One of the dreams of cancer therapy is to use the power of the body to heal itself. This dream, long in the making, is becoming a reality thanks to deep and fundamental understandings of the immune system, the primary means by which we protect ourselves from external and internal threats. The immune system recognizes
The XBB variant was first sequenced in India in late August 2022. It is most definitely NOT a “Singapore Variant”. There is some anecdotal evidence that the XBB variant may have been uncovered in the United States in early August 2022, however those sequences have not been uploaded to the global Gisaid database. The current XBB
Three-dimensional bioprinting is an emerging technology that has the potential to build human tissue, on demand, to treat a wide range of human diseases. However, bridging the gap from research at the benchtop to clinical translation requires a host of resources, time, and energy. A new Science Translational Medicine perspective authored by researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s
A study from the Karolinska Institutet shows that the coronavirus variant BA.2.75.2, a subvariant of omicron, more easily bypasses neutralizing antibodies in the blood and is resistant to several monoclonal antibody treatments. This means an increased risk of sars-cov-2 infection this winter, unless the new updated bivalent vaccines can strengthen the immunity of the population. The results
Groundbreaking trial aims to reverse the paralysis and other abnormal functions of spina bifida before birth Three babies have been born after receiving the world’s first spina bifida treatment combining surgery with stem cells. This was made possible by a landmark clinical trial at UC Davis Health. The one-of-a-kind treatment, delivered while a fetus is
SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 virus, caused significant neuron damage and inflammation within a week of infection in rhesus macaque monkeys, according to a new study. The researchers from the California National Primate Research Center at the University of California, Davis, also discovered that aged monkeys with Type 2 diabetes experienced worse virus-induced neurological damage. The findings,
CARTITUDE-1 is a phase 1b–2 study evaluating ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel), a chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy with two B-cell maturation antigen–targeting single-domain antibodies, in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Primary efficacy outcomes have previously been reported. In this paper are reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL) secondary outcomes evaluated using patient-reported outcomes.
The prognosis for adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia remains poor. UCART19, an allogeneic genome-edited anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product derived from healthy donors and available for immediate clinical use, offers a potential therapeutic option for such patients. The CALM trial is a first-in-human study evaluating the safety and antileukaemic
“Smart surveillance” for viral spillover from animals to humans, targeted preparedness and drug and vaccine research, and worldwide cooperation on surveillance and stopping disease spread are required to reduce deaths and lessen the economic consequences of the next pandemic, according to an international team of scientists. In a perspective article published this week in Proceedings of
A fantastic diagram by Daniele Focosi showing the convergent evolution that has led to the lineages we have been discussing recently, including BQ.1.1, CA.1, BR.2 and the new XBB variant. The speed with which SARS-CoV-2 is now evolving is quite breathtaking – ever-fitter variants are now being uncovered on an almost daily basis. Just over one week
