Medicine
From advancements in the fight against malaria to new cancer treatments, to novel medical technologies, find all positive news about incredible medical breakthroughs and life-saving technology from all corners of the globe.
Scientists redesigned this protein to make gene editing safer
The Optimist Daily has reported on numerous potential uses of the biotechnology, CRISPR-Cas9, these include restoring lost vision in rare eye diseases, reducing obesity, and many more. This treatment may be the future of medicine, carrying the potential to save countless lives in the future for Read More...
Scientists create family tree of 27 million ancestors
If you had to guess, how many ancestors would you say that you had? If you consider that homo sapiens, a.k.a humans, came into existence on this Earth around 200,000 years ago that’s a lot of ancestors to add up. How many ancestors do you think you have? Scientists from The University of Oxford Read More...
Injectable hydrogel can help chronic pain in joints
Most young people hardly think about their joints. They wonder why adults may groan as they pull themselves up from the couch, wince while climbing steep stairs, or say something along the lines of “oh, my knees!” at random—until, that is, the day inevitably comes when they experience joint Read More...
Anti-inflammatory molecule could revolutionize asthma treatment
People with asthma will often suffer, at varying degrees, from symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheeziness, and bouts of coughing that stem from overactivation of the immune system when exposed to allergens like dust, smoke, and pollution. Many of us may actually remember having asthma as a Read More...
How do we measure itchiness?
Doctors commonly ask their patients to rate their pain from one to 10, although it is rare that we would be asked to scale our itchiness in this way. Gauging an itch Some readers may be wondering, why do we even need an itchiness scale? If you've ever had a condition which causes you to Read More...
This novel pathogen-repellent material is inspired by lotus leaves
Here at The Optimist Daily, we like to keep our readers informed about new innovative materials that are being developed, such as roads made from diaper pellets, ultra-strong glass inspired by mollusk shells, and even solar capture materials that can be integrated into clothing. This time, Read More...
Doctors can see blood vessels in new ways with this technique
Imaging blood vessels is harder than you might think. Information about the surrounding structures and cells in the tissue have to be imaged multiple times, at multiple angles, and in multiple conditions. This layered process leaves scientists having to piece together separate images and Read More...
There are special regions for singing in the brain
Music is a magical thing. There are many proven benefits to the power of music, from its synchronizing power to create bonds with the people around you, to allowing autistic children to communicate their emotions, and even easing menopause. What's going on in our heads when we listen to music is Read More...
Scientists develop e-nose that can detect Parkinson's disease
In recent years, smell detection of diseases has attracted growing attention in the field of medical research: from dogs (and even bees) trained to sniff out Covid-19 to human “super sniffers” able to detect neurodegenerative diseases in other people. Now, a group of scientists has developed an Read More...
Your gut biome could be behind your anxiety
Here at The Optimist Daily, we regularly report on new findings about our incredible microbiome. Scientists keep uncovering more and more crucial roles these tiny microorganisms living in our gut play. From memory, to warding off chemotherapy side effects, to preventing brain damage in premature Read More...