Leveraging Bacteriophages in Vaccine Developmenthttps://www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/06/Bates-iStock-1338313552.jpg768432IEEE PulseIEEE Pulse//www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/03/ieee-pulse-logo-dsktp2x.png
It’s a bacteriophage’s world; we’re just living in it Bacteriophages, or phages for short, are viruses that specifically infect bacterial cells. Their name is derived from Greek for “bacteria eater”…
Has COVID Taught Us to be Better Prepared for the Next Pandemic?https://www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/06/3-Banks-iStock-1212579812.jpg768432IEEE PulseIEEE Pulse//www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/03/ieee-pulse-logo-dsktp2x.png
Although it is too soon to say we have reached the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists, politicians, and ordinary citizens are looking to the future and asking the same…
Looking Disease in the Eyehttps://www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/01/Banks-iStock-826564904-1.jpeg23831258IEEE PulseIEEE Pulse//www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/03/ieee-pulse-logo-dsktp2x.png
From eye disease to neurological conditions, new technologies are making earlier diagnosis and better patient outcomes a reality by investigating the eye. read more
Innovative Vaccines to Fight COVID-19, Other Viruseshttps://www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/01/MertzVaccine-iStock-1313536126-1.jpeg22571328IEEE PulseIEEE Pulse//www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/03/ieee-pulse-logo-dsktp2x.png
COVID-19 added urgency to the quest for the development of new vaccines, and academic researchers and biotechnology companies responded by capitalizing on already-in-the-pipeline advances and swiftly transitioning products from the lab to the clinic. Their efforts reaped rewards. According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services analysis, the COVID vaccines delivered in the USA from January to May 2021 resulted in 39,000 fewer deaths and 107,000 fewer hospitalizations, and prevented another 265,000 cases among Medicare recipients alone. read more
Harnessing Another Tool for Treating Brain Cancerhttps://www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2021/08/Weber-iStock-1168180834_small.jpg1000596IEEE PulseIEEE Pulse//www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/03/ieee-pulse-logo-dsktp2x.png
In the United States alone, an estimated 700,000 people have been diagnosed and are living with a brain tumor, and it is estimated that approximately 84,000 people will receive a tumor diagnosis in 2021 [1]. Fortunately, the majority of these tumors will be benign; on average only 30% of all brain tumors are malignant. For patients with malignant tumors, the current five-year survival rate is 36% with an average 31% ten-year survival rate [2], but for those diagnosed with glioblastoma (GBM)—one of the most deadly and treatment-resistant cancers—the patient survival rate falls to a low 7.2% and the median life-span after diagnosis is only eight months. GBM is the most common primary malignant brain tumor, even as an increasing numbers of cancer patients are diagnosed with brain metastases (secondary brain tumors), where the cancer has traveled to the brain from another part of the body. read more
Probing the Future of Psychedelics for Mental Healthhttps://www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2021/08/Allen-iStock-1129695099_small.jpg1000822IEEE PulseIEEE Pulse//www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/03/ieee-pulse-logo-dsktp2x.png
Mounting evidence suggests that psychedelics may be useful for treating a range of different neuropsychiatric conditions that currently have limited treatment options. On May 4–6, 2021, leaders from academia and industry discussed a variety of issues related to the development and adoption of psychedelic drugs for different conditions during the virtual Psychedelic Therapeutics and Drug Development Conference. Selected topics from the conference are presented below. read more
Targeting the Gut to Treat the Brainhttps://www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2021/08/Bates-Cover-iStock-1279892613_small.jpg1000563IEEE PulseIEEE Pulse//www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/03/ieee-pulse-logo-dsktp2x.png
Only ten years ago, the idea that bacteria in your gut could affect your brain and behavior was seen as a fringe theory. But today, it is well-established that the trillions of microbes in the gastrointestinal tract—collectively known as the gut microbiome—profoundly influence the brain. Now, researchers are working to harness the power of the gut microbiome to develop new treatments for brain disorders. read more
The Search for a Drug to End Alzheimer’shttps://www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2021/04/Campbell-iStock-912219896.jpg21391402IEEE PulseIEEE Pulse//www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/03/ieee-pulse-logo-dsktp2x.png
On November 6, 2020, researchers who have been laboring to find a drug that will treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dialed in to a public meeting of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee. The committee would review drug trials of Biogen’s aducanumab, and conclude with a vote on the drug’s safety and efficacy in treating AD. The independent advisors’ decision wouldn’t be the official one for aducanumab, but their vote usually mirrors the final FDA decision. read more
From Face-to-Face to FaceTimehttps://www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2020/10/Campbell-iStock-1218524442.jpg23221290IEEE PulseIEEE Pulse//www.embs.org/pulse/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/03/ieee-pulse-logo-dsktp2x.png
In a Jetsons episode from 60 years ago, Elroy, the youngest Jetson, tries to get out of taking a space calculus test at school by telling his mom he’s sick. “I think I have Venus Virus,” he says. His mom doubts him, but summons a doctor anyway. read more
