This webcast provides an interesting look at the complex scientific inquiry process: An Alzheimer’s Drug That Doesn’t Treat Alzheimer’s? Medical research is complex. Once we figure out what is most critical and discover effective treatments often the explanations can then make it seem fairly simple. But that process is often decades of efforts that include […]
A lab-stage mRNA vaccine targeting ticks may offer protection against Lyme and other tick-borne diseases A new laboratory-stage mRNA vaccine that teaches the immune system to recognize the saliva from tick bites could prevent these bugs from feeding on and transmitting tick-borne diseases to people … What’s unique about the 19ISP mRNA vaccine is that […]
Medical studies about healthy living are very complex and not easy to draw clear conclusions from. But the evidence continues to grow on the benefits of a healthy Mediterranean diet. Mediterranean diet may prevent memory loss and dementia, study finds The true diet is simple, plant-based cooking, with the majority of each meal focused on […]
Malaria is estimated to have killed more than half the people that have ever lived. And it continues to kill millions. One big challenge is diagnosing malaria is difficult (those infected have flu like symptoms). The video shows two great appropriate technology solutions to help diagnose malaria and save millions of lives. Manu Prakash from […]
Widespread, occasional use of antibiotics in USA linked with resistance The increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance in the U.S. appears more closely linked with their occasional use by many people than by their repeated use among smaller numbers of people, according to a large new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The […]
Everyone should appreciate the value of cats (as we do, honoring cats in our blog’s name); yet some people seem oblivious to the greatness of cats. In another demonstration of what we gain by associating with cats, research has shown living with cats as newborns helps protect those with a specific gene variation from developing […]
Readers of this blog know I am fascinated by the human microbiome. It is amazing how much of our biology is determined by entities within us that are not us (at least not our DNA) (bacteria, viruses etc.). This whole area of study is very new and we have quite a bit to learn. There […]
Partnering with the Government of Rwanda, Zipline serves 21 hospitals nation-wide. They provide instant deliveries of lifesaving blood products for 8 million Rwandans. Their drones are tiny airplanes (instead of the more common tiny helicopter model). Supplies are delivered using parachute drops from the drone. Landings are similar to landings on aircraft carriers (they grab […]
I Contain Multitudes is a wonderful book by Ed Young on the microbes within us. Time and again, bacteria and other microbes have allowed animals to transcend their basic animalness and wheedle their way into ecological nooks and crannies that would be otherwise inaccessible; to settle into lifestyles that would be otherwise intolerable; to eat […]
Very cool innovation from NASA. The biocapsule monitors the environment (the body it is in) and responds with medical help. Basically it is acting very much like your body, which does exactly that: monitors and then responds based on what is found. The Miraculous NASA Breakthrough That Could Save Millions of Lives The Biocapsules aren’t […]