Disease

Lab-grown mini-brains can help us crack the puzzle of our own minds. Scientists have made a major breakthrough by growing mini-brains with the pathological features of Parkinson’s disease for the first time, paving the way towards better treatments.

The first participants have been dosed in a large Phase 2/3 trial testing a novel oral treatment designed to alleviate symptoms of COVID-19. The first results are expected by the end of this year.

A large study led by researchers from King’s College London has found fully vaccinated adults are around 50 percent less likely to suffer from long COVID if they are unfortunate enough to experience a breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection.

In the most thorough investigation to date into the virulence of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, researchers in the UK have found those infected with the strain are twice as likely to be hospitalized compared to those infected with prior variants.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a lung condition involving excessive scarring that affects patients’ breathing, and currently can’t be cured. But now, scientists have found a way to reverse the condition in mice, using a drug already available for other uses.

A big flush of funding in the UK is pushing new research on ways to diagnose and treat long COVID. A University of Cambridge team is now working on a blood test to objectively diagnose this emerging chronic condition using immune biomarkers.

A landmark study is describing the successful results of a trial testing a targeted gene therapy for children with a rare genetic disease. The research demonstrates a novel method for delivering gene therapies to specific locations deep in the brain.

A large study tracking some four million patients has linked adult ADHD diagnosis with a higher risk of a range of other diseases, including nervous system, musculoskeletal, respiratory, gut and metabolic conditions. Only arthritis wasn't correlated.

Researchers have found the earliest known strain of the plague-causing Yersinia pestis bacteria, through genetic analysis of teeth and bone from a hunter-gatherer who was buried in present-day Latvia 5,000 years ago.

Japanese researchers have developed a new type of cholera vaccine by genetically modifying rice to carry a non-toxic cholera antigen. The vaccine needs no refrigeration with the rice simply ground into a powder, mixed with water and consumed.

New clinical data shows that CRISPR gene editing can be done safely and effectively inside the body. CRISPR was injected into the bloodstream of patients with a genetic disease, with better outcomes than current treatments and no side effects.

Introducing the concept of “microbiome architectures”, a new study has detected robust associations between several human diseases, including diabetes and liver cirrhosis, and patterns of bacterial genes.