The venom of insects such as wasps and bees is full of compounds that can kill bacteria. Unfortunately, many of these compounds are also toxic for humans, making it impossible to use them as antibiotic drugs. After performing a systematic study of the antimicrobial properties of a toxin normally found in a South American wasp, researchers at MIT have now created variants of the peptide that are potent against bacteria but nontoxic to human cells.

Even healthy people who don't suffer from a cardiovascular disease are prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs, known as statins, if they meet certain risk criteria. However, for years the use of statins for primary prevention has been hotly debated among experts. "Ultimately, this measure helps to prevent heart attacks or strokes in only a few cases. But all people who take statins are at risk of experiencing the side effects," says Milo Puhan, professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Zurich.

Interest has been growing in the use of cannabinoids - the active chemicals in cannabis or marijuana - for the treatment of epilepsy in children. A recent Epilepsia analysis of relevant published studies indicates that this strategy looks promising. The analysis included four randomized controlled trials and 19 non-randomized studies, primarily involving cannabidiol, a particular type of cannabinoid that does not have psychoactive effects.

The human brain is rich in lipids. Investigators studying Parkinson's disease (PD) have become increasingly interested in lipids since both molecular and genetic studies have pointed to the disruption of the balance of the brain's lipids as a potentially critical contributor to this disease. Beginning in yeast and moving through various model organisms and human cells, a new study led by investigators from

In their phase-2 study of tisagenlecleucel (marketed as KYMRIAH®), to be published on-line Dec. 1, 2018 in the New England Journal of Medicine, an international team of researchers evaluated 93 patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). They found that 52 percent of those patients responded favorably to the therapy. Forty percent had a complete response and 12 percent had a partial response.

Many factors affect cancer treatment outcome, such as the size and location of the tumor, availability of effective treatments, and timing of intervention. But some cancers are so aggressive that outcome is poor, even after early diagnosis and chemotherapy. Researchers have focused their attention on trying to understand what makes some cancers less treatable than others.

Clinical trial results published in the journal Nature Medicine show 91 percent response rate to the combination of venetoclax with azacitidine in older adults newly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Of 33 patients given combination venetoclax and azacitidine, 20 experienced a complete response (aka complete remission) and eight experienced a complete response but with continued low blood counts.