GoKawiil
Tech News
Several board members from Elon Musk's companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, are directing personal funding toward psychedelic research and a startup pursuing regulatory approval for MDMA-assisted therapy. The investments span both academic studies and commercial drug-development efforts aimed at treating conditions like PTSD.
The Pentagon issued a clinical guidance document on September 2 implementing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's mandatory testosterone screening policy, then removed it the following day along with a related statement from spokesperson Sean Parnell. Officials told Ars Technica the document was temporarily rescinded to allow for updates, with an interim policy remaining active and a finalized version expected soon. The rescinded plan would have screened men 30 and older via questionnaire, potentially triggering blood tests and hormone therapy, while women faced similar screening for hormonal imbalances.
As Moderna and Merck develop personalized cancer therapies, data and diagnostics firm Tempus AI is emerging as a key infrastructure player supporting that work. Personalis, a genomic testing company, sits at the center of this positioning, suggesting a broader supply-chain opportunity beyond the drugmakers themselves.
A phase of clinical testing involving sixteen patients with multiple sclerosis and related autoimmune disorders showed symptom improvement after researchers used a modified virus to instruct T cells inside the body to produce chimeric antigen receptors, targeting the B cells responsible for autoimmune attacks. The findings, published this week in The New England Journal of Medicine, mark one of the first demonstrations that CAR-T therapy can be generated directly inside a patient rather than engineered in a lab and reinfused.
Researchers report findings on biological markers that correlate with improved patient outcomes when immune-based therapies are used before and after surgery for lung cancer. The publication, appearing on Nature's platform, outlines how certain biomarkers may help predict which patients respond best to this perioperative treatment approach.
A feature traces the experience of Lisa Schrenk, a federal IT worker who battled severe mood symptoms and suicidal thoughts before learning from fellow hikers about hormone therapy for perimenopause. Her account illustrates a broader trend of women turning to hormone treatments after standard care, including oral contraceptives, failed to address their symptoms, often after doctors dismissed their concerns.
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.
An updated study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that a one-time CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing infusion kept LDL cholesterol and triglycerides roughly 50% lower a full year after treatment in patients who received the highest dose. The follow-up builds on a small November 2025 pilot trial of 15 patients with medication-resistant high cholesterol, testing five dosage levels for safety, with researchers now confirming the effect appears durable rather than temporary.
Scientists in China developed lab-grown muscle tissue, called myografts, that can be injected subcutaneously and form vascularized structures that continuously contract on their own. In mouse studies published in Nature Aging, the grafts improved overall muscle mass, metabolic function and regenerative outcomes in aging and obese animals.