Public health & disease

From disease eradication efforts to advances in vaccination and maternal health, this archive tracks real progress in public health. Stories here focus on what’s working — policies, interventions, and research that are improving and extending lives around the world.

X-ray of teeth, for article on prehistoric dental treatment, for article on tooth regrowth drug

World’s first drug to regrow teeth enters clinical trials

By / / Good News For Humankind

A tooth regrowth drug has entered human clinical trials in Japan, offering a potential third option alongside dentures and implants. The treatment works by blocking USAG-1, a gene that acts as a natural brake on tooth development, freeing the body to grow new teeth on its own. Researchers confirmed the approach first in mice, then in ferrets, before moving to people, and a pediatric trial is planned for children with anodontia, a rare condition that leaves six or more teeth missing. Dr. Katsu Takahashi, who has chased this idea since 2005, hopes for regulatory approval by 2030. With oral disease affecting some 3.5 billion people worldwide, regrowing real teeth could reshape dental care far beyond Japan.

Surgeons operating, for article on pig kidney xenotransplant

Pig kidney functions in human patients for two full months for first time ever

By / / Good News For Humankind

A genetically modified pig kidney kept working inside a human body for 61 days at NYU Langone Health — the longest a non-human organ has ever functioned in a person. Surgeons used a simplified approach, transplanting a kidney from a pig with just one gene edit and leaving the thymus gland attached to help the recipient’s immune system accept it. Around 100,000 Americans are on the kidney waitlist at any given time, and researchers hope pig organs could one day help close that gap. The team is now preparing for clinical trials pending FDA approval. For the thousands waiting on a kidney that may not arrive in time, this is real, tangible hope.

Pig embryo with human kidney, for article on pig-human chimera

Chinese researchers grow world’s first human organ inside a non-human animal

By / / Good News For Humankind

Human kidney tissue has been grown inside a pig embryo for the first time, with roughly half the cells in the developing kidney being human. Researchers in Guangzhou reprogrammed adult human cells, then injected them into pig embryos engineered to leave a “gap” where their own kidneys would form. The human cells moved in and self-organized into an early-stage kidney structure over 28 days of gestation. It’s not a transplantable organ, and real ethical questions remain about keeping human cells out of pig brains. But for the 100,000 Americans waiting for a kidney right now, this is a meaningful step toward a future where no one dies waiting.

Pills and syringe, for article on fentanyl vaccine human trials

Scientists preparing first human trials for vaccines that block the effects of deadly opioids

By / / Good News For Humankind

Fentanyl vaccines are heading into their first human trials, with Phase 1 testing set to begin in early 2024 at Columbia University. Developed by researchers at the University of Montana and University of Washington, the vaccines train the immune system to grab fentanyl molecules in the bloodstream, like a sponge, before they can reach the brain. That means no high, and no slowed breathing, which is what makes overdoses fatal. The team is especially focused on people in the first two years of recovery, when relapse risk is highest. If it works, this could become a powerful new tool in a crisis that has demanded every bit of compassion and ingenuity we can offer.

Model of a heart, for article on muvalaplin Lp(a) cholesterol

World-first drug lowers genetic form of “bad cholesterol” by up to 65%

By / / Good News For Humankind

Muvalaplin, a new pill from researchers at Monash University, lowered a dangerous genetic form of cholesterol by up to 65% in just two weeks during early trials. The drug targets lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), a stickier cousin of LDL cholesterol that’s been called a “silent killer” because diet, exercise, and statins can’t touch it. Roughly one in five people worldwide carry elevated Lp(a), inherited risk they’ve long been told there’s nothing to do about. That muvalaplin works as a simple oral tablet, not an injection, could make it widely accessible if larger trials succeed. For global heart health, it’s a hopeful sign that even risks written into our DNA may not be the final word.