What’s been going on in the life sciences world in the last seven days? Find out below in the latest edition of Week in Brief!
New smart jab shrinks head and neck cancers. A ‘smart jab’ has shown promise for the treatment of head and neck cancers in a clinical trial. The triple-action therapy shrinks tumours and activates the immune system, with positive results seen in around 75% of trial participants.
Experts agree guidelines for hereditary deafness gene therapy. A group of international experts have come together to create the first guidelines for the use of gene therapies to treat hereditary hearing loss, highlighting patient-centred care and respect for the hearing loss community. The guidelines aim to ensure that clinical trials are conducted safely and efficiently.
How can AI learn from different data types? Researchers have developed a framework to build AI models that can learn from different types of data, going beyond text and images to use environmental and auditory information, plus data from sensors. This could help to enable more real world applications.
New link between social media, well-being and genetics discovered. A study of data from over 6,000 twins has shown that a link between social media and well-being is in part driven by genetics. The same genes that influence mood in other contexts were associated with how people use social media, according to the findings.
New tech tracks bacteria after fecal microbiota transplant. Using long-read metagenomics, researchers have developed a method to track the evolution of bacteria in the gut following fecal microbiota transplants to treat disease. This new tool could help to show which bacteria are responsible for recovery and how they adapt to the host’s gut.
Researchers identify gene responsible for congenital heart defects in Down’s syndrome. Using human stem cell models and mouse models of Down’s syndrome, researchers have identified a gene on chromosome 21, HMGN1, that is linked to congenital heart defects. Additional copies of this gene lead to an increase in the HMGN1 protein, which plays a role in DNA replication and repair.
COVID vaccine linked to longer lives for cancer patients. An analysis of medical records has shown that cancer patients who received an mRNA vaccine to protect against COVID-19 may live longer than those who did not have the jab. It is believed that this is due to increased activity of the immune system.
Newly discovered role for HIV protein could be key for treatment. Researchers have discovered that the integrase protein, which enables the HIV virus to integrate into human DNA, also plays a role in infecting new cells by integrating with RNA. The team pinpointed the structural changes required for the protein to play both roles, which could help with development of new treatment.
AI method speeds up search for new medicines. A new deep-learning tool has been developed that could revolutionise drug discovery by bypassing the typically slow and labour-intensive processes used in traditional drug-screening. The method utilises omics data to identify compounds that induce complex phenotypes, and could speed up the search for new therapeutics.
Breastfeeding reduces cancer risk in mums. Researchers have detailed the mechanisms through which pregnancy and breastfeeding lead to reduced breast cancer risk; ‘redesign’ of the breast tissue before, during and after breastfeeding leads to an influx of CD8+ T cells to the area, protecting from disease.
Check out last week’s Week in Brief here.
