Vaxart Inc., a San Francisco based vaccine biotech, just announced that it will begin dosing subjects in a Phase 1b study company's bivalent oral experimental vaccines against norovirus -- the cause of the so-called "stomach flu." Everyone should wish them well.
Drugs & Pharmaceuticals
Despite substantial research, there remains no cure for herpes, only methods to minimize outbreaks and transmission. But, there is an interesting development - a gel containing a known HIV drug was tested for its ability to prevent the spread of genital herpes. Does it work? Maybe. The answer is not clear.
CBD oil is all the rage now, as the industrialization of marijuana continues. CBD, or cannabidiol, has very different psychotropic properties than THC, even though the two are structurally relater. So much so, in fact, that you can make THC from CBD, just not very well.
Drug discovery is a long, arduous process. Chemists and biologists have been eternally looking for methods to shorten it by trying to differentiate between chemical compounds that simply pop up in a test and those that have promise as drugs. Chris Gerry, a Harvard graduate student in Prof. Stuart's Chemistry & Chemical Biology group, describes a new, elegant where DNA is used to test "good" molecules, trillions at a time.
About 10% of people report a penicillin allergy, but only 10% of them actually have it. The other 90% who thought they had an allergy are just fine. What's going on?
Jeffrey Smith, a yogic flying instructor who leads the Institute for Responsible Technology, an anti-GMO organization, is now encouraging cancer patients to forgo modern medicine in favor of natural remedies from Asia. If patients follow his advice, they will die.
Given the difficulty of discovering new antibiotics to treat resistant bacteria, microbiologists are exploring non-traditional approaches. ACSH advisor Dr. David Shlaes discusses a webinar in which "You couldn’t have a more authoritative and experienced set of presenters."
Honey doesn't treat erectile dysfunction. If it does, it might be spiked with Viagra.
A cure for herpes? Finally? Synergy Pharmaceuticals claims it has one. The FDA did not agree. Who's right? Take a wild guess.
Backyard burial may seem like the easiest way to respectfully care for your pet’s remains. But it can be dangerous for other pets and wildlife, since most pets are put down with an extremely concentrated anaesthetic agent, pentobarbital. This drug remains in the pet's corpse for months, and any animal scavenging on the remains can be poisoned.
There's simply no way of knowing what anti-vaxxer RFK, Jr. will say on any given day. One day, he's comparing vaccines to the Holocaust. The next, he's helping spread cervical cancer.
A dietary supplement spiked with a real prescription drug? Big deal. But one spiked with six different drugs? We're talking some serious effort here. If you're curious why there are six drugs present in a bottle that is supposed to be "natural" and "drug-free," you should be. Welcome to the world of dietary supplements.