Scientist behind COVID-19 mRNA vaccine says next target is cancer
(The Associated Press/ CBC News) — The scientist who won the race to deliver the first widely used coronavirus vaccine says people can rest assured the shots are safe, and that the technology behind it will soon be used to fight another global scourge — cancer. Ozlem Tureci, who founded the German company BioNTech with […]
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Five reasons why COVID herd immunity is probably impossible
(Christie Aschwanden/ Nature Magazine) — As COVID-19 vaccination rates pick up around the world, people have reasonably begun to ask: how much longer will this pandemic last? It’s an issue surrounded with uncertainties. But the once-popular idea that enough people will eventually gain immunity to SARS-CoV-2 to block most transmission — a ‘herd-immunity threshold’ — […]
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An mRNA vaccine for cancer immunotherapy
(American Chemical Society/ Phys Org) –– Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines to prevent COVID-19 have made headlines around the world recently, but scientists have also been working on mRNA vaccines to treat or prevent other diseases, including some forms of cancer. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Nano Letters have developed a hydrogel that, when injected into mice with […]
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Could the novel coronavirus one day become a common cold?
(Yasemin Saplakoglou/ Live Science) –– One day, the pandemic will end. Scientists don’t know how that finale will play out but a new model offers a teaser: The deadly SARS-CoV-2 may not totally disappear but instead become a commonly circulating cold virus that just causes some mild sniffles. This model, published Jan. 12 in the journal Science, is […]
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Here are 10 reasons why you should get vaccinated
(Alessandro Siani/ The Conversation) — The Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has been authorised for use in the UK, meaning that millions more vaccine doses can now be delivered in the country. This will speed up progress towards achieving widespread immunity to the coronavirus. However, since the start of the pandemic – and particularly since vaccines for […]
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Why new COVID-19 variants are on the rise and spreading
(Sara Otto/ The Conversation) –– A new variant of coronavirus has swept across the United Kingdom and been detected in the United States, Canada and elsewhere. Scientists are concerned that these new strains may spread more easily. As an evolutionary biologist, I study how mutation and selection combine to shape changes in populations over time. Never before […]
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Mindfulness might help ease the pain of breast cancer survivors
(Neuroscience News) — A study led by University of Ottawa researchers provides empirical evidence that mindfulness has a significant impact on the brain of women suffering from neuropathic pain related to breast cancer treatment. The researchers showed that mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) helps modulate neuropathic pain. Their findings could make a difference in the lives […]
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‘Lungs in a box’ to meet the organ shortage
(Laura Vega/ University of Alberta) — A University of Alberta-led trial has demonstrated the potential of the Ex-Vivo Organ Support System (EVOSS) device to increase life-saving opportunities for patients waiting for a lung transplant. The study, published in Nature Communications, confirmed the efficacy of the device in using negative pressure ventilation ex situ lung perfusion (NPV-ESLP) to assess […]
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The first endovascular technology that can explore capillaries
(Valérie Geneux/ EPFL News) — EPFL scientists have invented a technique to navigate electronic devices that are smaller than human hair inside blood vessels and reach arterioles. The next step will be conducting in vivo tests. The cardiovascular system is astonishing. It uses the blood that circulates in our veins and arteries to transport oxygen […]
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Researcher demonstrates that DNA impacts cancer risk
(Laura Herperger/ Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute) — Lifestyle, or put another way, “bad habits,” is one of the textbook explanations for why some people are at higher risk for cancer. We often hear that smoking increases our risk of developing lung cancer or that a high-fat diet increases our risk of developing bowel cancer, but […]
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