Most parents want to protect their children from the variety of illnesses and experiences that can occur in the early years of life. Explores some of the biggest issues in children’s health in this Nature Outlook that I edited. Read more in Nature.
cancer
‘We’ve never had a technology like Crispr before’: gene-editing moves into the clinic
When Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier revealed that the bacterial Crispr–Cas9 antiviral defence system could be reprogrammed to edit genomic DNA they could scarcely have imagined the impact their discovery would have. One Nobel prize and a decade later treatments based on the technique are racing towards the clinic. Read more in Chemistry World.
Replication failures cast doubt on some cancer studies
A decade-long project that attempted to replicate experiments from several high-profile papers in the field of preclinical cancer biology has found that around half of the experiments couldn’t be replicated on most criteria. ‘This suggests the credibility of published findings in cancer biology are less certain than thought,’ said Brian Nosek, executive director of the […]
Nature Outlook: Multiple myeloma
Until around 10 years ago, the prognosis for people with multiple myeloma was poor. It’s still the second most common blood cancer after leukaemia – but thanks to better treatments, the situation is improving. Read more in this Nature Outlook that I edited.
A Byproduct of Digestion Helps Explain Why Cancer Gets Worse as We Age
Cancer cells become super-charged when exposed to methylmalonic acid, a chemical that builds up in older people’s bodies. Many forms of cancer become more common and deadlier as we get older. There are several reasons behind this, including a weakening immune system and an accumulation of potentially dangerous mutations in our genes. Now a new […]
Two Share 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for Cancer Discoveries
James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo share prize for discovery of checkpoint inhibitors for cancer therapy. The 2018 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to James P. Allison, from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and Takusu Honjo, from Kyoto University in Japan, “for their discovery of cancer […]
Gut bacteria link to immunotherapy sparks interest
One of the world’s largest cancer centers will collaborate with microbiome biotech Seres Therapeutics to investigate the gut microbiota’s role in shaping a patient’s response to immunotherapies. The MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy signed the agreement with the Cambridge, Massachusetts–based biotech in November. Read more in Nature Biotechnology.
Faster, deeper, smaller—the rise of antibody-like scaffolds
In early May the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca completed a deal with Boston-based Pieris Pharmaceuticals worth up to $2.1 billion to bring Pieris’ anticalin asthma drug PRS-060, an engineered protein that mimics antibodies, to the clinic. And on June 1, Bicycle Therapeutics in Cambridge, UK, pulled in $52 million in a series B funding round with […]
Nature Outlook: Kidney cancer
Kidney cancer has long flown under the radar despite being one of the top-ten cancer killers worldwide. It lacks the research spotlight and public awareness of other cancers that can help to drive new discoveries. It remains hard to detect, difficult to treat and poorly understood. But that is starting to change as researchers dig […]
Outlook: Melanoma
Melanoma — the deadliest form of skin cancer — is on the rise in many parts of the world. But new treatments, and efforts to tell people how to prevent it, could mean we will soon gain the upper hand on the disease. Read more in this Nature Outlook I edited.