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Category: health

Autism risk framework tracks genes, maternal factors and environment across 18,000 families

A new statistical framework developed by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Kaiser Permanente Northern California offers improved understanding of how genetics and environment contribute to autism risk.

Large-scale genetic studies have led to the development of genetic risk scores that estimate a person’s predisposition to diseases and health conditions based on their DNA profiles. The new framework allows researchers and clinicians to analyze these scores using family data and characterize the risk of conditions such as autism and other developmental conditions in children based on their own DNA, parental factors, and environmental influences such as maternal diet and lifestyle.

For their study published in Nature Genetics, the researchers analyzed more than 18,000 case-parent trios —autistic children and their parents—across diverse ancestral populations in the Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge consortium and the Genes and Environment Autism Research Study.

Munk Debate on Gene Editing

On April 21, the Munk Debates convened a special debate about gene editing in Deerfield, Massachusetts for 650 students at Deerfield Academy.

Motion: Be it Resolved, let’s engineer better human beings.

About the Debate:
New powerful engineering technology is already being used to edit human embryos, curing diseases and repairing defective genes before a child is even born. Some welcome this new science as a powerful tool to enhance human intelligence, memory, appearance and physical health. Why wouldn’t we embrace a science that allows people to live longer, healthier, and happier lives? Others warn that this new technology will be used to create designer babies and a new class of genetically “enhanced” elites. It will undermine human dignity and autonomy, and risk unleashing new diseases into the human gene pool. Playing G-d with human nature, critics argue, will result in a dystopian nightmare of our own making.

About the Debaters:
Arguing in favour of the motion was the biophysicist, best-selling author, biotechnology entrepreneur, and the former director of the Program on Medicine, Technology and Society at UCLA School of Medicine, Gregory Stock. His debate partner was the internationally acclaimed strategic philosopher and pioneering transhumanist Max More. Arguing against the motion was the prominent American bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel, Special Advisor to the Director General of the WHO and a former founding chair of the Department of Bioethics at the NIH. His debate partner was the award-winning educator, author, and Professor of Reproductive Science at University College London, Joyce Harper.

Life-changing benefits of hydroxyurea for sickle cell anemia affirmed by 10-year study

Fewer serious complications. Fewer hospitalizations and blood transfusions. Better growth and development. And a markedly lower risk of death from the complications of sickle cell anemia.

These are the benefits documented from 10 years of continuous hydroxyurea treatment provided in the NOHARM trial to a group of young children in Uganda, which has one of the world’s largest number of people living with the painful disorder known for causing sickle-shaped red blood cells. These improved outcomes were highlighted May 27, 2026, in a report published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Russell Ware, MD, Ph.D., director of the Division of Hematology and the Global Health Center at Cincinnati Children’s, was the lead author of the report. He has been working for years with researchers and clinicians across sub-Saharan Africa to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of low-cost hydroxyurea treatments.

NIH-funded study suggests that testosterone suppresses brain tumor growth in males

Findings may warrant exploration of the hormones as glioblastoma treatment.

In a new National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study, scientists at Cleveland Clinic discovered that hormones associated with male development may play a key role in limiting the growth of brain tumors in men. The research team found that the loss of androgen hormones, such as testosterone, in a preclinical model of glioblastoma drove tumor growth by inducing local inflammation and triggering the production of stress hormones. In an analysis of data from more than 1,300 men with glioblastoma, the authors found that supplemental testosterone was significantly associated with improved survival, which was consistent with their preclinical experiments.

“This outcome is a welcome surprise and may potentially offer a lead for new treatments for a kind of cancer that is deadlier in men,” said Anthony Letai, M.D., Ph.D., director of NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Smaller nanoplastics trigger stronger changes in brain neuron activity

Smaller plastic particles have more effects on neurons, the key information processing cells of the brain, new research from the University of Eastern Finland shows. In the study, neuronal cells were exposed to polystyrene nanoplastics at low doses to study subtle changes.

Plastic production continues to rise, despite worldwide concerns. In addition to environmental implications, there is an increasing interest in how exposure to plastics may impact human health, but our understanding is still limited. Only recently it was shown that plastics can accumulate also in the human brain.

Plastic particles smaller than 5,000 nm in diameter are called microplastics, and the smallest plastic particles with a diameter of less than 1,000 nm are called nanoplastics. The small size of nanoplastics enables them to interact with various cell types, and other particles or biological mass, such as bacteria. Compared to microplastics, nanoplastics have larger adsorption capacity and penetrate through biological barriers more easily. This makes them potentially more harmful and a compelling target for research in the field of neurobiology.

The impact of nanoplastics on neurons may depend on their size

Smaller plastic particles have more effects on neurons, the key information processing cells of the brain, new research from the University of Eastern Finland shows. In the study, neuronal cells were exposed to polystyrene nanoplastics at low doses to study subtle changes.

The study is published in the journal NanoImpact.

Plastic production continues to rise, despite worldwide concerns. In addition to environmental implications, there is an increasing interest in how exposure to plastics may impact human health, but our understanding is still limited. Only recently was it shown that plastics can also accumulate in the human brain.

Targeted therapy reduces risk of lung cancer recurrence by 83% in rare genetic subtype

A new study co-led by investigators at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center shows that the targeted cancer drug selpercatinib can significantly reduce the risk of lung cancer returning in patients with a rare genetic subtype of early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), potentially offering a new treatment option to help keep the disease from coming back after standard therapy.

The international phase 3 clinical trial, called LIBRETTO-432, found that after two years, 92% of patients with stage II–IIIA RET fusion-positive NSCLC who received selpercatinib after standard treatment were alive without their cancer returning—a measure known as event-free survival—compared with 61% of patients who received a placebo. Overall, the treatment reduced the risk of cancer recurrence or death by 83%.

The results were shared during the Plenary Session on May 31 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting by Dr. Jonathan Goldman, Health Sciences Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The paper was also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

For real heart protection, the weekly exercise number climbs far beyond current advice

Adults should aim to do between 560 and 610 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous physical activity to achieve a substantial reduction in the risk of heart attacks and stroke, suggest the findings of an observational study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

This is between three to four times higher than the current public health recommendation that adults do at least 150 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous physical exercise such as brisk walking, running, or cycling.

People who are less fit need to do slightly more exercise than those who are very fit to get the same cardiovascular benefits, the study suggests.

⚠️ The X-Ray We Keep Refusing to Read

The fractures aren’t in our biology. They’re in our agreements, our economic systems, and our willingness to extend the definition of “us” to include the health minister in a lower-middle-income country holding a terrifying lab result and staring at a phone they are afraid to pick up.

A world on the edge global pandemic preparedness

A world on the edge – Priorities for a pandemic-resilient world, 2026 GPMB report

GHS Index: Homepage

Researchers 3D print key components for a point-of-care mass spectrometer

Year 2024

Caption :

MIT researchers have 3D printed a miniature ionizer, which is a key component of a mass spectrometer. The new miniature ionizer could someday enable an affordable, in-home mass spectrometer for health monitoring. Pictured are parts of the new device, including a green printed circuit board (PCB) with orange casing on top. Under the casing is a black rectangle where the electrospray emitter is located.

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