Chemists of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) have developed an autonomous chemical synthesis robot with an integrated AI-driven machine learning unit. Dubbed 'RoboChem', the benchtop device can outperform a human chemist in terms of speed and accuracy while also displaying a high level of ingenuity. As the first of its kind, it could significantly accelerate chemical discovery of molecules for pharmaceutical and many other applications.

Combining testosterone-blocking drugs in patients with prostate cancer relapse prevents the spread of cancer better than treatment with a single drug, a multi-institution, Phase 3 clinical trial led by UC San Francisco researchers has found.

The approach can extend the time between debilitating drug treatments without prolonging the time it takes to recover from each treatment.

There are approximately 425 million people worldwide with diabetes. Approximately 75 million of these inject themselves with insulin daily. Now they may soon have a new alternative to syringes or insulin pumps. Scientists have found a new way to supply the body with smart insulin.

The new insulin can be eaten by taking a capsule or even better, within a piece chocolate.

Most people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus recover after the acute illness. However, a significant proportion of infected individuals develop long-lasting symptoms with a wide range of manifestations. The causes and disease mechanisms of Long COVID are still unknown, and there are no diagnostic tests or targeted treatments.

Today, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists published their work on SJ3149, a compound with broad activity against many cancer types, particularly acute myeloid leukemia (AML). SJ3149 sticks to the cancer-related protein casein kinase 1 alpha (CK1α), leading to its destruction. The findings were reported in Nature Communications.

Researchers have developed a platform that combines automated experiments with AI to predict how chemicals will react with one another, which could accelerate the design process for new drugs.

Predicting how molecules will react is vital for the discovery and manufacture of new pharmaceuticals, but historically this has been a trial-and-error process, and the reactions often fail.

By exploiting the technology used in COVID-19 vaccines, a team led by UCL, King's College London and Moderna scientists has created an effective therapy for a rare disease, in a study in mice, demonstrating the technology’s potential therapeutic use in people.

The research, published in Science Translational Medicine, found that messenger RNA (mRNA) could be used to correct a rare liver genetic disease known as argininosuccinic aciduria in a mouse model of the disease.