Science and Health News

A phase I clinical trial of PAC-1, a drug that spurs programmed cell death in cancer cells, found only minor side effects in patients with end-stage cancers. The drug stalled the growth of tumors in the five people in the trial with neuroendocrine cancers and reduced tumor size in two of those patients. It also showed some therapeutic activity against sarcomas, scientists and clinicians report in the British Journal of Cancer.

Study of hearing in old and young mice suggests the brain might be trained to filter out background sound

Senescent cells, which emerge after tissue injury, create an aged-like inflamed microenvironment that is negative for stem cell function and tissue repair. The finding provides a basis for mitigating the loss of muscle regenerative capacity in elderly people and for improving muscle repair in young healthy people.

An existing drug could protect donor livers from damage during the transplantation process and reduce complications that occur afterwards, a study suggests.

The findings could help inform treatments for blindness in humans.

Researchers have designed and synthesized analogs of a new antibiotic that is effective against multidrug-resistant bacteria, opening a new front in the fight against these infections.

An artificial intelligence algorithm can determine non-invasively, with about 70 percent accuracy, if an in vitro fertilized embryo has a normal or abnormal number of chromosomes, according to a new study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Scientists at EPFL have discovered a new mechanism by which aging affects our bodies: ceramides accumulating in aging muscle. The study also shows reducing ceramides prevents age-related muscle loss.