Medicine Reimagined

'Stealth' CAR-NK Cells for Cancer

MIT and Harvard scientists have developed “stealth” CAR-NK (natural killer) immune cells that can destroy cancer while evading the body’s immune rejection, paving the way for fast, off-the-shelf cancer therapies. By silencing HLA class 1 genes and adding cancer-targeting and immune-boosting genes in a single step, these engineered cells survived longer, killed tumors more effectively, and caused fewer side effects in mice than standard The breakthrough could make powerful, safer immunotherapy available immediately after diagnosis, potentially replacing current CAR-T treatments.

New drug candidates show promise for restoring myelin in MS

Researchers from UC Riverside and the University of Illinois have identified two promising drug candidates, K102 and K110, that can restore damaged myelin, the protective coating around nerve fibers, in multiple sclerosis (MS). The compounds, developed over a decade of collaboration and supported by the National MS Society, showed strong safety and efficacy in promoting remyelination and immune balance in preclinical models. Lead compound K102, now licensed to biotech firm Cadenza Bio, is advancing toward clinical trials as a potential first-in-class therapy to repair nerve damage in MS and possibly other neurological diseases.

Accurate blood test’ to detect chronic fatigue syndrome

Scientists at the University of East Anglia and Oxford Biodynamics have developed what they call the first accurate blood test for diagnosing chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), using epigenetic DNA-folding markers to distinguish patients from healthy individuals with 92% sensitivity and 98% specificity. The breakthrough could enable earlier and more reliable diagnosis for a condition long dismissed or misdiagnosed. However, independent experts have urged caution, emphasizing that larger, independent validation studies are needed before clinical adoption, and noting that the test may be costly at around £1,000.