Category Archives: Medical research

DNA test can detect 18 early stage cancers, scientists say

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US biotech firm designs cheaper, less invasive multi-cancer screening test it says could be ‘gamechanger’

Scientists have developed a simple DNA test that can identify 18 early-stage cancers that experts say could represent a medical “gamechanger”.

Cancer accounts for one in every six deaths worldwide, but early detection can significantly improve outcomes. Existing screening tests have drawbacks, including invasiveness, cost and low levels of accuracy for early stage disease.

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Scientists decry wasted opportunity as thousands of frozen eggs languish in IVF storage across Australia

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Despite a surplus of eggs at fertility clinics around the country, very few end up being donated to research or other prospective parents

The vast majority of eggs frozen by prospective mothers go unused, causing headaches for IVF clinics and preventing potentially groundbreaking research.

Scientists are decrying a wasted opportunity as thousands of frozen eggs sit unused in storage instead of being used in potentially valuable medical research.

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Scientists call for review of UK’s 14-day rule on embryo research

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Extending the limit could help uncover causes of recurrent miscarriage and congenital conditions, experts say

Scientists are calling for a review of the 14-day rule on embryo research, saying that extending the limit could help uncover the causes of recurrent miscarriage and congenital conditions.

Until now, scientists studying the earliest stages of life have been restricted to cultivating embryos up to the equivalent of 14 days of development. They can then pick up the path of development several weeks later, on pregnancy scans and from material donated from terminations.

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AstraZeneca buys Chinese cancer therapy firm Gracell for $1.2bn

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Gracell Biotechnologies acquisition marks China’s growing importance to the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker

AstraZeneca has struck a deal to buy a Chinese cancer therapy company for up to $1.2bn (£950m), as Britain’s biggest drugmaker expands its footprint in its second-largest market.

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical firm announced on Tuesday it would acquire Gracell Biotechnologies, which is focused on a type of cancer therapy known as CAR-T that modifies a patient’s cells to fight the disease.

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Comfort eating can impair body’s recovery from stress, study shows

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Researchers find turning to fatty and other unhealthy foods for solace reduces vascular function and raises risk of heart disease

Using fatty foods to comfort eat during times of stress can impair the body’s recovery from the pressure, research suggests.

Many people turn to unhealthy foods such as chocolate or crisps when they are feeling the strain, but researchers have found that this can reduce blood flow to the brain and cause poorer vascular function – which in turn can have a negative effect on mental health and cognitive function, and increase the risk of heart disease.

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HIV vaccine trial in Africa halted after disappointing initial results

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African-led trial ended a year early as researchers conclude there is ‘little or no chance’ new combination vaccines cut HIV risk

The first trial in Africa of two combination vaccines to prevent HIV has been halted after researchers concluded it was not working.

The vaccines (part of the PrEPVacc study) were being tested on 1,500 people aged between 18 and 40 in Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa.

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Call to help UK IVF patients donate unused embryos after shortage hinders research

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Scientists complain after ‘sheer waste’ of human embryos discarded despite patients’ wishes

Leading scientists are calling for a change in the law to help IVF patients donate unused embryos to biomedical research after a collapse in donations over the past 15 years.

The increasing commercialisation of IVF, overstretched NHS clinics and cumbersome paperwork are blamed for a 25-fold decrease in the number of donated embryos. Scientists described some patients going to “extraordinary lengths” to ensure their embryos could be used for research rather than discarded, with many private clinics failing to routinely offer donation as an option.

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Genetic data on 500,000 volunteers in UK to be released for scientific study

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UK BioBank offers up biggest ever cache of whole-genome sequences for medical research

A new era of medical discoveries, treatments and cures is on the horizon, researchers say, following the announcement that an unprecedented trove of genetic information is to be made available to scientists.

Health researchers from around the world can now apply to study the whole genomes of half a million people enrolled in UK Biobank, a biomedical research project that has compiled detailed health and lifestyle records on individuals since it began 20 years ago.

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UK Biobank and the masses of medical data that became key to genetic research

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The resource, which is on the move to Manchester, now ranks as the world’s most important health database

The origins of the UK Biobank can be traced back to a pilot study in a building in Stockport bordered by the Cheadle Heath police station on one side and the local recreation ground on the other. It was the early 2000s and scientists had realised the potential for genomics and big data to transform health research.

With diabetes, cancer, dementia and other ailments on the rise, scientists pushed for a database devoted to genetics, health and lifestyle to help them tease apart who was most at risk and how diseases could be prevented.

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Bone cows bred in Australia provide base material for dental grafts

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Use of cattle from country free of mad cow disease means product is safe, experts say, and patients can still donate blood

Bone cows, specially bred in mad cow-free Australia, are being used instead of human donors for dental and medical bone grafts.

While bovine grafts have been tested for spinal fusion, foot reconstructions and to fix skull traumas, the Australian versions are predominantly used in dental work to strengthen degraded jaws before tooth implants.

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US coal power plants killed at least 460,000 people in past 20 years – report

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Pollution caused twice as many premature deaths as previously thought, with updated understanding of dangers of PM2.5

Coal-fired power plants killed at least 460,000 Americans during the past two decades, causing twice as many premature deaths as previously thought, new research has found.

Cars, factories, fire smoke and electricity plants emit tiny toxic air pollutants known as fine particulate matter or PM2.5, which elevate the risk of an array of life-shortening medical conditions including asthma, heart disease, low birth weight and some cancers.

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Cheap over-the-counter nail drug found to work on crippling flesh-eating disease

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‘Momentous’ breakthrough as trial finds treatment for nail infections to be highly effective for neglected tropical disease

A cheap and easily taken drug used to treat fungal nail infections has been found to work against a devastating flesh and bone-eating disease found across Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Researchers say the breakthrough offers hope to thousands of patients who have suffered decades of neglect and can face amputations if the disease is left untreated.

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Scientists raise hopes of cure for eczema itchiness with study of skin bacteria

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Researchers say they have discovered a common type of bacteria can trigger irritation

Whether it’s a tickle of the nose, or an irritation in one’s hair, itches can be excruciating. Now scientists say they have found a common type of skin bacteria can trigger the sensation.

Crucially, as such bacteria are commonly found on the skin of patients with eczema – or atopic dermatitis – the work helps explain why such conditions can be accompanied by the urge to scratch.

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What we learned from Patrick Vallance at the Covid inquiry

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Chief scientific adviser in pandemic says lockdown should have come sooner and that Johnson is not great at science

Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser throughout Covid, has been giving evidence to the inquiry into the pandemic on Monday. Here is what we have learned so far.

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Patrick Vallance contradicts Rishi Sunak’s evidence to Covid inquiry

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PM would almost certainly have known concerns over ‘eat out to help out’ scheme, says former chief scientific adviser

Rishi Sunak would almost certainly have known scientists were worried about his “eat out to help out” scheme during the pandemic, Sir Patrick Vallance has said, directly contradicting the prime minister’s evidence to the Covid inquiry.

In potentially damaging testimony, Vallance, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser during the pandemic, said he would be “very surprised” if Sunak had not learned about objections to his plan to help the hospitality industry.

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Simple blood tests for dementia to be trialled in NHS

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£5m project launched with aim of having reliable tests within five years to provide quick diagnosis

Scientists are to begin piloting simple blood tests for dementia that could revolutionise detection of the disease and within five years lead to people being diagnosed in seconds by the NHS.

Currently, getting a formal diagnosis in the UK relies on mental ability tests, brain scans or invasive and painful lumbar punctures, where a sample of cerebrospinal fluid is drawn from the lower back.

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Tampon that tests for STIs created by British startup

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Daye’s product doubles as PCR test for chlamydia, gonorrhoea and other common infections

A tampon is being repurposed to screen for sexually transmitted infections, with the at-home test aiming to encourage more women to seek treatment.

The gynaecological health startup Daye has launched an STI diagnostic tampon, which uses a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to check for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomonas, mycoplasma and ureaplasma, with the tampon used in place of a swab or speculum.

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‘Alarming’ rates of babies with antibiotic-resistant bugs in Asia-Pacific, Australian study finds

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Study urges Australia to research new drugs as it warns rate of mutated infections ‘much worse than anticipated’

“Alarming” rates of babies with infections resistant to common antibiotics in the Asia-Pacific region should prompt urgent investment into new drugs for treating childhood diseases, findings from a new study suggest.

The misuse and overuse of antibiotics is driving bugs to mutate so that common drugs are no longer effective to kill them, known as antimicrobial resistance. Dr Phoebe Williams, an infectious diseases paediatrician and antimicrobial resistance researcher with the University of Sydney, said she regularly travelled to work in hospitals in the south-east Asia and Pacific region where she found “entire wards of babies that have multi-drug resistant infections, and there is nothing left to treat them with”.

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Dementia could affect 1.7m people in England and Wales by 2040, data finds

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Figure is 42% higher than previous estimates and would pose ‘enormous threat’ to healthcare systems

Dementia poses an “enormous threat” to healthcare systems and the general public in England and Wales, experts have warned, as data suggests 1.7 million people will have the condition by 2040.

It is already known to be among the most serious health and social care threats and a new analysis shows the total number affected could be 42% higher than previously estimated.

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Access to remains of Bambuti baby withdrawn by London museum

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Hunterian had listed stillborn child of African descent as viewable for medical research but removed it after criticism from author

The remains of a stillborn Bambuti baby have been removed from a museum’s catalogue of items that can be viewed for medical research after criticism from a Booker prize-shortlisted author.

Novelist Nadifa Mohamed is the presenter of an upcoming Channel 4 documentary examining the history of “human zoos” in Britain, in which African and Asian people were put on display to the wider public in a practice which is now deemed to have been deeply racist.

Britain’s Human Zoos is on Channel 4 on Saturday 28 October

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