Biotechnology
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Jeuveau: The Botox Killer
In February of 2019 the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) licenced the use of Jeuveau for the “temporary improvement in the appearance of moderate to severe glabellar lines associated with corrugator and/or procerus muscle activity in adult patients”. By doing so it has positioned itself to directly compete with Botox. The drugs are very similar…
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Lab Grown Meat
Meat production is nasty business. It uses colossal amounts of water, is incredibly polluting and results in the destruction of swathes of wild habitats. And that’s before considering the ethical and animal welfare issues involved in making meat production a almost trillion dollar industry. With meat production looking to further increase in the next decade…
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Your Genetic Data: What’s It Worth?
23andMe currently have a special Christmas sale on their flagship “Health + Ancestry” DNA sequencing service, offering it for only £99. I can’t say I understand the appeal of receiving a DNA test from a relative. It has a certain feeling of “Aha, I knew we weren’t related”. But with 23andMe reporting to have over…
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The Genetically Modified Twins
In November of 2018 reports began circulating that a pair of genetically modified twins had been born in China. The two girls, named only as Lulu and Nana, were the result of In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) after CRISPR mediated modification of their genome. The lead researcher, He Jiankui, claimed it as a a “success” in…
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Gene Editing
In my previous post on Zolgensma, I wrote about how this incredible drug is able to treat such a complex genetic disease by modifying the DNA of patients. With the future of medicine being likely to involve the widespread use of gene editing I think it is interesting to explore where we are now and…
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Zolgensma: The World’s Most Expensive Drug
In May of 2019, immediately after receiving Federal Drug Administration approval for use, Novartis announced the price for their new one-time-use treatment for spinal muscular atrophy. The drug’s name was Zolgensma and the cost $2.1 m, making it the most expensive single dose drug in the world. Why is this? Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is…
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Ayahuasca and The Spirit Molecule
A report from a clinical trial was recently published investigating if there was a potential for using ayahuasca in case of suicidality. Whilst no significant change in suicidality was found, vs a placebo, it was still an interesting experiment in the context of wider studies in the use of psychoactive substances in the treatment of…
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Strokes and Smoke
Scientists from RMIT university, Australia, have published evidence of a mechanism by which cigarette smoke may increase the likelihood of a stroke and reduces the speed of recovery in the aftermath By treating immortalised brain blood-vessel cells with cigarette smoke extract, the researchers identified a weakening of the blood brain barrier that would explain the…