Bio and Medicine

Canadians swallow millions of pills every day to treat common health issues like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type II diabetes, but scientists are working at the molecular level to turn patients’ cells into pharmacies.

A tiny antibody component could fundamentally transform the treatment of cystic fibrosis: For the first time, researchers have succeeded in developing a so-called nanobody that penetrates directly into human cells and can repair the chloride channel most commonly affected in cystic fibrosis. The innovative therapeutic approach was developed in collaboration between teams from Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP). The results have now been published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

A quiet revolution is underway in modern medicine: Drug development is aiming to move from managing disease to correcting it through RNA and gene-editing therapies. But delivering these treatments safely and precisely to the right cells remains a major hurdle—especially in hard-to-target organs like the brain and kidneys.

Researchers have developed a rapid color-changing test that can distinguish between different strains of golden staph, including those likely to be virulent and antibiotic resistant. Golden staph is a major human pathogen and is a leading cause of infection-related deaths globally, with more than a million fatalities each year. The research paper is published in the journal Small.

A simple test developed at Washington State University could eventually allow astronauts and others in round-the-clock occupations to monitor their biological rhythms in just minutes using a drop of blood, a paper test strip, and a smartphone-based reader. An interdisciplinary team of WSU researchers created an inexpensive, 15-minute test using fluorescent nanoparticles to measure melatonin levels, which rise and fall along with a person’s internal biological clock.