Researchers at MIT have developed a noninvasive, light-based blood-glucose monitoring system capable of replacing finger pricks and under-the-skin sensors used by patients with diabetes, reports Andrew Paul for Popular Science. The approach could “even fit on a device the size of a watch,” explains Paul. “Each measurement scan takes slightly more than 30 seconds to complete. The device also shows an accuracy comparable to two commercially available, wearable glucose monitors.”
Researchers at MIT are using AI systems to design new molecules for potential antibiotics, research that is “aimed at the growing challenge of antibiotic-resistant infections,” reports Adele Peters for Fast Company. “The number of resistant bacterial pathogens has been growing, decade upon decade,” says Prof. James Collins. “And the number of new antibiotics being developed has been dropping, decade upon decade.”
Prof. Bryan Bryson speaks with Chris Smith on The Naked Scientists podcast about his efforts to find targets for a new tuberculosis vaccine, as the current version, which is very effective in children, does not sufficiently protect adolescents and adults. “Right now, we only have one TB vaccine that's over 100 years old,” said Bryson. “And for me as an engineer, if somebody tells you there's a 100 year old technology that doesn't work the way that you want it to, you want to say, let's build a better one.”
Prof. Bryan Bryson and his colleagues have identified a series of targets for a new tuberculosis vaccine. The “researchers identified proteins expressed on the surface of cells infected with TB and used mRNA to coax uninfected human cells to produce the bacterial compounds, a key first step toward new vaccines,” writes Darren Incorvaia for Fierce Biotech.
Prof. Linda Griffith speaks with Science Friday host Flora Lichtman about her work studying endometriosis. “I did a lot of things in the regenerative medicine space. But I had an epiphany that there’s so many chronic and inflammatory disease that we don’t know how to treat so I started building models of human organs and tissues in the lab using what we called microfluidic chips,” Griffith explains. “When I got asked about endometriosis, it was actually a perfect application for this kind of approach because we really need to study the lesions very carefully in the lab in ways that is very hard to study in patients.”
MIT researchers have developed a new AI tool, dubbed “DrugReflector,” aimed at speeding up the drug discovery process, reports William A. Haseltine for Forbes. The researchers used DrugReflector to test tested almost 9,600 drugs in different human cell types.“This system was 17 times more accurate than older computational methods and improved as it used honest lab feedback,” writes Haseltine.
Writing for STAT, Senior Lecturer Guadalupe Hayes-Mota 08, SM '16, MBA '16 examines how the closure of local pharmacies across the country poses a significant public health risk, particularly for Americans in rural communities who, like Hayes-Mota’s father, “depend on their local pharmacy not only for medicine, but for survival.” Hayes-Mota emphasizes that “addressing this crisis requires three urgent steps: supporting underserved areas with targeted incentives and mobile or telepharmacy services, investing in the workforce through safe staffing and career pathways, and granting pharmacists provider status with expanded scope of practice.”
Prof. Alex Shalek and his colleagues developed a deep-learning model called DrugReflector aimed at speeding up the process of drug discovery, reports Heidi Ledford for Nature. “They used DrugReflector to find chemicals that can affect the generation of platelets and red blood cells — a characteristic that could be useful in treating some blood conditions,” explains Ledford. The researchers found that “DrugReflector was up to 17 times more effective at finding relevant compounds than standard, brute-force drug screening that depends on randomly selecting compounds from a chemical library.”
Prof. Linda Griffith and her colleagues have “developed a model of the human gut to study how the organ’s microbes interact with immune cells and regulate inflammation,” reports Gemma Conroy for Nature. Griffith and her team “have also created models for endometriosis and pancreatic cancer,” writes Conroy.
Prof. Canan Dagdeviren speaks with Bloomberg Businessweek Daily reporters Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec about her work developing conformable ultrasound technology aimed at enabling earlier breast cancer detection. “This technology can be a part of your personal bra, and you can wear it and while drinking your coffee within seconds, it can tell you [about] any anomaly with pinpoint accuracy,” Dagdeviren explains.
Prof. Pierre Azoulay speaks with WBUR’s Martha Bebinger about a new study examining the potential impact of NIH budget cuts on the development of new medicines. Azoulay and his colleagues found that “more than half of drugs approved by the FDA since 2000 used NIH-funded research that would likely not have happened if the NIH had operated with a 40% smaller budget,” Bebinger explains.
Fierce Biotech reporter Darren Incorvaia writes that a new study by MIT researchers demonstrates how potential NIH budget cuts could endanger the development of new medications. The researchers found that if the NIH budget had been 40% smaller from 1980 to 2007, the level of NIH cuts currently being proposed, “the science underlying numerous drugs approved in the 21st century would not have been funded,” Incorvaia explains. The findings suggest that “massive cuts of the kind that are being contemplated right now could endanger the intellectual foundations of the drugs of tomorrow,” explains Professor Pierre Azoulay.
A new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that more than half of the drugs approved by the FDA since 2000 are connected to NIH research that would be impacted by proposed 40 percent budget cuts, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.
Prof. Linda Griffith speaks with Nature reporter Cassandra Willyard about her work developing lab-made organoids to help study the root causes of endometriosis. Griffith has been working to develop “a model of abnormal endometrial tissue that the researchers can use to test therapies for the condition,” writes Willyard. “Because blood vessels are crucial to maintaining this tissue, Griffith knew she wanted to include them. To do this, she and her colleagues placed the organoid on a microfluidic chip surrounded by cells that form blood vessels.”
Financial Times reporter Melissa Heikkilä spotlights how MIT researchers have uncovered evidence that increased use of AI tools by medical professionals risks “leading to worse health outcomes for women and ethnic minorities.” One study found that numerous AI models “recommended a much lower level of care for female patients,” writes Heikkilä. “A separate study by the MIT team showed that OpenAI’s GPT-4 and other models also displayed answers that had less compassion towards Black and Asian people seeking support for mental health problems.”