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In 2003, a team of investigators from the University of California, Irvine, started a study of the ‘oldest-old’, people in their 90s and beyond. This ‘oldest-old’ group is now the fastest growing age group in the United States of America. The 90+ Study aims to help bring to the fore …

Artificial organs Initially considered to be a ground-breaking technology for its ability to regenerate skin cells for skin draughts for burn victims, bio-printing is an emerging medical technology that is now giving way to even more exciting possibilities. Bio-printing can be used to create blood vessels and synthetic ovaries (perhaps even …

Based on early data from the first-ever clinical trial in humans in the US, genetically editing a cancer patient’s immune cells using CRISPR/Cas9 technology and infusing them back into the patient seems to be safe and feasible. Three participants in the trial (two with multiple myeloma and one with sarcoma) …

In ongoing lawsuits in the USA, claims have been made that Zantac and ranitidine contain unacceptable levels of the cancer-causing chemical N-Nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA. Lawyers have charged that NDMA contamination causes stomach, liver, and bladder cancer. In September 2019, an online pharmacy had alerted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration …

Once upon a time, getting a blood transfusion was a highly a risky affair, because some people receiving donated blood were apt to get chronic hepatitis (liver inflammation) from an unknown, mysterious disease. And, although the Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B viruses were discovered by the mid-1960s, in 1972, Prof. …

  The development of the COVID-19 vaccine is a worldwide effort involving some of the best biological and pharmaceutical companies. Not only is it an effort involving massive amounts of money, but also, a race among nations for prestige and achievement. As of date, the leading companies with their COVID-19 …

Results of a World Health Organization coordinated study show that remdesivir has “little or no effect on mortality” for patients hospitalized with coronavirus, and that it doesn’t seem to help patients recover any faster. Till date, this antiviral drug was the only drug that the US FDA had granted COVID-19 …

After government approval of Sputnik V, Russia’s first COVID-19 vaccine, on August 11, 2020, health authorities have, on October 14, 2020, approved its second vaccine, EpiVacCorona, developed by Novosibirsk’s Vektor [State Virology and Biotechnology Center], as it starts large-scale trials. According to President Putin, his deputy prime minister and the …

In May 2020, the US Environmental Agency approved production of the genetically engineered, male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, known as OX5034, by British-based, US-operated company Oxitec. This species of mosquitoes are known to spread deadly diseases like dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. On August 18, 2020, Florida Keys Mosquito Control …

On June 11, 2020, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals initiated the first of its randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials of REGN-COV2, its experimental dual antibody cocktail for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Th e trials were conducted at multiple sites and consisted of four study populations—hospitalized COVID-19 patients, non- hospitalized symptomatic COVID-19 patients, …