The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the promise of using mRNA as medicine. But before mRNA drugs can go beyond vaccines, researchers need to identify the right diseases to treat.
So many diseases to treat, so little money and time.
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Drug development takes a great deal of time, money and effort. While future profits play a big factor in which diseases gets prioritized, advocacy and research incentives can also tilt the scale.
Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs Chair Senator David Richards and Deputy Chair Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu at a news conference releasing the committee’s report on the need for psychedelic-assisted therapy for veterans on Nov. 8, 2023 in Ottawa.
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As well as the important ethical reasons for minimising animal use in research, the reality is sometimes animals just aren’t that good at predicting human responses.
Cell cultures are often grown in petri dishes.
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Cell cultures are common tools in biology and drug development. Bringing them up to scale to meet the meat needs of societies will require further development.
Opioid neurotransmitters are located in many areas of the body, including the brain, spine and gut.
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Unlike opioid drugs like morphine and fentanyl that travel throughout the body, the opioids your body produces are released in small quantities to specific locations.
Newly developed molecular drills may be able to fight treatment-resistant fungal infections like Candida auris.
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Fungal infections can be among the hardest to treat, and since the pandemic began they’ve become only more common. To prevent future antifungal resistance, scientists have developed tiny molecular drills.
Vaccines help protect farm animals from various diseases.
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While mRNA vaccines are designed to last longer in the body than mRNA molecules typically would, they are also tested to ensure they are eliminated from livestock long before milking or slaughter.
Candidiasis is a severe fungal infection that can spread easily in medical facilities.
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Multidrug-resistant fungal infections are an emerging global health threat. Figuring out how fungi evade treatments offers new avenues to counter resistance.
Illustration of an autophagosome (light blue double-membrane to the right) engulfing cellular material.
David S. Goodsell and Daniel Klionsky/RCSB PDB-101
Cells degrade and recycle damaged parts of themselves through a process called autophagy. When this “self-devouring” goes awry, it may promote cancer and neurodegenerative disease.
Broad protection from a universal flu vaccine could replace seasonal flu shots.
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Annual flu vaccines are in a constant race against a rapidly mutating virus that may one day cause the next pandemic. A one-time vaccine protecting against all variants could give humanity a leg up.
The lung-on-a-chip can mimic both the physical and mechanical qualities of a human lung.
Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University/Flickr
Chengpeng Chen, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Successes in the lab mostly don’t translate to people. Research models that better mimic the human body could close the gap.
The pharma industry warned that if proposed new prescription price guidelines go ahead, drug launches would be delayed and ‘Canadian patients will be deprived of potentially life-saving new medicines.’
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The pharma industry claims lower prescription drug prices will mean less access to new medication for Canadians. It’s an old threat that pits profits against patients’ rights to affordable drugs.
Nanoparticles (white disks) can be used to deliver treatment to cells (blue).
Brenda Melendez and Rita Serda/National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
The proteins that cover nanoparticles are essential to understanding how they work in the body. Across 17 proteomics facilities in the US, less than 2% of the identified proteins were identical.
Constraining drugs to a single function in the body may be limiting their full potential.
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Despite technological advancements, many challenges remain in getting a drug from lab to pharmacy shelf. Reframing what is a “medicine” could expand treatment options for researchers and patients.
Lack of pharmaceutical industry interest has stymied the development of new male contraception options.
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There hasn’t been a new form of male birth control since the 1980s. More contraception options for all partners could help reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies.