Scientists discover how a vitamin A byproduct may weaken immune responses against cancer, potentially explaining why some immunotherapies fail in patients.

A therapy that would once have been considered a feat of science fiction has reversed aggressive and incurable blood cancers in some patients, doctors report. The treatment involves precisely editing the DNA in white blood cells to transform them into a cancer-fighting living drug. The first girl to be treated, whose story we reported in 2022, is still free of the disease and now plans to become a cancer scientist. Now eight more children and two adults with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia have been treated, with almost two thirds (64%) of patients in remission. T-cells are supposed to be the body's guardians - seeking out and destroying threats - but in this form of leukaemia, they grow out of control.

Can AI Look at Your Retina and Diagnose Alzheimer's? The author of believes AI could bring big changes to the world of medicine. For decades now, it's been fairly well established that once you turn 40 you should start paying more attention to your body. That's when women are supposed to start getting mammograms and men are supposed to start paying a bit more attention to their prostates. Over the next decade, you'll start getting colonoscopies, and from then on out, it feels like a gradual march of doctor's appointments and tests until your body collapses sometime in your seventies or eighties.

As the promise of artificial intelligence (AI) captivates biomedicine, few people are riding the wave like Priscilla Chan--because few people have her resources. Trained as a pediatrician, Chan and her husband, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, co-run a philanthropy that launched in 2015 with the wildly ambitious--some would say quixotic--goal of curing, preventing, or managing every disease by the end of the century. The couple pledged nearly their entire fortune-- 45 billion then and more than 200 billion today--to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), which would also support their education and progressive causes. Recently, however, the foundation has wound down support for almost everything but science. And this week, CZI announced it is increasing its research spending, doubling down on AI, and vowing to meet Chan and Zuckerberg's biomedical goal even earlier--although CZI won't set a specific target.

Experts reveal signs of immune aging, including frequent infections and slower wound healing, with lifestyle factors like diet and sleep playing crucial roles.

Health Diseases Donor organ's blood type altered for the first time Scientists removed the blood's antigens to make a kidney the universal type-O. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. In a world first, researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada successfully transplanted a human donor kidney that they artificially swapped from someone with type-A blood to the universal type-O. The breakthrough may pave the way for the creation of a universal donor blood supply, as well as the ability to pull off similar results with other vital organs. The riskiest and often most difficult part of an organ transplant procedure is the distinct possibility that a patients' body will reject the organ itself .

Scientists are getting a better handle on the complexities of how immunity works. Attentive readers might have noticed my absence over the last couple of weeks. I've been trying to recover from a bout of illness. It got me thinking about the immune system, and how little I know about my own immune health. The vast array of cells, proteins, and biomolecules that works to defend us from disease is mind-bogglingly complicated. Immunologists are still getting to grips with how it all works.

How healthy am I? My immunome knows the score. Groundbreaking new tests reveal patterns in our immune systems that can signal underlying disease and tell us how well we might recover from our next cold. I got my results in a text message. It's not often you get a text about the robustness of your immune system, but that's what popped up on my phone last spring. Sent by John Tsang, an immunologist at Yale, the text came after his lab had put my blood through a mind-boggling array of newfangled tests. The result--think of it as a full-body, high-resolution CT scan of my immune system--would reveal more about the state of my health than any test I had ever taken. And it could potentially tell me far more than I wanted to know. "David," the text read, "you are the red dot." Tsang was referring to an image he had attached to the text that showed a graph with a scattering of black dots representing other people whose immune systems had been evaluated--and a lone red one.

A 30-minute treatment can help reduce allergies from pet dander, dust, and more. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. While ultraviolet (UV) light is harmful for human skin, it could be a new tool in the fight against airborne allergies. A study recently published in the journal found that UV light can disarm common indoor allergens in only 30 minutes. "We have found that we can use a passive, generally safe ultraviolet light treatment to quickly inactivate airborne allergens," study-author Tess Eidem, a microbiologist at the University of Colorado Boulder, said in a statement .

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. 'I just wanted to help.' Father turns to 9-year-old son for lifesaving stem cell donation Stephen Mondek became what Cedars-Sinai Medical Center believes is its youngest known stem cell donor. His father was dying of acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer that affects blood-forming cells in the bone marrow, and needed a donation to rebuild his immune system. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here .