Automated chemistry: The machines that can discover new drugs

Making new molecules to treat disease has relied upon the painstaking art of synthetic chemistry, but now we’re developing robots that could do it all for us Technology 2 March 2022 By Katharine Sanderson Graham Carter Perhaps the most storied aspect of modern chemistry is total synthesis. This is the craft of taking simple molecules … Read more

Common Over-The-Counter Painkillers Can Be an Unexpected Source of Too Much Sodium

Dissolvable painkillers might bring rapid relief, but researchers are warning many of them also come with a hidden and hearty dose of salt. For each half a gram of paracetamol, or acetaminophen, that comes in a dissolvable tablet, you may also swallow around 0.4 grams of sodium, one of the main components of salt.   … Read more

Mysterious ‘Russian Flu’ 130 Years Ago May Have Been a Coronavirus, Scientists Say

In 1889, a mysterious respiratory illness emerged in Russia and then spread across the globe, triggering at least three waves of infection over the course of several years. Now, some scientists suspect that this illness, dubbed the “Russian flu,” actually may have been caused by a pandemic coronavirus similar to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, The New … Read more

Personalised medicine: Australia aims to end childhood cancer deaths

An Australian plan to eliminate childhood cancer deaths using personalised medicine will be made available to all Australian children with the condition from 2023 Health 15 February 2022 By Alice Klein DNA sequencing helps offer a personalised approach to cancer Getty Images/iStockphoto An ambitious Australian programme to use personalised medicine to reduce the number of children … Read more

Medical technology: Electric wound dressing could help injuries heal faster

Electric fields have previously been shown to speed up wound healing, so researchers have created a dressing powered by static electricity Technology 26 January 2022 By Chris Stokel-Walker An ordinary wound dressing Shutterstock / Impact Photography An electric wound dressing can help heal injuries faster than existing methods, according to tests in rats. Previous research … Read more

Regenerative medicine: Frogs regrow amputated legs after treatment with a chemical cocktail

Adult frogs can’t usually regrow a lost leg, but they can after treatment with a regenerative cocktail – and the new leg even contains functioning nerves Health 26 January 2022 By Carissa Wong Regenerated frog tissue Nirosha Murugan/Algoma University), Hannah Vigran, Kelsie Miller/Tufts University in Levin lab Adult frogs can gain the ability to regrow … Read more

Waiting Over 5 Hours in ER Is Linked to Higher Death Rates, New Data Show

As emergency rooms worldwide are flooded with a wave of new COVID-19 patients, a large study in the United Kingdom has laid out the deadly consequences of delayed critical care.   Nearly 27 million individuals attended a major emergency room in England from 2016 to 2018, waiting on average just under five hours for a … Read more

Ancient Egypt: Mummy of a young girl is first with a bandaged wound

By Colin Barras Ancient Egyptians had a wide range of medical knowledge Andr After virtually unwrapping the mummified body of a young girl who died 2000 years ago, archaeologists have found something unique: an ancient Egyptian bandaged wound. The ancient Egyptians were no strangers to linen bandages, which they first used to wrap their dead … Read more

2022 news preview: mRNA tech behind covid-19 vaccines could get new uses

By Michael Le Page A BioNTech worker tests the procedures for making mRNA Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images 2022 could be the year when we find out whether mRNA vaccine technology can be used for a lot more than just making vaccines. The hope is that it can also get our bodies to produce drugs that … Read more

2022 news preview: Expect a row over controversial Alzheimer’s drug

By Clare Wilson A participant in a clinical trial for aducanumab Kayana Szymczak/New York Times/Redux/eyevine EXPECT to see debate over a new medicine to treat Alzheimer’s disease, called aducanumab, continue into 2022. Approved in the US last June, it is the first drug designed to treat a possible cause of this form of dementia, rather than the symptoms. … Read more