Science - Drug Discovery Digest

Global trust in science remains strong

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 20, 2025

A team of 241 researchers conducted the largest post-pandemic study of trust in science, societal expectations and public views on research priorities. A global survey spanning 68 countries reveals that public trust in scientists is still high.

Science

Science Research

Researchers make breakthrough in bioprinting functional human heart tissue

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 22, 2025

The breakthrough science focused on replicating heart tissues, bringing research closer to generating functional, bioprinted organs, which would have broad applications in disease modelling, drug screening and regenerative medicine.

Research

Research Science Disease Drugs

US bird populations continue alarming decline

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 13, 2025

State of the Birds Report, produced by a coalition of leading science and conservation organizations, reveals continued widespread declines in American bird populations across all mainland and marine habitats, with 229 species requiring urgent conservation action. The 2025 U.

Science

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Bridging Innovation & Patient Care: The Growing Role of AI

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An Alzheimer’s drugmaker is accused of data manipulation. Should its trials be stopped?

BioPharma Drive: Drug Pricing

OCTOBER 4, 2024

An experimental Alzheimer’s therapy from Cassava Sciences is still being tested in two Phase 3 studies, even as the company has come under regulatory scrutiny.

Trials

Trials Science Therapies

RNA editing: emerging from CRISPR’s shadow

BioPharma Drive: Drug Pricing

OCTOBER 22, 2024

Early study data from Wave Life Sciences suggests how editing RNA may yield viable medicines. Large and small drugmakers say such results are just the start.

RNA

RNA Science

Feng Zhang awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation

Broad Institute

JANUARY 6, 2025

Feng Zhang awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation By Corie Lok January 6, 2025 Breadcrumb Home Feng Zhang awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation Zhang and 22 other individuals received the USs highest honors for science and technology. By Broad Communications January 6, 2025 Credit: Ryan K.

Medical Schools

Medical Schools Engineering Science Hospitals

Earliest days of Earth's formation

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 26, 2025

New research sheds light on the earliest days of the earth's formation and potentially calls into question some earlier assumptions in planetary science about the early years of rocky planets.

Science

Science Research

ALS drugs from Denali, Calico come up short, marking more failures for Healey trial

BioPharma Drive: Drug Pricing

JANUARY 7, 2025

Denali’s medicine and a similar one from Calico Life Sciences and AbbVie were not much different than a placebo, bringing the tally of failed drugs in the innovative “Healey platform trial” to seven.

Trials

Trials Science Drugs

Physicists use quantum entanglement to crack mystery of strange metals

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 28, 2025

Now, a team of physicists has made a breakthrough in this area using a tool from quantum information science. Scientists have long sought to unravel the mysteries of strange metals -- materials that defy conventional rules of electricity and magnetism.

Science

How AI will reshape pharma by 2025

Drug Target Review

DECEMBER 20, 2024

Smith identifies three key obstacles preventing broader acceptance of AI: Communication gaps : Pharmaceutical and computational science communities often struggle to understand each others technical languages, making collaboration difficult.

Clinical Trials

Clinical Trials Trials Pharmaceuticals Drug Development

New technology puts a spatial lens on CRISPR screening

Broad Institute

MARCH 12, 2025

Related group Spatial Technology Platform Related news Q&A: How a Broad team uses cutting-edge spatial technologies to enable new science Recently, scientists have been able to explore gene circuitry in individual cells using methods that suppress particular genes and measure the impact on the expression of other genes.

RNA

RNA Science Research Disease

Healthy eating in midlife linked to overall healthy aging

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 24, 2025

Maintaining a healthy diet rich in plant-based foods, with low to moderate intake of healthy animal-based foods and lower intake of ultra-processed foods, was linked to a higher likelihood of healthy aging -- defined as reaching age 70 free of major chronic diseases and with cognitive, physical, and mental health maintained, according to a new study. (..)

Disease

AI-Designed Enzymes

Codon

FEBRUARY 13, 2025

A new paper , published today in Science , suggests a way forward. This is because the protein structural databases used to train these models consist overwhelmingly of structures gleaned from protein crystals or other “frozen” images. The resultant distortion has made computational enzyme design exceptionally difficult.

Small Molecule

Small Molecule Engineering Production DNA

Novel stem cell therapy repairs 'irreversible' corneal damage in clinical trial

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 4, 2025

Results from a phase 1/2 clinical trial of a novel stem cell treatment for cornea injuries found 14 patients treated and tracked for 18 months had a more than 90% success rate at restoring the cornea's surface and improvements in vision.

Clinical Trials

Clinical Trials Trials Therapies Treatment

Scientists discover how aspirin could prevent some cancers from spreading

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 5, 2025

Scientists have uncovered the mechanism behind how aspirin could reduce the metastasis of some cancers by stimulating the immune system.

Clinical Trials

Clinical Trials Trials Drugs

Zebrafish protein unlocks dormant genes for heart repair

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 2, 2025

Researchers have successfully repaired damaged mouse hearts using a protein from zebrafish. They discovered that the protein Hmga1 plays a key role in heart regeneration in zebrafish. In mice, this protein was able to restore the heart by activating dormant repair genes without causing side effects, such as heart enlargement.

Therapies

Therapies Research

Boosting evolution: How humans unintentionally altered the skulls of pigs

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

Short snouts and a flat profile -- within a span of 100 years, humans have significantly changed the shape of the skulls of German domestic pigs. This is likely down to new breeding practices introduced at the beginning of the 20th century.

Research

Deep learning designs proteins against deadly snake venom

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 15, 2025

New proteins not found in nature have now been designed to counteract certain highly poisonous components of snake venom. The deep learning, computational methods for developing these toxin-neutralizing proteins offer hope for creating safer, more cost-effective and more readily available therapeutics than those currently in use.

Heat from the sun affects seismic activity on Earth

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 4, 2025

Researchers explore the likelihood that Earth's climate, as affected by solar heat, plays a role in seismic activity.

Research

Nanorobot hand made of DNA grabs viruses for diagnostics and blocks cell entry

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

A tiny, four-fingered 'hand' folded from a single piece of DNA can pick up the virus that causes COVID-19 for highly sensitive rapid detection and can even block viral particles from entering cells to infect them, researchers report.

DNA

DNA Virus Treatment Research

Scientists can reverse brain aging in fruit flies by preventing buildup of a common protein

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

OCTOBER 28, 2024

Buildup of a protein called filamentous actin, or F-actin, in the brain inhibits the removal of cellular wastes, including DNA, lipids, proteins and organelles. The resulting accumulation of waste diminishes neuronal functions and contributes to cognitive decline.

DNA

DNA Research

Breakthrough in clean energy: Palladium nanosheets pave way for affordable hydrogen

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 4, 2025

Hydrogen energy is widely recognized as a sustainable source for the future, but its large-scale production still relies on expensive and scarce platinum-based catalysts.

Production

Production Research

Drug candidate eliminates breast cancer tumors in mice in a single dose

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 22, 2025

Despite significant therapeutic advances, breast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Treatment typically involves surgery and follow-up hormone therapy, but late effects of these treatments include osteoporosis, sexual dysfunction and blood clots.

Treatment

Treatment Therapies Drugs Research

DNA nanorobots can alter artificial cells

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 13, 2025

Scientists have succeeded in controlling the structure and function of biological membranes with the help of 'DNA origami'. The system they developed may facilitate the transportation of large therapeutic loads into cells. This opens up a new way for the targeted administration of medication and other therapeutic interventions.

DNA

Brain-wide activity change visualized as geometric patterns

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

FEBRUARY 21, 2025

Researchers have applied a visualization technique to depict the brain's activity related to visual perception as geometric patterns. They visualized different shapes as the ever-changing neuronal activity in the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain during object recognition and recalling memories.

Research

New lipid nanoparticle platform delivers mRNA to the brain through the blood-brain barrier

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

FEBRUARY 17, 2025

Scientists have developed a lipid nanoparticle system capable of delivering messenger RNA (mRNA) to the brain via intravenous injection, a challenge that has long been limited by the protective nature of the blood-brain barrier.

RNA

RNA Treatment Disease Drugs

Evaluating GenMol as a Generalist Foundation Model for Molecular Generation

Nvidia Developer: Drug Discovery

JANUARY 13, 2025

Traditional computational drug discovery relies almost exclusively on highly task-specific computational models for hit identification and lead optimization. Traditional computational drug discovery relies almost exclusively on highly task-specific computational models for hit identification and lead optimization.

Drugs

Drugs Research Science

Models show intensifying wildfires in a warming world due to changes in vegetation and humidity; only a minor role for lightning

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Climate scientists present a realistic supercomputer simulation that resolves the complex interactions between fire, vegetation, smoke and the atmosphere. The authors find that increasing greenhouse gas emissions will likely increase the global lightning frequency by about 1.6%

World's critical food crops at imminent risk from rising temperatures

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 4, 2025

A new study offers a more precise picture of exactly where and how warming will affect our ability to grow food.

Paralyzed man moves robotic arm with his thoughts

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 6, 2025

Researchers have enabled a man who is paralyzed to control a robotic arm through a device that relays signals from his brain to a computer. He was able to grasp, move and drop objects just by imagining himself performing the actions.

Research

First operating system for quantum networks

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 12, 2025

Researchers have announced the creation of the first operating system designed for quantum networks: QNodeOS. The research marks a major step forward in transforming quantum networking from a theoretical concept to a practical technology that could revolutionize the future of the internet.

Research

Chimpanzees act as 'engineers', choosing materials to make tools based on structural and mechanical properties

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 24, 2025

Researchers have discovered that chimpanzees living in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania employ a degree of engineering when making their tools, deliberately choosing plants that provide materials that produce more flexible tools for termite fishing.

Engineering

Engineering Research

Researchers create gel that can self-heal like human skin

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 7, 2025

Until now, artificial gels have either managed to replicate high stiffness or natural skin's self-healing properties, but not both.

Research

Research Drugs

Feeling is believing: Bionic hand 'knows' what it's touching, grasps like a human

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 5, 2025

Engineers have developed a pioneering prosthetic hand that can grip plush toys, water bottles, and other everyday objects like a human, carefully conforming and adjusting its grasp to avoid damaging or mishandling whatever it holds.

Engineering

Tattoos may be linked to an increased risk of cancer

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 3, 2025

Research has shown that tattoo ink does not just remain where it is injected. Particles from the ink can migrate to the lymph nodes, where they accumulate.

Research

Study raises the possibility of a country without butterflies

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 6, 2025

A sweeping study for the first time tallies butterfly data from more than 76,000 surveys across the continental United States. The results: Butterflies -- all of them -- are disappearing.

NASA satellites reveal abrupt drop in global freshwater levels

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

NOVEMBER 16, 2024

The Earth's total amount of freshwater dropped abruptly starting in May 2014 and has remained low ever since. The shift could indicate Earth's continents have entered a persistently drier phase.

Exercise of any kind boosts brainpower at any age

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 25, 2025

Whether it's an early morning jog, or a touch of Tai Chi, groundbreaking research shows that any form of exercise can significantly boost brain function and memory across children, adults, and older adults.

Research

Half a degree further rise in global warming will triple area of Earth too hot for humans

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

FEBRUARY 4, 2025

New assessment warns area the size of the USA will become too hot during extreme heat events for even healthy young humans to maintain a safe body temperature if we hit 2 degrees Celsuis above preindustrial levels.

Storing carbon in buildings could help address climate change

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 9, 2025

Construction materials such as concrete and plastic have the potential to lock away billions of tons of carbon dioxide, according to a new study by civil engineers and earth systems scientists.

Engineering

Moderate coffee and caffeine consumption is associated with lower risk of developing multiple cardiometabolic diseases, new study finds

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

Consuming moderate amounts of coffee and caffeine regularly may offer a protective effect against developing multiple cardiometabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, according to new research.

Disease

Disease Research

The megadroughts are upon us

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 16, 2025

Increasingly common since 1980, persistent multi-year droughts will continue to advance with the warming climate, warns a new study. This publicly available forty-year global quantitative inventory seeks to inform policy regarding the environmental impact of human-induced climate change. It also detected previously 'overlooked' events.

System to auto-detect new variants will inform better response to future infectious disease outbreaks

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 1, 2025

Researchers have come up with a new way to identify more infectious variants of viruses or bacteria that start spreading in humans -- including those causing flu, COVID, whooping cough and tuberculosis.

Virus

Virus Disease Research

Critical ocean current has not declined in the last 60 years

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 15, 2025

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has not slowed down since the mid-20th century based on the North Atlantic air-sea heat fluxes over that time.

Global trust in science remains strong

Researchers make breakthrough in bioprinting functional human heart tissue

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US bird populations continue alarming decline

Webinars

An Alzheimer’s drugmaker is accused of data manipulation. Should its trials be stopped?

RNA editing: emerging from CRISPR’s shadow

Feng Zhang awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation

Earliest days of Earth's formation

ALS drugs from Denali, Calico come up short, marking more failures for Healey trial

Physicists use quantum entanglement to crack mystery of strange metals

How AI will reshape pharma by 2025

New technology puts a spatial lens on CRISPR screening

Healthy eating in midlife linked to overall healthy aging

AI-Designed Enzymes

Novel stem cell therapy repairs 'irreversible' corneal damage in clinical trial

Scientists discover how aspirin could prevent some cancers from spreading

Zebrafish protein unlocks dormant genes for heart repair

Boosting evolution: How humans unintentionally altered the skulls of pigs

Deep learning designs proteins against deadly snake venom

Heat from the sun affects seismic activity on Earth

Nanorobot hand made of DNA grabs viruses for diagnostics and blocks cell entry

Scientists can reverse brain aging in fruit flies by preventing buildup of a common protein

Breakthrough in clean energy: Palladium nanosheets pave way for affordable hydrogen

Drug candidate eliminates breast cancer tumors in mice in a single dose

DNA nanorobots can alter artificial cells

Brain-wide activity change visualized as geometric patterns

New lipid nanoparticle platform delivers mRNA to the brain through the blood-brain barrier

Evaluating GenMol as a Generalist Foundation Model for Molecular Generation

Models show intensifying wildfires in a warming world due to changes in vegetation and humidity; only a minor role for lightning

World's critical food crops at imminent risk from rising temperatures

Paralyzed man moves robotic arm with his thoughts

First operating system for quantum networks

Chimpanzees act as 'engineers', choosing materials to make tools based on structural and mechanical properties

Researchers create gel that can self-heal like human skin

Feeling is believing: Bionic hand 'knows' what it's touching, grasps like a human

Tattoos may be linked to an increased risk of cancer

Study raises the possibility of a country without butterflies

NASA satellites reveal abrupt drop in global freshwater levels

Exercise of any kind boosts brainpower at any age

Half a degree further rise in global warming will triple area of Earth too hot for humans

Storing carbon in buildings could help address climate change

Moderate coffee and caffeine consumption is associated with lower risk of developing multiple cardiometabolic diseases, new study finds

The megadroughts are upon us

System to auto-detect new variants will inform better response to future infectious disease outbreaks

Critical ocean current has not declined in the last 60 years

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