Medical Breakthroughs, Research, and News

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Life-Saving Breakthrough for Antibiotics Uses Shapeshifting Chemistry that Won 2022 Nobel Prize

New shape-shifting antibiotics could fight deadly medically-resistant bacterial infections responsible for more than 1.2 million deaths worldwide every year, according to a new study.

The antibiotic can shape-shift by rearranging its atoms, using new “click” chemistry, a discovery that won the 2022 Nobel Prize.

The drug’s creator, Professor John Moses at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), New York, found that bullvalene, a fluxional hydrocarbon molecule where atoms can swap positions to form around 1 million combinations, could be used as the molecular center of an antibiotic that would confer such shape-shifting abilities to the drug as well.

Bacterial infections like Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) have developed resistance to the potent antibiotic vancomycin, used to treat diseases from skin infections to meningitis.

“The reengineering of clinically approved antibiotics to evade resistance mechanisms offers a potential near-to short-term solution that takes advantage of established supply chains and clinical success,” Moses and his co-authors wrote in their demonstration paper in PNAS.

Dr. Moses used new click chemistry—where chemical reactions can “click” molecules together reliably—to combine bullvalene with vancomycin.

[SubGod22]

I'm continually amazed by what we can do.

First of its Kind Brain Surgery on Baby Inside the Womb has Successfully Prevented Heart Failure

Brain surgery has been performed on a baby still inside the womb in order to fix potentially deadly damage to vessels and saved the infant from suffering heart failure or stroke after birth.

It was the first treated patient in a clinical trial that is underway at Boston Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, performed with oversight from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Fetuses with the rare pre-natal condition known as Vein of Galen malformation (VOGM) have arteries carrying high-pressure blood that are connected to one of the main veins deep at the base of the brain. In normal fetal development, they should link to smaller capillaries, thus slowing the flow and delivering oxygen to surrounding tissue.

The U.S. team used ultrasound to carry out the successful procedure for a woman who was 34 weeks pregnant.

The unnamed child was delivered two days later during a normal birth after her labor was induced, due to broken membrane. The child was kept in the neonatal intensive care unit for several weeks, but mother and baby are now together at home.

“In our first treated case, we were thrilled to see that the aggressive decline usually seen after birth simply did not appear,” said lead author Professor Darren Orbach of Boston Children’s Hospital.

[SubGod22]

Tiny Battery Obliterates Breast Cancer Tumors in Mice by Creating Oxygen-free Target to Better Kill Disease

A tiny implant has placed a big target on the back of breast cancer tumors in mice, according to the results of a new study reported by South West News Service and New Scientist.

In the small study, a self-charging battery enabled a new class of medications to kill the tumors—and it took just two weeks to obliterate them, while leaving healthy tissue alone.

Salt water injected into the surrounding area causes the battery to consume oxygen, which singles-out the cancer cells and creates a condition called hypoxia.

By creating a hypoxic environment, the battery significantly boosts the efficiency of HAP cancer medications (hypoxia-activated pro-drugs) that seek to exploit this trait by only killing hypoxic cells. Previously, no HAPs have been approved for clinical use due to limited evidence of their effectiveness.

“After 14 days, the Tumors in the five mice that received both the working battery and HAP treatment had decreased by an average of 90 percent,” said lead author Professor Fan Zhang, of Fudan University in Shanghai, China, “with four of these mice experiencing complete tumor disappearance.”

Conversely, the tumors in the other mice groups either remained the same size or continued to grow.

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A blast from the past.

Neglected 80-year-old Antibiotic Reemerges as Highly-Effective Against Resistant Bacteria

A discarded 80-year-old antibiotic may provide protection against multi-drug resistant superbugs, according to a new study.

Discovered back in the 1940s, nourseothricin is a natural product made by a soil fungus that contains several forms of a complex molecule called streptothricin.

It generated high hopes of becoming a powerful agent against gram-negative bacteria, which, due to their thick outer protective layer, are especially hard to kill with other antibiotics.

But nourseothricin proved toxic to human kidneys, and its development was dropped.

However, the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections has triggered a search for new antibiotics, which led Professor James Kirby and his colleagues at Harvard Medical School to take another look at nourseothricin.

Dr. Kirby said in his study on the compound that early tests of nourseothricin suffered from incomplete purification of the streptothricins.

More recent work has shown that the multiple forms have different toxicities with one, streptothricin-F, being significantly less toxic while remaining highly active against contemporary multidrug-resistant pathogens.

Dr. Kirby and his team characterized the antibacterial action, renal (i.e. kidney) toxicity, and mechanism of action of highly purified forms of two different streptothricins, D and F.

Still some questions but one would hope with today's tech and research capabilities that it can reach a level of functionality that can be a benefit.

[SubGod22]

This is truly the beginning of something absolutely amazing.

Paralyzed Man Walks Naturally After Groundbreaking Brain Implants

In a groundbreaking scientific achievement that heralds a new era of hope for paralysis patients worldwide, a paralyzed man from the Netherlands has defied all odds and taken his first steps in years.

Meet Gert-Jan Oskam, a once immobilized man whose life has been forever transformed by a team of pioneering neuroscientists and surgeons.

Oskam, 40, lost his ability to walk in 2011 when he injured his spine in a cycling accident. A spinal cord injury interrupts the communication between the brain and the region of the spinal cord that produces walking, leading to paralysis.

Swiss researchers from the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne (EPFL) restored this communication with a "digital bridge" between the brain and spinal cord that enabled Oskam to stand and walk naturally.

The operation to restore Oskam's movement was performed in July 2021. Neurosurgeon Jocelyne Bloch cut two holes on each side of his skull above the regions of the brain involved in controlling movement. She then inserted two implants which wirelessly transmit brain signals (Oskam's intentions) to two sensors attached to a helmet on his head.

An algorithm translates these signals into instructions to move leg and foot muscles via a second implant inserted around Oskam's spinal cord - which Bloch attached to the nerve endings related to walking.

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AI making a difference in the medical field.

Antibiotic That Destroys One of World's Deadliest Superbugs Discovered by AI Supercomputer

An antibiotic that could be used to treat one of the world’s most drug-resistant superbugs has been discovered by a supercomputer using AI.

Artificial intelligence is proving to be a great tool for combating antimicrobial resistance, which the World Health Organization named as one of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity.

In this case, Canadian and US scientists used ‘deep learning’ to identify an antibiotic molecule that can kill Acinetobacter baumannii, one of the most dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Notoriously difficult to eradicate, A. baumannii causes infections in vulnerable hospital patients—like premature babies and those with compromised immune systems.

The bug can survive on surfaces such as door handles, cupboards and beds for long periods, and can cause pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis—all of which are potentially fatal.

The superbug’s ability to pick up DNA from other species of bacteria in its surroundings —including antibiotic-resistance genes—makes it uniquely invincible. But the AI algorithm predicted a compound that can beat it.

The researchers named the newly discovered compound abaucin, and proved its effectiveness in experiments on mice with infected wounds and bacterial cells grown in the lab.

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Multiple Myeloma Cancer Treatment Has 90% Success Rate: 'Dramatic Results'

An experimental cancer treatment developed in Israel has become so effective for an incurable form of cancer, the hospital administering it has a waiting list more than 6 months long.

Oncologists at the immunology department at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem used the revolutionary CAR-T, or Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy, to achieve remission of multiple myeloma in 90% of the 74 patients who undertook the experimental treatment.

Multiple myeloma is a kind of bone marrow cancer that distinguishes itself by developing in several areas at once, including the pelvis, ribs, skull, and spine. It accounts for one-tenth of all blood cancers.

CAR-T cell therapies are changing the world of cancer treatments by utilizing the patient’s own immune system to target and kill cancer tumors. Until the 1990s, it was almost completely unknown how to accomplish this, since cancers disguise themselves to avoid immune responses.

“We have evidence of a very positive overall response rate with minimal side effects, and they are mild,” Professor Polina Stepensky, head of the department at Hadassah. “These are dramatic results. This is a huge hope for patients with a disease that has not yet had a cure.”

Jerusalem Post reports that the treatment will also be available across the US in the coming months, quoting Dr. Stepensky.

Game changer

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Cancer Screening Could Predict Tumors Decades Before They Start Growing Thanks to This Discovery

After scientists identified a link between the risk of cancer and clusters of chemicals in an individual’s cells, a screening program that could detect tumors decades in advance is on the horizon.

The chemicals are called circular RNAs, and when they stick to DNA strands in great enough numbers they can cause tumors known as oncogenes.

The breakthrough offers hope of developing personalized vaccines for vulnerable patients.

“Environmental and genetic factors have long been believed as the major contributors to cancer,” explains lead author Professor Simon Conn, of Flinders University in Australia. “We call this revolutionary finding ‘ER3D’ —from endogenous RNA-directed DNA damage’. It ushers in an entirely new area of medical and molecular biology research.

“[It] opens the door for using these molecules as markers of disease at a very early stage, where the likelihood of curing cancers is much higher.”

The study compared neonatal blood tests, or ‘Guthrie cards’, of babies who went on to develop acute leukemia as infants.

One specific circular RNA was present at much higher levels at birth, prior to the onset of symptoms, compared to peers with healthy blood.

The findings suggest it’s the abundance of the circular RNA molecules which is a major determinant for why some develop these specific oncogenes and others do not.

“These specific circular RNAs can bind to DNA at many different locations across a range of cells,” said Dr. Conn. “By binding to the DNA at specific sites, these circular RNAs cause a number of changes culminating in the breakage of the DNA which the cell must repair in order to survive.

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World's First 'Tooth Regrowth' Medicine Moves Toward Clinical Trials in Japan

A drug showing promise in animal trials could provide the world’s first method to regrow human teeth, or create normal tooth development in children with congenital anodontia.

The breakthrough came from the identification of a gene-protein interaction in mice that resulted in the growth of fewer teeth. An antibody medicine that inhibited the protein’s ability to function caused teeth to grow in both mice and ferrets who were born with improper tooth formation.

The breakthrough was made by Katsu Takahashi, who studied advanced dentistry at Kyoto University as part of his post-graduate studies, and more besides in the United States.

“The idea of growing new teeth is every dentist’s dream. I’ve been working on this since I was a graduate student. I was confident I’d be able to make it happen,” Mr. Takahashi said.

Anodontia is a congenital condition present in about 1% of the population that impedes the development of teeth. About 10% of those patients have oligodontia, in which they lack 6 or more natural teeth.

Around 2005, and upon Takahashi’s return to Japan, literature began being published that pinpointed certain genes in mice that when deleted caused them to grow fewer or more teeth.

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Anything that can lessen the negative impact of cancer is a win.

Simple Blood Test for 'Silent Killer' Ovarian Cancer on the Horizon After Discovery of 3 Telltale Proteins

A simple blood test for ovarian cancer is on the horizon now that three telltale proteins have been discovered.

Scientists captured them from samples using nanowires with a special chemical coating.

It offers hope for a screening program that could diagnose the disease earlier—because the symptoms of ‘the silent killer’ cancer usually only develop after it has already spread.

The molecules are known as EVs (extracellular vesicles). They are especially small proteins released from the tumor, which can be isolated from body fluids such as blood, urine and saliva.

The Japanese team extracted them from the most common type of ovarian cancer (high-grade serous carcinoma or HGSC), and used a scanning technique called liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

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Another potentially simple cancer identification process that could save a number of lives.

Simple Urine Test Could Detect a Deadly Brain Tumor that Can Kill Within 12 Months

Glioma tumors in the brain have a survival rate of 12-18 months when advanced, but now, a simple urine test which could be administered in routine check-ups can detect the cancer even in its earliest stages.

The inventors believe the same technique could be used to spot early signs of other hard-to-detect cancers as well.

Brain cancers are often detected late and so are difficult to remove using surgery. Most sufferers aren’t aware of a glioma—a brain tumor, until they get symptoms such as paralysis of the limbs.

But now, researchers have found a way of capturing cancer DNA using nanowires in urine which will give patients vital extra time.

Led by a team at Japan’s Nagoya University, scientists were able to successfully detect IDH1 mutation, a characteristic genetic mutation of gliomas.

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Party Drug Ketamine Can Stop Severe Depression - Researcher Wants Funding for the 'Powerful Treatment'

A low-cost version of ketamine to treat severe depression has performed strongly in a double-blind trial that compared it with placebo.

In a study published this week in the British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers from University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia found that more than one in five participants achieved total remission from their symptoms after a month of bi-weekly injections—while a third had their symptoms improve by at least 50 percent.

“This brings definitive evidence to the field,” said lead researcher Professor Colleen Loo.

“For people with treatment-resistant depression—those who have not benefitted from different modes of talk-therapy, commonly prescribed antidepressants, or electroconvulsive therapy—20 percent remission is actually quite good.”

Funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, the researchers recruited 179 people, which makes this, according to Prof. Loo, the largest study in the world to date that compares generic ketamine with placebo in treating severe depression.

Obviously more research needed, but considering some of the studies I've seen for other drugs like this and their positive impacts on certain conditions it's quite possible this is a potential avenue.

[WuDrWu]

Too many drugs caused by too much easy money. Every symptom does not need to be treated with a drug.

[SubGod22]

Too many drugs caused by too much easy money. Every symptom does not need to be treated with a drug.

Severe depression that has had every other treatment fail certainly does need drugs to help.

[SubGod22]

Toys off the future

Robot Medic Can Roll Into Hazardous Environments to Provide Medical Treatment Where Doctors Can't (WATCH)

A new robotic medic could save lives in places like radiation zones that are too dangerous for nurses and doctors to operate.

Human medics can control the vehicle remotely and use the robot’s arms to check a patient’s temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and even give injections.

The “game-changing” technology has potential to save lives in high-risk emergency environments, such as humanitarian disasters or war zones, say the University of Sheffield team who developed it.

And the first-of-its-kind system was developed in just nine months.

Using medical telexistence (MediTel) technology, researchers from the University’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), Sheffield Robotics and Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, created the mobile, robotic-controlled un-crewed ground vehicle (UGV).