BioWorld looks at translational medicine, including: Reversal of pumping direction is reversal of fortune for tumor cells; Cholesterol drug affects checkpoint blockade via MHC1; Heart development protein has role in adult immunity.

Australia is famous, among other things, for venomous animals. Its plants, it turns out, are just as hostile. Now, researchers at the University of Queensland have isolated “neurotoxic peptides from the venom of the giant Australian stinging tree,” as they titled their paper. While the tree’s venomous effects were no secret – the authors wrote that it is known for its “remarkably persistent and painful stings upon contact,” which can produce pain flares for weeks – the effect had been attributed to small molecules.

LONDON – The international commission convened in the aftermath of Chinese scientist He Jiankui’s shock announcement of the birth of gene edited twins has set a possible course to approval of heritable gene editing, but said the technique is far from ready for use.

An Australian study led by University of Melbourne scientists has identified a previously unknown role for the hepatokine, sparc-related modular calcium-binding protein 1 (SMOC1), in suppressing hepatic glucose production.

HONG KONG – Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) research enterprise in Singapore have found a way to not just reverse antibiotic resistance but also increase sensitivity in some bacteria, using hydrogen sulfide.

A Sino-U.S. collaborative study has demonstrated that acupuncture regulates inflammation by activating pro- or anti-inflammatory signaling pathways, while mitigating cytokine storms in mice with systemic inflammation, the study authors reported in the Aug. 12, 2020, edition of Neuron.

A large epidemiological study published in the July 6, 2020, advance online issue of The Lancet found that most individuals who became infected with SARS-CoV-2 developed antibodies to the virus, confirming that infection usually results in at least a short-term immune response.

By targeting chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to a senescence marker, researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have developed a CAR T cell that had beneficial effects in mouse models of both liver fibrosis and lung cancer.