in human patients for the first time, marking a historic milestone in cancer treatment. BNT116, developed by BioNTech, uses the same messenger RNA technology behind COVID-19 vaccines to train the immune system to recognize and destroy non-small cell lung cancer cells. The phase 1 trial spans 34 sites across seven countries, with roughly 130 patients enrolled. Unlike chemotherapy, this approach targets only tumor cells, potentially offering a more precise and lasting defense against the world’s deadliest cancer, which kills 1.8 million people annually.

Honeycomb

Manuka honey reduces breast cancer cell growth by 84% in preliminary studies

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Manuka honey is produced from the nectar collected by honey bees when they pollinate the mānuka, a species of tea tree indigenous to New Zealand and southeast Australia. Now, preliminary studies by researchers at UCLA have found that this nutraceutical might aid in breast cancer prevention and treatment. The honey-treated mice showed significantly suppressed tumor growth compared to controls. Overall, it inhibited the growth and progression of an established human breast cancer tumor by 84% without affecting healthy cells.

MIT naloxone sensor implant

MIT scientists reverse opioid overdoses with ‘Narcan sensor’ implanted under skin

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In 2023, more than 100,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses. The most effective way to save someone who has overdosed is to administer a drug called naloxone, but help can’t always reach the person in time. Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a new device to address this problem. The device, about the size of a stick of gum, can be implanted under the skin. When it determines that an overdose has occurred, it rapidly pumps out a dose of naloxone.