Category: Science and Tech
‘Truly transformative’ new diagnostic tools can help end tuberculosis
UN TB is caused by bacteria that most often affects the lungs. Every day, over 3,300 people die from the disease, with Southeast Asia accounting for nearly 40 per cent of deaths. Yet it is both preventable and treatable, including by using the antibiotic rifampicin. WHO has issued new guidelines on testing, recommending that countries deploy innovations such as new near-point-of-care molecular diagnostic tests and tongue swabs, both of which can help with faster […]
Mar 25, 2026
Digital early warning systems essential as old diseases like cholera resurge in global crisis zones
JMIR Publications JMIR Publications today released a critical analysis in its News and Perspectives section regarding the global resurgence of cholera and the vital role of digital surveillance in fragile settings. The article, “When Old Diseases Return: Cholera, Crisis, and Digital Surveillance in Fragile Settings,” examines how the convergence of climate change, economic collapse, and conflict is bringing […]
Mar 18, 2026
Cancer drug protein target may also help fight influenza
Medical Express A protein already targeted by FDA-approved cancer drugs may also help the body fight influenza, according to new research from The Jackson Laboratory (JAX). Published in Cell Reports, the study found that Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1), a protein best known for helping tumors evade immune attack, instead helped immunocompromised mice clear flu-infected lung cells […]
Mar 18, 2026
Scientists Can Finally Explain Rare Blood Clots Linked to COVID Vaccines
Science Alert COVID vaccines saved millions of lives, but months into the rollout, a small number of people began developing dangerous blood clots in unusual parts of the body. These only happened after vaccines that used a modified adenovirus to deliver their payload, such as the AstraZeneca vaccine. Why these blood clots formed was a […]
Mar 11, 2026
Marburg virus invades human cells far more efficiently than Ebola, study reveals
Medical Express In a new study published in Nature, University of Minnesota researchers have found that the Marburg virus, one of the world’s deadliest pathogens with an average 73% fatality rate, is unusually efficient at getting inside human cells. They also showed that the virus’s entry protein contains structural features that explain this efficiency and point to a […]
Mar 11, 2026
ChatGPT Health performance in a structured test of triage recommendations
Nature ChatGPT Health launched in January 2026 as OpenAI’s consumer health tool, reaching millions of users. Here, we conducted a structured stress test of triage recommendations using 60 clinician-authored vignettes across 21 clinical domains under 16 factorial conditions (960 total responses). Performance followed an inverted U-shaped pattern, with the most dangerous failures concentrated at clinical […]
Feb 25, 2026
Real-world medical questions stump AI chatbots
Science News AI chatbots may seem medical–book smart but their grades falter when interacting with real people. In the lab, AI chatbots could identify medical issues with 95 percent accuracy and correctly recommend actions such as calling a doctor or going to urgent care more than 56 percent of the time. When humans conversationally presented medical scenarios […]
Feb 18, 2026
National Cancer Institute studying ivermectin’s ‘ability to kill cancer cells,’ alarming career scientists
STAT The NCI director didn’t cite new evidence that prompted the agency to look into it. The National Cancer Institute, the federal research agency charged with leading the war against the nation’s second-largest killer, is studying ivermectin as a potential cancer treatment, according to its top official. “There are enough reports of it, enough interest […]
Feb 11, 2026
Scientists are building viruses from scratch to fight superbugs
Science Daily Researchers from New England Biolabs (NEB®) and Yale University describe the first fully synthetic bacteriophage engineering system for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an antibiotic-resistant bacterium of global concern, in a new PNAS study. The system is enabled by NEB’s High-Complexity Golden Gate Assembly (HC-GGA) platform. In this method, researchers engineer bacteriophages synthetically using sequence data […]
Jan 21, 2026
Cat Disease Challenges What Scientists Thought About Coronaviruses
UC Davis Study Finds Viruses May Hide and Persist in Immune Cells. esearchers at the University of California, Davis, have uncovered new details about how a once-deadly coronavirus disease in cats spreads through the immune system. The findings may help scientists better understand long COVID and other long-lasting inflammatory illnesses in people. The disease, feline […]
Jan 14, 2026