More than 200 infectious disease researchers from the Boston area converged at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard last week to swap business cards and drug discovery ideas and talk about the biggest medical challenges ahead. Michael Gilmore, Sir William Osler Professor of Ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, is quoted.
A tablet device that can withstand being doused in chlorine has been developed to help medics caring for patients with Ebola. Eric Perakslis, executive director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics at Countway Library, is quoted. This work supported by HMS Center for Biomedical Informatics and the department of global health and social medicine.
Dhruv Khullar, clinical fellow in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, authored this article about the efficiency-empathy trade-offs that are an inevitable and inherent tension in medicine.
In a study published online this week, UC San Dieago researchers report that an introduced mutation disabled both normal copies of a pigmentation gene on the fruit fly chromosomes, transmitting itself to the next generation with 97% efficiency—a near-complete invasion of the genome. The secret of its success: an increasingly popular gene-editing toolkit called CRISPR, which the researchers adapted to give the mutation an overwhelming advantage. George Church, Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics, is quoted.
American health care is obsessed with more. But the industry is beginning to realize that more isn’t always what’s best for patients. Atul Gawande, Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is mentioned.
Research that uses powerful gene-editing techniques on human embryos needs to be restricted, scientists agree — but they are split over why. George Church, Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics, is quoted.
Executives at drug company Actavis knew they had to move fast to avoid a plunge in sales of their top-selling drug, Namenda, a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease that would lose patent protection in July. When that happened, generic knockoffs would flood the market, and doctors and pharmacists could switch patients to the lower-cost equivalents. Jerry Avorn, professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is quoted.
Kasley Killam, visiting postgrad research fellow in primary care at the Center for Primary Care, authored this article about the cold fighting power of hugging.
Although numerous studies have shown that regular use of aspirin or related drugs can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by about 30 percent, scientists have found an important exception: The medicines can actually increase the risk in people with certain genetic variants, new research shows. Andrew Chan, associate professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is the paper’s senior researcher.
Arshya Vahabzadeh, clinical fellow in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, co-authored this opinion article about how psychiatry is joining other medical specialties in using telemedicine.
