Measles Strikes a Florida Elementary School With Over 100 Unvaccinated Kids

[ Florida health officials on Sunday announced an investigation into a cluster of measles cases at an elementary school in the Fort Lauderdale area with a low vaccination rate, a scenario health experts fear will become more and more common amid slipping vaccination rates nationwide. On Friday, Broward County Public School reported a confirmed case … Read more

This Small Wearable Device Reduces Parkinson’s Symptoms

[ In 2015, Lucy Yung was a young industrial designer working on assistive devices for stroke victims, people with multiple sclerosis, and those with other conditions which meant they struggled with fine motor control. Her projects included a pen that used high-frequency vibrations to help Parkinson’s patients write more clearly. Then she was diagnosed with … Read more

Baidu, investors said to be in talks to raise US$2 billion for biotech start-up using AI technology

[ Chinese tech giant Baidu is in talks with investors to raise up to US$2 billion over three years for a biotech start-up, which will use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to discover new drugs and diagnose diseases, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. A second person confirmed the start-up plan. Baidu is … Read more

In a World First, a Patient’s Antibody Cells Were Just Genetically Engineered

[ Our B cells help prevent us from getting sick. Their job is to make antibodies, immune system proteins that fight off viruses and other foreign invaders. And they make a lot of antibodies—thousands of them every second. What if these antibody factories could be harnessed to make other things the body needs? That’s the … Read more

A Cutting-Edge Cancer Treatment May Cause Cancer. The FDA Is Investigating

[ These therapies are made by adding genetic material to patients’ T cells in the lab, making them produce proteins on their surface called chimeric antigen receptors, or CARs. These CARS detect and bind to specific proteins on the surface of cancer cells, turning patients’ own cells into cancer assassins. Scientists use harmless viruses to … Read more

The Race to Find What’s Making America’s Dogs Sick

[ Dog owners are also exchanging advice on the best disinfection products for facilities and sharing what it’s like caring for dogs sick with this suspected syndrome, as well as first-hand accounts of what treatments have and haven’t worked. The idea is that owners of newly infected dogs can pass this information along to their … Read more

The First Crispr Medicine Is Now Approved in the US

[ Casgevy uses the Nobel Prize–winning technology Crispr to modify patients’ cells so that they produce healthy hemoglobin instead. The Crispr system has two parts: a protein that cuts genetic material and a guide molecule that tells it where in the genome to make the cut. To do this, a patient’s stem cells are taken … Read more