As 2024 is finishing off, this year witnessed some major science research, clinical trials, and setbacks. From the last year onwards we started the turnback to review major scientific events of the year.
The first news we published in 2024 was about “Healthy brains may depend on a common marker of neurological diseases“. Researchers have discovered that phosphorylated α-synuclein, a protein linked to several neurodegenerative illnesses, including Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, is also engaged in the regular processes of neuronal communication in a healthy brain. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a division of the National Institutes of Health, provided funding for the study published in Neuron.
In the same month we published “Researchers Developed a Transparent Brain Implant That Can Monitor Surface-Based Neural Activity“. A neural implant developed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego may sit on the surface of the brain and transmit data about activity that occurs deep within it. The implant consists of a thin, flexible, transparent polymer strip that has a dense array of graphene electrodes packed into it. Through testing on transgenic mice, the method advances the goal of developing a minimally invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) that uses surface brain recordings to deliver high-resolution information on deep neural activity.
In the month of February we published about “Omalizumab – A study on kids reveals that the drug can limit dangerous reactions to allergy-triggering foods“. A new study headed by experts at the Stanford School of Medicine suggests that medication might avoid harmful allergic reactions to small amounts of food that trigger allergies, therefore making life safer for children with food allergies.
In the month of March, we published about “A new immunotherapy to prevent CAR T-cell therapy inactivity due to resistant leukemia“. Aggressive blood malignancy is called acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). It is brought on by mutations in a multitude of genes that are acquired over an individual’s lifetime. The tumour suppressor gene TP53 is one of these genes that is crucial. TP53 typically aids in preventing the growth of tumours. Patients with blood cancer who have this gene altered, however, have a very bad prognosis since their mutations make them resistant to traditional chemotherapy drugs. As a result, much research is being done on novel therapeutic strategies, such as CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cells, which have already shown promise in the treatment of other blood malignancies.
In the month of April, we published about “Prostate cancer can be detected by a urine test“. A novel urine-based test created by researchers at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Centre tackles a significant issue with prostate cancer. how to distinguish between more aggressive cancer that requires prompt treatment and the slow-growing type of illness that is unlikely to cause harm.
In the month of May, we published about “Advanced heart regenerative therapy using stem cell-derived heart muscle cells“. To restore lost cardiac function, regenerative heart treatments entail grafting cardiac muscle cells into injured cardiac regions. However, there is a substantial documented risk of arrhythmias after this surgery. In a recent study, Japanese researchers explored a unique technique that includes directly injecting human stem cell-cultured “cardiac spheroids” into injured ventricles. The promising results in monkey models demonstrate the potential of this approach.
In the same month, we published about “An experimental monoclonal antibody drug called mAb43 can protect pancreas cells from immune system attack“. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine report that mAb43, an investigational monoclonal antibody medication, seems to delay the onset of clinical type 1 diabetes in mice, reverse its progression, and extend the animals’ longevity in some situations. The drug is special, say the researchers, since it specifically targets the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin and is made to protect those cells against the immune system attacks. According to the researchers, the drug’s selectivity for these cells may allow for long-term usage in people with few adverse effects. Cloning, or creating exact duplicates of, an animal (including human) cell line is used to develop monoclonal antibodies.
There was noticeable news about “CRISPR gene editing trials for vision show rapid improvement“. According to an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, around 79% of clinical trial participants saw quantifiable improvement after receiving experimental, CRISPR-based gene editing to correct a rare form of blindness.
In June, we published about “Scientists discovered a protein that has a key role in human blood stem cell self-renewal“. Researchers at UCLA have discovered a protein that is essential for controlling the self-renewal of human blood stem cells by enabling them to detect and process signals from the environment. This puts researchers one step closer to creating techniques for growing blood stem cells in a lab dish, which may boost the safety of blood stem cell-based medicines like gene therapies and increase the accessibility of life-saving transplants of these cells.
In the same month, we published “Researchers uncovered the DNA mechanisms of rare genetic diseases“. A novel finding made by scientists at the Pacific Northwest Research Institute (PNRI) and other universities has the potential to expand our knowledge of genetic diseases greatly. Their most recent research, supported by the National Institutes of Health and published in the journal Cell Genomics, shows how particular DNA rearrangements known as inverted triplications aid in the emergence of several hereditary illnesses.
We started publishing astrobiology articles in the same month with “Phosphate findings in NASA’s OSIRIS-REx samples“. Since it was transported to Earth last autumn, scientists have been anxiously awaiting the chance to examine the 4.3-ounce (121.6-gram) pristine asteroid Bennu sample that NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) mission acquired. They believed the material might provide details about the early solar system and the prebiotic chemistry that may have given rise to Earthly life.
July started with key news about “New research suggests an improved method for the detection of thyroid cancer“. Researchers from Sinai Health and the University of Toronto have discovered new insights into the potential for more successful treatment of thyroid cancer. Examining thyroid cancer tissues and thyroid nodule biopsies from 620 patients at Mount Sinai Hospital between 2016 and 2022, the study investigated if cancer status differed according to individuals’ RAS genetic variations. Additionally, it looked at whether the patient’s samples included polymorphisms of the TERT promoter and BRAF V600E.
In the same month we published about “New subtypes of Parkinson’s Disease can be defined by Machine Learning“. Based on the rate at which the condition advances, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have classified Parkinson’s disease into three subgroups using machine learning. Apart from their potential utility as diagnostic and prognostic tools, these subtypes are identified by unique driver genes. If verified, these indicators may potentially point to potential pharmacological targets for the subtypes.
August started with an AI article “A New AI Model Learns DNA’s Hidden Language“. DNA contains foundational information needed to sustain life. Understanding how this information is stored and organized has been one of the greatest scientific challenges of the last century. With GROVER, a new large language model trained on human DNA, researchers could now attempt to decode the complex information hidden in our genome. Developed by a team at the Biotechnology Center (BIOTEC) of the Dresden University of Technology, GROVER treats human DNA as a text, learning its rules and context to draw functional information about the DNA sequences. This new tool, published in “Nature Machine Intelligence”, has the potential to transform genomics and accelerate personalized medicine.
In the same month, we published about “Alzheimer’s disease is caused by a cellular population in the brain“. Cellular changes that herald the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease have been catalogued in unprecedented detail for the first time in more than 1.6 million brain cells from elderly individuals in new routes by which to seek ways to prevent the most prevalent cause of dementia among older people.
In the month of September, we published “Researchers found antibiotic-resistant bacteria using bioinformatics tools“. When penicillin was discovered, it was heralded as “the silver bullet” because of its extraordinary ability to eradicate germs that cause illness without endangering humans. Since then, several other antibiotics have been created that target a variety of bacteria; however, the more frequently these antibiotics are used, the higher the chance that strains of bacteria may evolve resistance to them.
In the same month, we published “Phase III Clinical Trials Shows Promising Results for Gene Therapy Against Hemophilia B“. The outcomes of an international Phase III clinical trial conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and a multicenter group of investigators, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, show that adults with haemophilia B experienced an average 71% reduction in the number of bleeding episodes following a single infusion of gene therapy.
October witnessed the Nobel prize announcements. We reported about Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2024 for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation & The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 for the Scientists Behind Protein Research.
In the same month we published “FDA Approval After Promising Results for Reducing Breast Cancer in Clinical Trials. Teri Boudreaux is thankful for the time she gets to spend with her family, whether it’s hiking, playing with her grandkids, traveling with her spouse, lounging on the beach, or taking up new interests like pickleball. She has survived breast cancer twice. Read in detail…
In November we published “Use of genetic scissors like CRISPR have risk of introducing other defects“. The way genetic illnesses are treated could be completely changed by the CRISPR molecular scissors. This is due to the fact that they can be utilized to fix particular faulty genomic regions. Unfortunately, there is a catch in some cases, such as chronic granulomatous illness, the repair may result in new genetic abnormalities. A group of clinicians and basic researchers from the University of Zurich’s (UZH) clinical research program, ImmuGene, reported this.
In the same month, we reported “Researchers developed lipid nanoparticles for netter mRNA therapies“. To enhance mRNA delivery, Penn engineers have created an ideal “recipe” for ionizable lipids, which are essential components of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), the molecules that underlie the COVID-19 vaccines and other cutting-edge treatments. The technique, which was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, is similar to the iterative process of creating a recipe and could result in mRNA vaccines and treatments that are safer and more efficient.
In December, we published “A Novel Method for Forecasting Drug Resistance in Malaria“. To find out which genetic variations are most likely to impart treatment resistance, researchers at the University of California San Diego examined the genomes of hundreds of malaria parasites. Researchers may be able to better prioritize the most promising experimental treatments for future development and apply machine learning to anticipate antimalarial drug resistance according to the findings, which were reported in Science. The method may potentially be used to predict treatment resistance in cancer and other infectious disorders.
In the same month we published “A single mutation to the H5N1 influenza surface protein could make human infection easier“. According to new research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published today in the journal Science, a single alteration in the protein on the surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 influenza virus that is presently circulating in U.S. dairy cows may make it easier for the virus to spread among humans. The study’s findings support the necessity of ongoing, careful surveillance and monitoring of HPAI H5N1 for any genetic alterations that can increase the virus’s human transmissibility.
We are winding up 2024 with this article. We are expecting more research on the well-being of mankind.
