On June 17, the FDA approved checkpoint blocker Keytruda (pembrolizumab, Merck & Co. Inc.) “for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic tumor mutational burden-high (TMB-H) [?10 mutations/megabase (mut/Mb)] solid tumors, as determined by an FDA-approved test, that have progressed following prior treatment and who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options.”
BioWorld looks at translational medicine, including: Liver-derived protein helps lung, kidney repair; Multiracial study gives new diabetes insights; New way to target drugs, independently of drug target; Microbiome-produced metabolites improve gut health; Universal flu vaccine more challenging than anticipated; The bow ties that bind; FOXO1 regulates HIV latency; Patient genetic variants linked to wound microbiomes; New COPD target.
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.
LONDON – After the human brain organoid, here comes the gastruloid – a 3D organized model of key elements of the human embryo at around 18 to 21 days old.
From memory formation to waste clearance, sleep, Dragana Rogulja said, is thought of as “of the brain, by the brain, for the brain.” However, sleep may be necessary for the brain, but the brain is not necessary for sleep.
BioWorld looks at translational medicine, including: Healthspan, lifespan affected differently by caloric restriction; Stroke protection effects like night and day; Oncometabolites mask DNA repair signals; Antiviral vaccine protects against myocarditis, diabetes; C12orf49 is new lipid metabolism gene; Base editing gives temporary hearing fix; Simultaneous dual base editing; Nuclear quality control by chaperones; Stress-induced mutagenesis leads to cancer drug resistance.
Two major papers on repurposed drugs for COVID-19 by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital face intense skepticism from the research community, prompting the editorial boards of TheNew England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet to publish Expressions of Concern on the validity of the underlying data. Such expressions are often the first step toward an outright retraction.
In emergency situations, broad-spectrum antibiotics have their place. But their indiscriminate use has led to a resistance crisis that already kills tens of thousands of people annually in the U.S. alone.
Investigators are working to develop electrogenetic devices that use remote-controlled electrical stimulation to elicit specific behaviors in engineered cells. They are following in the footsteps of optogenetics, which use specific wavelengths of light to control cell function remotely. A new study published in Science used such a device paired with encapsulated, engineered human pancreatic beta cells to express enough insulin to restore normal glycemic levels in mice models of diabetes.
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