New Atlas

Medical Audio available

Two experimental cancer drugs team up after unexpected discovery

Michael Irving December 4, 2018

Researchers at MIT have combined two experimental cancer drugs, protein kinase inhibitors and ribonuclease drugs, and found that they worked better together than alone. The discovery could help reduce side effects of cancer treatments and make them more effective.

MIT researchers have combined two experimental cancer drugs into one treatment that's more effective than either ...

Medical Audio available

Experimental cancer drug repurposed to prevent Parkinson’s

Michael Irving December 2, 2018

As promising as a drug candidate may be, not all of them end up performing as hoped – but they can still find use. Researchers at Oxford University have managed to give second life to an experimental cancer drug known as tasquinimod, which has now shown promise in preventing Parkinson’s.

An experimental cancer drug has found new life as a potential treatment for Parkinson's disease

Science

Legal marijuana: The world watches as Canada’s massive social experiment begins

Rich Haridy October 20, 2018

As Canada becomes only the second country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana, the world is closely watching. The country will offer the grandest social experiment we have ever seen in drug legalization and may help answer some questions that have been divisively debated for decades.

What are the questions we hope the Canada experiment will help us answer?

Medical

Probiotics and antibiotics team up against deadly superbugs

Michael Irving October 18, 2018

Bacteria continue to evolve resistance to our best drugs, but probiotics help keep bad bugs at bay. Now, MIT researchers have found a way to combine probiotics and antibiotic drugs into an uneasy alliance that seems to work better than either treatment alone.

Probiotics and antibiotics have formed an uneasy alliance against superbugs

Medical Audio available

How stem cells, CRISPR and skin grafts could help combat cocaine addiction

Michael Irving September 17, 2018

A novel form of treatment could help cut back on a person’s desire for cocaine and reduce its damaging effect in the body. The method involves removing a small patch of skin, introducing genes that produce cocaine-degrading enzymes, and then grafting it back onto the patient.

A new potential treatment for cocaine addiction involves skin grafts, stem cells and gene-editing

Medical

Even antidepressants could be contributing to antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Michael Irving September 10, 2018

The looming threat of drug-resistant bacteria is usually chalked up to overuse of antibiotics. But now, researchers have found that pharmaceutical compounds that aren’t antibiotic themselves can also contribute to the rise of superbugs, including antidepressants like Prozac.

Researchers have found that even non-antibiotic drugs, including antidepressants, can contribute to the development of antibiotic ...

Medical

New superbug breaks through the last line of antibiotic defense

Nick Lavars September 5, 2018

Common bacteria living on our skin has raised a red flag for scientists concerned with the rise of superbugs, as research reveals the spread of a new type of drug-resistant infection around the globe, raising the very real possibility that the infections it causes will essentially be untreatable.

Medical

Cannabis extract could form basis of new anti-psychotic treatments

Michael Irving August 30, 2018

Marijuana compounds like cannabidiol (CBD) have been found to impart benefits to the brain without the negative “stoned” side-effects. Now, researchers at King’s College London have shown that CBD could help reset the brain abnormalities found in people suffering from psychosis.

Researchers have found that a cannabis extract might help relieve symptoms of psychosis

Biology

New antibiotic candidates were inside us all along

Michael Irving August 22, 2018

With bacteria rapidly evolving resistance to our best antibiotics, scientists are searching high and low for new ones. Researchers have now found that a potent peptide normally used for digestion has strong antimicrobial effects, and could form the base of new drugs.

A new antibiotic candidate has been found – and it's already inside the human body

Medical

New antibiotics found in leafy bacterial battlegrounds

Michael Irving July 30, 2018

Researchers from ETH Zurich have found a way to make use of some of the chemical weapons bacteria have developed against each other. In this case, that bacterial battleground is on the surface of thale cress leaves.

This bustling bacterial metropolis is located on a leaf, and it might just help us discover ...