Second-ever patient cured of HIV
A man from London has become the second person in the world to be cured of HIV, doctors say. Adam Castillejo is still free of the virus more than 30 months after stopping anti-retroviral therapy.
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.
MIT uses machine learning to develop powerful antibiotic
The drug works in a different way to existing antibacterials and is the first of its kind to be found by setting AI loose on vast digital libraries of pharmaceutical compounds.
Researchers invent an “EpiPen” for spinal cord injuries that can prevent paralysis
The approach was demonstrated in mice at the University of Michigan, with the nanoparticles enhancing healing by reprogramming the aggressive immune cells—call it an “EpiPen” for trauma to the central nervous system.
Legalising gay marriage caused dramatic fall in suicides in Denmark and Sweden, study finds
A 46 per cent fall in suicides among people in same-sex marriages was recorded by comparing two time periods in Denmark and Sweden – from 1989 to 2002, and 2003 to 2016.
The global homicide rate fell by 46% worldwide between 1990 and 2015
Between 1990 and 2015, the number of homicides per 100,000 people fell by 46%, with countries in Oceania experiencing a 22% drop over the same period, and 36% in Asia.
New LED lamp has helped 90% of its dyslexic users to read ‘effortlessly’
The Lexilife team tested the light’s efficiency on 300 people with dyslexia—and 90% of participants said that they could “effortlessly read a text illuminated by the lamp.”
27,000 deaths avoided in the United States by shutting down coal plants
Researchers from the University of California – San Diego found that tens of thousands of deaths had been avoided between 2005 and 2016 by replacing coal plants.
U.S. cancer death rate sees largest-ever single-year drop
Cancer death rates in the U.S. have now fallen for 26 consecutive years, and the pace is quickening. The biggest force behind the trend is lung cancer, which kills more Americans each year than breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers combined — making its accelerating decline ripple across the entire cancer landscape. Decades of smoking-cessation policy, expanding screening, and faster treatment advances are all compounding at once. Yet fewer than 5% of eligible patients receive recommended lung cancer screenings, and Black patients face a 33% higher mortality risk than white patients. Progress is real — and unfinished.
U.S. FDA approves pancreatic cancer treatment shown to double patient lifespans
The drug Lynparza was developed by AstraZeneca and Merck as a maintenance treatment for patients with a specific gene mutation whose cancer spread beyond the pancreas.
Indian Railways records zero deaths in 2019 for the first year ever
While between 1990-1995 an average of more than 500 accidents took place every year, a decade later between 2013-2018 only an average of around 110 accidents took place every year.