A lumbar puncture – credit, BruceBlaus CC 3.0. via Wikimedia Commons A single-dose gene replacement therapy is found to transform the capabilities for movement in children over 2 years of age and teenagers with spinal muscular atrophy, according to research published in Nature Medicine. The effects allowed these minors who could sit but not stand … Read more
PoNS Portable Neuro-modulation Stimulator tongue sensor, plugged-in A fall from a 10 foot ladder triggered a cascade of neurological problems that might have left an Ontario man paralyzed on his right side for life. But working with a device that delivers an electrical shock through the tongue has allowed him to recover movement and speech, … Read more
Pope Francis in 2015 rides in Popemobile in Washington DC Parade – Credit Tami Heilemann / U.S. Department of the Interior – CC BY-SA 2.0 The global Catholic charity organization Caritas, asked Pope Francis in the final years of his life if he would like to see his old ‘popemobile’ used as a mobile hospital … Read more
Courtesy of Oliver Chu family The first child in history has successfully been treated with a new genetic therapy for an ultra-rare developmental defect called Hunter syndrome. Several years in the making, Oliver Chu became the first in the world to receive the stem cell-based treatment in February, and 3 months later seemed to be … Read more
– credit Marino Linic Scientists in Brazil are currently testing to see if the venom of an Amazonian scorpion could be used to poison breast cancer tumors. Researchers at the University of São Paulo’s Preto School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCFRP-USP) have long worked to clone and express proteins from rattlesnake and scorpion venom with hopes … Read more
Anthony Killinger with dad (CPR training photo by Martin Splitt) Less than a year after Anthony Killinger attended a CPR course in his school gymnasium, his mother was at the door of his bedroom saying she thought her husband was dead. Running downstairs, Killinger found his stepfather, Mike Reese, unconscious on the ground making a … Read more
Dunpharlain, CC license Among the world’s manifold disease burdens, antibiotic resistant bacteria hold a special place of concern. But recent evidence points to the malaria parasite also developing resistance to drugs that have been working to killed it off for the last quarter-century. Therefore, news that a major drug trial looking at the efficacy of … Read more