Public health & disease

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Scientists successfully 3D-print human skin tissue into open wounds

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Scientists at Pennsylvania State University have successfully 3D-printed living human skin tissue directly into the open wounds of rats for the first time in history. This bioengineering milestone could pave the way for major developments in reconstructive surgery — or even human hair treatments. Current methods of skin and hair reconstruction — like skin grafts — often result in scars, meaning this discovery could lead to a more seamless treatment for humans.

A large french flag fluttering under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris

France becomes world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights in constitution

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France has become the world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights Lawmakers from both houses of the French Parliament voted 780 to 72 in favor of the measure, easily clearing the three-fifths majority needed to amend the French constitution. The French Senate and National Assembly each overwhelmingly approved the amendment earlier this year. The amendment states that there is a “guaranteed freedom” to abortion in France. Following the vote, the Eiffel Tower was lit up with the words “my body my choice.”

3d illustration of gut and stomach pain

79% of Crohn’s disease patients in remission after early intervention

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Led by researchers from the University of Cambridge, a clinical trial examined the effectiveness of giving the immunotherapy drug infliximab earlier, as soon as possible after diagnosis. They employed what’s called a ‘top-down’ strategy, meaning the drug was given straight after diagnosis regardless of the patient’s symptom severity. They found that this early intervention significantly reduces complications of this often debilitating disease, including the need for surgery by a factor of 10.

Brain scan

Belgian boy becomes first child in the world to be cured of brain stem glioma

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Brain stem glioma, officially called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), is rare and lethal, diagnosed in just 300 children annually in the United States. The two-year survival rate is 10%, and no drug is widely available for its treatment beyond radiotherapy. After the boy’s diagnosis, the family traveled to France to take part in a randomized controlled trial. He was randomly assigned the drug everolimus, which he took for more than 5 years with remarkable success.

Dentist's Hand Taking Saliva Test From Woman's Mouth

Hand-held test for breast cancer uses your saliva and gives accurate readings in 5 seconds

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A new hand-held portable device is not only extremely quick and easy to use but very cost effective, say scientists from the University of Florida and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. Compared to the costly alternatives of Mammograms, which expose women to radiation—or MRIs and ultrasounds which require expensive equipment—researchers called the device revolutionary.

Colorful ribbons on pink background|Doctor

New drug offers breakthrough in treatment of asbestos-linked cancer

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Scientists at Queen Mary University of London have developed a drug to treat mesothelioma, a notoriously deadly and hard-to-treat cancer linked to asbestos, in the biggest breakthrough in two decades.
An international trial spanning five countries found that the new drug, ADI-PEG20, cuts off the tumor’s food supply and quadruples three-year survival rates. It is the first of its kind to be successfully combined with chemotherapy in 20 years.

Assortment of pills

Novel AI model rapidly determines if an antidepressant will work

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Amsterdam University Medical Center (UMC) and Radboud UMC researchers have developed an algorithm that, based on patient MRI scans and other data, can determine within a week if a particular antidepressant will, offering faster relief and minimizing often painful and damaging side effects. “This is important news for patients,” said Liesbeth Reneman, Professor of Neuroradiology at Amsterdam UMC. “Normally, it takes six to eight weeks before it is known whether an antidepressant will work.”

Depiction of nerve cells

Researchers discover an effective non-opioid treatment for nerve pain

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Many available pain medications aren’t effective in reducing this often-debilitating type of chronic pain. However, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), in collaboration with UT Dallas and the University of Miami, may have advanced the treatment of neuropathic pain by discovering a molecule that reduces mechanical hypersensitivity in mice.

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