Tag Archives: new drug

New wonder drug could give us super memory

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New wonder-drug could give us all super-memory (via: divineirony)

It sounds like science fiction, but neuroscientists have identified a molecule in mice that, when suppressed, significantly boosts memory. It’s meant as a radical treatment for Alzheimer’s patients, but there’s no reason the rest of us couldn’t take it, too.

[...] The team realized that if they could find an inhibitor that could specifically block the PKR molecule, they could confer that same memory-boosting benefit without having to worry about genetic engineering. By injecting various potential inhibitors into the mice’s stomachs, they were able to find the right molecule. Even better, since that inhibitor blocked PKR from the stomach, that should mean it’s possible to create an ingestible drug that blocks PKR.

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Could it work anything like the drug in Limitless? Then, yes please! I’d buy it.

BTW, this is why I love sci-fi… the potential.

Guess which country has created the first lung-cancer vaccine?

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No, not the United States: CUBA!

From the island nation known for the quality of its cigars comes some pretty big news today: Xinhua reports that Cuban medical authorities have released the first therapeutic vaccine for lung cancer. CimaVax-EGF is the result of a 25-year research project at Havana’s Center for Molecular Immunology, and it could make a life or death difference for those facing late-stage lung cancers, researchers there say.

CimaVax-EGF isn’t a vaccine in the preventative sense–that is, it doesn’t prevent lung cancer from taking hold in new patients. It’s based on a protein related to uncontrolled cell proliferation–that is, it doesn’t prevent cancer from existing in the first place but attacks the mechanism by which it does harm.

As such it can turn aggressive later-stage lung cancer into a manageable chronic disease by creating antibodies that do battle with the proteins that cause uncontrolled cell proliferation, researchers say. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are still recommended as a primary means of destroying cancerous tissue, but for those showing no improvement the new vaccine could be a literal lifesaver.

The vaccine has already been tested in 1,000 patients in Cuba and is being distributed at hospitals there free of charge. That’s a big deal for a country where smoking is part of the national culture and a leading cause of death. If it proves as successful as researchers say it is, it should give those suffering from lung cancer reason to celebrate–just not with a Cohiba.

Cuba Announces Release of the World’s First Lung Cancer Vaccine

Can you imagine a successful new drug being distributed in U.S. hospitals “free of charge?”