Drug

Bacteria are fast developing resistance to our best drugs, leaving us poised on the edge of a major health crisis. But a new antibiotic has shown promise against several key “superbugs,” while minimizing damage against good bacteria in the body.

Asthma is usually managed by treating symptoms, but new research shows a potential way to target a root cause of the disease. A molecule prevented structural changes in the airways of asthmatic mice and eliminated their symptoms in weeks.

Most vaccines need to be refrigerated, so it's difficult and expensive to get them to remote areas where they’re often needed most. A new method for encapsulating vaccines in hydrogels lets them be transported and stored at much higher temperatures.

Scientists in Spain have uncovered a mechanism behind why some cancer patients don’t respond well to treatments – and more importantly, found a “weak spot” that could be targeted by existing drugs.

Australian scientists have demonstrated a new way to restore insulin production in pancreatic cells, using a drug that’s already approved for use in humans. The study could mark a major breakthrough towards new treatments for diabetes.

Researchers at MIT have developed microparticles that can release doses of drugs at specific times over days, weeks or months. The platform could be useful for creating what the team calls “self-boosting vaccines.”

Researchers have homed in on new compounds that are effective at killing leukemia. The drug candidates shut down faulty mitochondria in the cancerous cells, and were found to be far more effective when paired with existing chemotherapy drugs.

In a new study, researchers have accidentally discovered that an existing cancer drug shows promise in slowing the progress of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, by changing the type of muscle fibers to be more resilient.

Researchers at EPFL have found that an existing drug used to treat cancer, among other things, also seems to improve memory. Intriguingly, tests in mice show that the drug works by switching on genes associated with brain plasticity.

Diabetes can result from a loss of cells that produce insulin. Swedish researchers have now identified a molecule that helps stimulate the growth of new insulin-producing cells, and uncovered how it works, opening up new potential diabetes treatments.

Scientists at Brown University have developed a new material that can release drugs only when pathogenic bacteria are around. When used as a bandage, the hydrogel could deliver medication on-demand when infection begins to take hold.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have identified a previously unknown mechanism of cocaine’s activity in the brain, which could open new types of treatment for addiction to the drug. Intriguingly, it seems to work differently in male and female mice.