SciPod

Motor neurone disease is a currently incurable and progressive neurological disorder that severely impacts muscle function. As the disease progresses, individuals with motor neurone disease experience significant difficulties in movement, speech, swallowing, and breathing. Home mechanical ventilation can be used to support breathing and improve the quality of life. However, while this can alleviate symptoms and extend survival, it does not stop disease progression, and patients and caregivers must confront difficult decisions in their treatment journey. In a new UK study, Dr Eleanor Wilson of the University of Nottingham and colleagues have explored end-of-life decision-making in motor neurone disease patients using home mechanical ventilation.

Filicide, the killing of a child by a parent or a parental figure, is a heinous and incomprehensible crime. Professor Thea Brown, with her colleagues Associate Professor Danielle Tyson and Dr Paula Fernandez Arias from the Monash Deakin Filicide Research Hub shared between Monash and Deakin Universities, has been studying filicide for years, in the hope of uncovering common factors linked to filicide that could be included in future prevention initiatives. Her studies identified common social, familial, and personal circumstances that characterised many cases of filicide in Australia over the past decades.

The development of safe and effective medicines that meet strict regulatory requirements has traditionally involved extensive experimentation, which can be laborious and costly. Incorporating digital processes, which can be used to produce individual pharmaceutical components, may provide a solution to manufacturing challenges by reducing development time, resource requirements, and costs. The Future Continuous Manufacturing and Advanced Crystallisation Hub, a flagship project at CMAC, at the University of Strathclyde, along with collaborators throughout the UK, has investigated the feasibility of using digital models to reduce costs, time and waste for high quality pharmaceutical production.

Tuberculosis – or TB – is a global health threat, with 10 million new cases annually. Diagnosing TB can be a challenge, as there is a lack of rapid, point-of-care diagnostic tests. It can also be difficult to distinguish between TB and other inflammatory diseases, such as Sarcoidosis. One option may be to identify antibodies in patient samples that can reveal the presence of TB. However, current antibody tests for TB lack accuracy. Professor Lobelia Samavati and colleagues at the Wanye State University School of Medicine in Michigan are tackling this challenge to cast light on the immune signature of these diseases. Their aim is to develop new diagnostic techniques for TB and Sarcoidosis.

Many diseases become more likely to emerge as we age, with metabolic disorders such as diabetes, and neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, representing two frequent manifestations of poor health in old age. While many age-related diseases present very differently, many share common underlying mechanisms. These include inflammation, a build-up of reactive oxygen molecules that can damage cellular components, and a lack of sensitivity to insulin. Treatments that can effectively target these mechanisms could have transformational effects on the age-related diseases that are fueled by them, including potentially preventing such diseases from developing in the first place. Prof. Christian Bréchot and colleagues at The Healthy Aging Company have developed a drug candidate: ALF5755, the pharmacological name of a protein called Hepatocarcinoma-Intestine-Pancreas, or HIP for short, also named Reg3A, that has shown exciting evidence of effectiveness on the cognitive disorders which occur during Alzheimer’s disease and the peripheral nerve damage that often occurs in diabetes, which is called diabetic neuropathy.

With a history as rich as its flavour, chocolate in its various forms has been loved by people for over 5000 years. Currently, however, chocolate is facing a serious threat. The improper disposal of cocoa waste products is spreading devastating diseases through cocoa crops across the world. To address this serious problem, Dr Piergiorgio Gentile from Newcastle University and Dr Joel Girón-Hernández from Northumbria University with their collaborators have been exploring new uses for cocoa waste products, to increase sustainability and prevent the spread of crop diseases.