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| Geneticists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun won this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of microRNAs. (Credit: Steve Jennings/Getty for Breakthrough Prize) | |||||
MicroRNAs win the Nobel — what's next?Two geneticists have won a Nobel Prize for their discovery of microRNAs — short sections of RNA that regulate genes and play a role in cancer. In 1993, the researchers made a surprising discovery: the development of roundworms was being controlled by snippets of RNA instead of by proteins. These molecules were considered unique to worms until, on a whim, Ruvkun used a dial-up modem to search for microRNAs in a draft copy of the human genome in 2000, and got a match. MicroRNAs are dysregulated in human cancers but, so far, attempts to translate these findings into clinical use have failed and treatment with an early microRNA-like molecule provoked a dangerous immune response. Researchers are hopeful that new ways of packaging the microRNA could overcome this issue. Nature | 4 min read & Nature | 5 min readReference: Cell paper 1 & Cell paper 2 (both from 1993) | |||||
Gene therapy Skysona causes cancer in kidsSeven out of 67 children in a clinical trial have developed blood cancer after receiving a gene therapy called Skysona for the treatment of a rare neurological disease. Cancer is a known risk factor of the treatment and has to be weighed against the potential benefits. Children with cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy experience a loss of hearing, movement and vision and usually die young. But, in a previous trial, Skysona kept 91% of children alive and disability-free over two years. The only other treatment is a sibling bone marrow transplant, and this is only available to around 20% of children with the disease. STAT | 6 min readReference: The New England Journal of Medicine paper (9 October) | |||||
In the news
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Many scientists quit soon after first paperA third of researchers quit science within five years of authoring their first paper and almost half leave within a decade. Researchers looked at the scholarly-publishing data from Scopus for nearly 400,000 scientists across 38 countries. Overall, women were more likely than men to stop publishing, though this varied between disciplines. This gender gap has narrowed with time, but could be much larger than data suggests, notes sociologist Joya Misra. "A lot of times, women aren't recognized as collaborators on published work." Nature | 5 min readReference: Higher Education paper (23 August) | |||||
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Drugs combat deadly breast cancer in miceThe most aggressive form of breast cancer — advanced triple-negative breast cancer — can be treated in mice using AKT and EZH2 inhibitors. The dual therapy reduced the volume of these tumours in mice by driving the cancer cells into a more differentiated state and then killing them by hijacking a process normally used in involution, where the mammary gland returns to a non-lactating state. "Together, these findings identify a promising therapeutic strategy for this highly aggressive tumour type," report the authors. Reference: Nature paper (9 October) | |||||
Why prostate cancer rates are high in AfricaMutations in three genetic regions could explain why Africa has some of the highest rates of prostate cancer in the world. Researchers analyzed genomic data from more than 7,000 men from five African countries and found three genetic regions that were associated with prostate cancer risk. "Collectively, our findings emphasize the utility of conducting genetic studies that use diverse populations," write the authors. Reference: Nature Genetics paper (2 October) | |||||
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Diabetes 'wonder drug' flops in cancerOne of the first inklings that a type 2 diabetes drug called metformin might work against cancer was published in 2005. An observational study of almost 12,000 people with diabetes suggested a 23% lower rate of cancer among those who had taken metformin. Since then, thousands of papers have been published on this topic, but no gold-standard clinical evidence has emerged to back up the theories. Trials for two types of cancer have reported no benefits from metformin. Early observational studies might have exaggerated metformin's potential because of the 'immortal time bias' whereby people who died from cancer were not able to try metformin, so it looked like the drug was associated with survival when, in fact, there was no causal link. Knowable Magazine | 9 min read | |||||
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| It's now possible to illuminate the contents of a cell without cracking it open. DNA and proteins are chemically tagged, and then the cell is infused with a gel to move the components further apart. The technique, called expansion in situ genome sequencing, could reveal how proteins and genes conspire to drive cancer. (Nature | 5 min read) Reference: bioRxiv preprint (not peer reviewed) (Credit: Ajay Labade, Zachary Chiang, Caroline Comenho and Jason Buenrostro) | |||||
Quote of the week"The term 'outperformance' is misappropriated in the literature and can contribute to misleading perceptions about medical AI's current performance."Studies that compare the performance of doctors against artificial intelligence should be precise, clear in their implications and "devoid of speculation", argues bioethicist Karin Jongsma and her co-authors. (npj digital medicine | 9 min read) | |||||
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Diabetes ‘wonder drug’ flops in cancer
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