❤️ Health Tech
Health Tech, or digital health, helps us understand and take control of our own health. But we also cover more traditional health news like medicines, vaccines and medical procedures.
🐚 Laos pushes back parasitic disease to below one percent
In the worst-affected areas of Laos, the share of people infected with the snail-borne parasitic disease schistosomiasis has dropped to below one percent, down from over 40 percent in some areas in 2003.
🔬 Most of what's inside the cell is invisible, a new laser method could change that
Today's cryo-electron microscopes reveal only about 10% of human proteins, and less than 1% inside living cells. A new technique sharply improves image contrast using a laser 100 million times brighter than the Sun's surface. Researchers estimate over 50% of the cell's proteins could become visible.
🤧 Discovery could lead to drugs against the common cold
Researchers have for the first time determined the structure of the protein 2C as it binds to RNA. The protein is found in rhinovirus, the most common cause of the common cold. The new structure gives researchers more to work from when they design drugs that can inhibit the virus.
🎗️ No young women died of cervical cancer in England over the past five years
A cross all age groups HPV vaccination is linked to around 200 fewer cervical cancer deaths in England. Among vaccinated women aged 20 to 29, the risk of dying from cervical cancer is estimated to have fallen by at least 81 percent.
🔊 Midjourney is building a body scanner that maps the entire body in 60 seconds
A full-body scan with today's MRI takes 60 to 90 minutes. Midjourney's new machine aims to do the same thing in under 60 seconds. The scanner uses a ring of half a million tiny elements that send ultrasound through the body from every direction. The result is a 3D map of the body.
🧫 First human treated with method designed to make aged cells behave young again
A treatment that switches on three genes is designed to make old cells behave like young ones. The aim is to regenerate damaged nerve cells in the optic nerve and treat a form of glaucoma. In animal studies, the method has restored vision in mice, with no serious side effects.
🦾 AI has designed an entirely new kind of vaccine for the first time
Ordinary vaccines target a current strain of a virus and quickly become outdated when it mutates. The new method instead makes it possible to design a vaccine that protects against an entire virus family at once.This means the vaccine can provide protection even against future mutations.
🧠 Several advances are changing the fight against Alzheimer's
For the first time, simple blood tests can show whether a person has Alzheimer's disease. Two drugs that slow the progression of the disease have been approved by the FDA. The number of patients researchers can screen for clinical trials has risen from a couple per day to several hundred.
🫘 Injectable mini livers could become an alternative to transplantation
Researchers at MIT have developed mini livers that can be injected into the body and take over functions from a failing liver. The technology could help patients who are currently not healthy enough for a transplant.