Tuberculosis is currently curable, but the bacteria responsible for it are fast evolving resistance to our antibiotics, thwarting attempts to keep the disease under control. Scientists have found a new compound that can boost the power of existing antibiotics and even reverse the bugs’ resistance.
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Bacteria are quickly evolving resistances to antibiotics, to the extent that our best drugs might not work in the terrifyingly-near future. Now, researchers from Thomas Jefferson University have found a new way to weaken bacterial defenses, slowing down the development of antibiotic resistance.
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Part of cancer's cunning is its ability to spread around the body, so that doctors can rarely be sure they’ve killed it all. Now researchers have identified a drug that could help keep cancer contained in a dormant state – and best of all, that drug is already on the market for other purposes.
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Bacteria are fast evolving resistance to antibiotics. A long term strategy might be to prevent them from evolving in the first place. A new study has found that bacteria use clever gambles to adapt – and showed how we could rig the game in our favor.
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A drug originally developed as a cancer treatment may be repurposed to treat a variety of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Despite proving ineffective in treating cancer, the drug is safe for humans and early mouse studies suggest it could have potential as a new dementia treatment.
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A shockwave hit the Alzheimer’s research community today after Biogen announced it was discontinuing two massive final phase human trials into the promising Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab. The announcement is the latest in a long line of failed Alzheimer’s drugs targeting the amyloid hypothesis.
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Sometimes the immune system gets it wrong, targeting harmless proteins from things like nuts and triggering allergic reactions. Now, researchers have identified a mechanism that helps keep the immune system in check, potentially leading to drugs that prevent allergic reactions before they start.
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Chemotherapy drugs are effective at killing cancer cells – but they’re also pretty good at killing healthy cells. Making these drugs more selective for tumors is a key area of research, and now a team at ETH Zurich has found a way to keep a common treatment – platinum nanoparticles – on target.
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Plenty of work has gone into developing an insulin pill as an alternative to injections, but that comes with its own challenges. Now, an MIT team has created a new design for a capsule that houses a microneedle made of insulin, which injects the hormone through the stomach lining.
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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating disease that usually claims the lives of patients within a few years. But now a new drug developed by a team of Australian scientists has shown promise in a Phase 1 clinical trial, improving symptoms and slowing progression of the disease.
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