GoKawiil
Tech News
Researchers created chimeric mouse brains containing clusters of human brain cells, allowing human neurons to develop and integrate within a living rodent brain. The team says this hybrid model lets them observe human brain cell behavior in a functioning biological system rather than relying solely on animal models or lab dishes.
Researchers led by Stanford computer scientist James Zou built a system called Virtual Biotech, using up to 37,000 AI agents modeled like departments of a biotech company, overseen by a 'chief scientific officer' agent. After analyzing thousands of past clinical trials, the AI swarm flagged an immune-dampening protein as a target and, with human guidance, proposed a candidate treatment for lung cancer, detailed in a new Science paper.
Researchers are increasingly using wearable devices—smartwatches, wristbands, patches and rings—to collect real-time physiological data such as heart rate, blood pressure and activity in clinical trials. Specialists say advances in sensor technology and AI could enable decentralized trials where participants are monitored remotely, with dosing personalized to individual data rather than fixed protocols. Current devices already track metrics via accelerometers, gyroscopes and photoplethysmography, with future versions potentially measuring biomarkers like glutamate and cortisol.
Researchers testing an AI-designed anti-aging drug reported that it lowered participants' biological age, as measured by aging clocks, in every case in the trial. The drug's development leaned on artificial intelligence tools to identify compounds likely to slow or reverse aging markers in the body.
An editorial in Nature argues that prediction markets allowing wagers on the outcomes of clinical trials pose risks to research integrity and public trust in science. It calls for limits on such betting activity to prevent interference with ongoing trials.
Two children reportedly died after receiving gene-editing treatments in separate investigator-initiated trials (IITs) in China, drawing scrutiny to the country's rapid trial pathway. The deaths surfaced just months after Beijing introduced Order 818, a rule effective May 1 that tightens oversight of IITs, including restricting stem-cell and gene therapy trials to top-tier sanjia hospitals.
Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb have both suspended clinical trials of experimental autoimmune therapies after participants died or suffered life-threatening reactions. The companies are now investigating what caused the treatments, once seen as promising, to turn dangerous.
Novartis suspended eight clinical trials testing a cell therapy for autoimmune and neurological conditions after three participants died in late August. The company has not disclosed the cause of death or which specific therapy is affected beyond confirming the pause across all related studies.