GoKawiil
Tech News
A growing number of children and teenagers with obesity or type 2 diabetes are being prescribed GLP-1 medications, drugs originally developed for adults. Physicians and researchers say long-term safety and developmental effects of these treatments in younger patients remain largely unstudied.
Major AI companies are accelerating efforts to build superintelligent systems, pushing timelines and resources into overdrive despite unresolved safety and control questions. The push reflects competitive pressure among leading labs to be first to achieve transformative AI capabilities.
Researchers analyzing two skeletons unearthed in Indonesia found heavy tooth wear and traces of arecoline, a psychoactive compound found in betel nuts. One skeleton dates back 16,000 to 25,000 years, suggesting the individuals regularly chewed or sucked on betel nuts long before the practice became widespread. The findings, published in Science Advances, push back the timeline for humanity's earliest documented drug habits.
Chinese pharmaceutical companies, once known mainly for producing cheap generic medicines, are now developing original obesity and weight-loss drugs aimed at competing with Western blockbusters like Ozempic and Wegovy. Several firms are advancing candidates through clinical trials and striking licensing deals with major international drugmakers.
Douglas Yao, a self-taught chemist working outside any pharmaceutical company, says he used ChatGPT to design a new compound called PAC-3310, targeting the same receptor as the approved antipsychotic Cobenfy. He claims to have built a chemistry lab in his garage, synthesized the compound himself, and is now testing it in cell lines and mice, part of a broader effort to generate thousands of AI-designed drug candidates.
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.
Researchers at Westlake University built an AI-based 'virtual cell model' trained on over 38 million protein measurements from breast cancer cell lines, most of them triple-negative. Tested on real patient biopsies, the model successfully identified which drugs would be effective against individual tumours, matching actual clinical outcomes. The findings, published in Nature, mark the first time such a virtual cell model has moved from lab experiments to clinical testing.
Scientists have developed a drug delivery approach that targets specific structures within individual cells rather than simply reaching a cell as a whole. This subcellular precision aims to route therapeutic payloads to particular organelles or compartments where they can act most effectively.
Researchers are redesigning drug molecules and delivery systems so a single injection or implant can maintain therapeutic effects for weeks, months, or even years instead of requiring daily dosing. Techniques include chemical modifications that slow drug breakdown, polymer depots, and implantable devices that release medication gradually over extended periods.
A Nature piece argues that even well-designed drugs fail patients if they cannot reach the intended biological target effectively. The commentary highlights delivery mechanisms and targeting accuracy as critical, often underappreciated, factors in therapeutic success.
Scientists are engineering particle-based delivery systems intended to ferry large molecules such as proteins and messenger RNA past the blood-brain barrier, a membrane that normally blocks such compounds from reaching brain tissue. Small chemicals like paracetamol already pass through naturally, but bigger therapeutic molecules cannot, limiting treatment options for brain disorders.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota, led by surgeon Daniel Saltzman, have developed a therapy using genetically modified Salmonella Typhimurium bacteria to carry interleukin-2, an immune-stimulating molecule, straight into tumours. Pancreatic cancer patient John Heller received the experimental treatment after starting chemotherapy for advanced disease, illustrating an early real-world test of the approach.