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.
Gene-therapy could treat leading cause of blindness
Throughout the past decade, it seems like science is getting closer to the reality of gene therapy. Here at The Optimist Daily, we’ve reported on a number of potential uses for the practice, including; curing blindness, reducing obesity, ending malaria, allowing cross species organ transplants, Read More...
AI helps uncover causes of Motor Neurone Disease
According to the CDC, 5,000 new cases of Motor Neurone Disease (MND) are diagnosed annually in the United States. This disease causes nerve cells to stop functioning and die, resulting in sufferers losing the ability to voluntarily move their muscles and eventually becoming Read More...
Zebrafish brains reveal new information about our memories
It seems like we're writing about fish a whole lot lately! Last week, we featured an article about goldfish learning to drive. This week, zebrafish, a species studied for their relatively long lifespans, are helping us understand how memories are made! Let's talk synapses! Signals in the brain Read More...
Scientists invent the fastest DNA sequencing tool yet
A record breaking technique A team from the Stanford School of Medicine has created a new method of mega-sequencing. Using this, individuals can have their three billion plus nucleotides read in just over five hours, a record breaking time! "A few weeks is what most clinicians call 'rapid' when Read More...
Ketamine as an effective tool in treating alcoholism
In a follow up from a story published earlier this month on ‘How ketamine can help fight depression,’ we are going to report on new data published from a recent clinical trial. This time instead of depression, doctors administered this drug to people suffering from alcoholism. The clinical Read More...
An EMADE autonomous drone helps save the life of cardiac arrest patient
Last month in Sweden, an elderly man experienced a cardiac arrest while shoveling snow. Today, this man is still alive thanks in large part to Everdrone’s Emergency Medical Aerial Delivery (EMADE) service, a dispatch service that uses drones to fly in defibrillators. An individual experiencing Read More...
World’s smallest antenna created from DNA
Scientists, from the Université de Montréal, have constructed the world’s tiniest antenna in an incredible experiment. This nanoantenna is made entirely from DNA and its purpose is to monitor structural changes of protein molecules in never before achieved detail. What is the device made out Read More...
Doctors transplant pig's heart into human patient for the first time ever
A remarkable milestone in medicine was reached by doctors in Maryland who have successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig’s heart into a human patient in a do-or-die situation. David Bennet, a 57-year-old handyman, was the recipient of this life-saving operation. He knew that the Read More...
Study: Dry heat can be used to disinfect N95 masks
Since the onset of the pandemic, many hospitals have faced a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 masks. As a result, researchers have started evaluating the impact of various methods of decontamination on how well masks filter out viral particles — all in a bid to allow Read More...
Study: New insights into sight loss for stroke survivors
Strokes are extremely prevalent According to the CDC, IN the United States someone has a stroke every 40 seconds. For survivors, the lasting medical complications range between each individual including loss of speech, limb control, memory, and sight to name a few. Scientists know the latter Read More...