bioinnovationbeacon.com

Author: admin

  • Psychedelics on the cusp of market breakthrough as clinical, policy support grow

    Psychedelics on the cusp of market breakthrough as clinical, policy support grow

    The psychedelics space is “at the cusp” of hitting it big, according to Graig Suvannavejh, as clinical evidence and policy support mount.

    The industry is waiting with “rational exuberance” for psychedelics to hit primetime, the Mizuho Securities managing director and senior biotech and biopharma analyst told BioSpace in an email interview.

    “With each year, excitement for the class only continues to grow,” Suvannavejh said. Despite outstanding concerns about safety and abuse risk, doctors and patients are eager for new psychiatric treatment options that are more effective and faster-acting than current drugs.

    Indeed, there has been an air of careful excitement across the industry for this drug class of late. A few weeks ago, Eli Lilly moved to acquire AtaiBeckley for up to $3.8 billion, setting its sights on a synthetic psychedelic for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). While some analysts saw the deal as a sign that the industry giants are finally buying into psychedelics, others aren’t so sure.

    Eli Lilly’s $3.8 billion play for AtaiBeckley has fueled speculation that Big Pharma is ready to embrace psychedelics. But while the acquisition does validate the drug class, analysts say it is unlikely to trigger a broad wave of Big Pharma deals.

    July 24, 2026

     · 

    3 min read

     · 

    “It’s very hard to say what, if any, the implications of the LLY deal are,” Paul Matteis, head of Therapeutics Research at Stifel, told BioSpace via email.

    The firm has observed “a lot of enthusiasm” across the industry for psychedelics, but also “some trepidation” over the ability to scale and deploy these drugs in clinical practice.

    Still, Matteis added, the AtaiBeckley acquisition at the very least shows “that the societal acceptance of psychedelics has come a very long way.”

    For Jama Pitman, strategic advisor at Rose Hill Life Sciences, this change is critical—and long overdue.

    “The drugs were there, the science was there, the medical need was there—we were just unable to move the field forward because of laws that prohibited it and the associated stigma,” she told BioSpace via email. “Where would we be today if we had been able to study this class of drugs over the last 40 years?”

    But better late than never, and now, Pitman said, “there is finally widespread agreement among policymakers, regulators, physicians and patients” that psychedelics, with proper and careful administration, “may be an effective tool in the treatment armamentarium” for psychiatric conditions.

    Medical need and market opportunity

    To date, doctors have turned to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and antipsychotics, among others options to treat patients with psychiatric conditions.

    These drugs are “highly useful,” H.C. Wainwright & Co. Managing Director and Biotech Analyst Patrick Trucchio said. They offer patients effective means to control their conditions, “particularly earlier in the treatment pathway,” and they still have a place in overall mental health care, he told BioSpace in an email.

    But existing medicines also leave key gaps, through which millions of patients fall through. Some 4 million people in the U.S. have TRD, many of whom don’t reach remission even after moving from one treatment to another, Trucchio said.

    This is true, too, of other psychiatric conditions such as PTSD and anxiety.

    Current treatment options are typically slow to show any effects, need to be dosed over long periods of time and often “leave a substantial group of patients inadequately treated,” Trucchio explained.

    In recent months, companies like Compass Pathways and Definium Therapeutics have released clinical data that further cement psychedelics as an effective treatment option for those patients whose needs are not met by current agents—and they typically require only one or a few doses.

    Last month, two fixed doses of Compass’ psilocybin drug COMP360 significantly eased disease severity in a Phase 3 TRD study. In February, the same regimen showed impressive durability in a pair of Phase 3 trials in the same indication. Meanwhile, a single dose of Definium’s LSD-based treatment eased symptom burden in a late-stage trial of major depressive disorder [MDD] that read out in June.

    Psychedelics are gaining momentum in depression, with one treating physician predicting that the drug class could “wipe out the SSRIs” if safety and durability hold up.

    July 9, 2026

     · 

    5 min read

     · 

    The field has “crossed an important clinical threshold” with these findings, Trucchio said. Psychedelics can be “particularly compelling” for patients with TRD who no longer respond to typical therapies, he added, “but they are unlikely to replace simpler first-line therapies across the broader depression market.”

    That doesn’t mean, however, that the commercial opportunity for psychedelics is slim. While Stifel’s Matteis concedes that psychedelics are likely to be relegated as later line therapies, he argued that “even later line therapies in MDD/TRD can generate blockbuster revenues at branded pricing.”

    As proof, he pointed to Johnson & Johnson’s Spravato, an esketamine-based nasal spray that was approved in 2019 for TRD alongside oral antidepressants. Although the pharma has previously told BioSpace that it doesn’t consider Spravato a classic psychedelic, analysts often look to the drug as a barometer for the market. Spravato in January 2025 became the first monotherapy for the condition and surged 57% last year to make $1.7 billion. J&J saw continued growth of the drug’s sales into the second quarter of this year, with a 40% year-on-year increase to $584 million worldwide.

    Psychedelics, chiefly Compass Pathways’ COMP360, are unlikely to make an immediate dent in the sales of Johnson & Johnson’s depression drug Spravato, H.C. Wainwright’s Patrick Trucchio told BioSpace.

    July 16, 2026

     · 

    2 min read

     · 

    Policy support mounts

    Responding to the growing need for better psychiatric therapies, the U.S. government in recent months has enacted a slew of key policy changes designed to support companies working on psychedelics and minimize regulatory barriers to their approval and uptake.

    In April, President Donald Trump issued an executive order instructing the FDA to leverage its new priority review program to accelerate psychedelic development. Weeks later, the agency awarded Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers to Compass, Transcend Therapeutics and Usona Institute.

    Then, last month, the regulator finalized its psychedelic guidelines, giving sponsors more flexibility and mechanisms for blinding their trials—addressing a key stumbling block of psychedelics studies.

    For Suvannavejh, the Mizuho analyst, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has had a lot to do with the recent policy changes favoring psychedelics. Kennedy has been “a long-time supporter” of the drug class and under his stewardship, the Department of Health and Human Services has pushed an “agenda whereby patients are being asked to look to more natural remedies and medicines for their illnesses.”

    Kennedy in May launched a campaign to “curb psychiatric overprescribing,” taking aim specifically at SSRIs and alleged overuse in children. The effort, according to the HHS release at the time, will involve a reassessment of prescribing patterns for these medications, as well as another look at their benefits and risks.

    Kennedy also wants to “elevate the role of nonmedication treatments and scalable, evidence-based solutions to improve mental health,” according to the government’s announcement, which doesn’t explicitly name psychedelics as such an alternative.

    “We believe the political winds are very much at the backs of the newer psychedelic-based drugs and the groups that are looking to develop them,” Suvannavejh said.

    But the policy momentum backing psychedelics started before Kennedy, noted Rose Hill’s Pitman. As early as 2017, the FDA had already granted breakthrough therapy designation to Lykos Therapeutics’ MDMA-based medicine for PTSD. (The treatment was rejected in August 2024 for methodological concerns.) And while the current HHS leadership has certainly heavily advocated for psychedelics, Pitman also gave credit to veteran welfare organizations that have been “demanding that we close the gap in mental health support for our military members.”

    “It has long been recognized that the medical field has been making very small incremental gains in the treatments for psychiatric disorders,” she continued. “The care options being offered to our veterans are inadequate and we are in crisis.”

    With a greenlight for ibogaine to enter clinical testing and three unnamed products set to receive Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers this week, it’s full speed ahead for psychedelics. But will sidestepping normal regulatory protocols actually be a net negative for the field?

    April 22, 2026

     · 

    8 min read

     · 

    ‘Going in the right direction’

    Despite mounting clinical evidence, policy support, and even a societal shift in perception, some outstanding concerns continue to hold the psychedelics space back.

    One major stumbling block, according to Jefferies Managing Director Andrew Tsai, is the problem of functional unblinding in clinical trials involving psychedelics, given that patients can typically feel if they’ve been given a psychedelic intervention or placebo.

    Tsai in particular pointed to Lykos Therapeutics, whose MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder was rejected by the FDA in August 2024 amid concerns that included functional unblinding.

    Trucchio called this issue the “central trial-design challenge” in the psychedelics space. “Patients and investigators can frequently infer whether an active psychedelic was administered,” making it difficult to eliminate or even account for bias, he explained.

    To establish credibility and maintain data integrity, programs should include an “independent or centralized rater” to assess study outcomes, alongside strong controls in a particular site and appropriate comparator doses, Trucchio recommended. Companies would also do well to show consistent treatment benefits and evidence for their programs across many trials.

    Aside from improving trial integrity, safety will also be key for psychedelic therapies as regulators scrutinize psychiatric side effects, such as suicidality and the risk for abuse and addiction.

    These concerns will continue even after approval, Trucchio noted, adding that sustainable and widespread uptake of these therapies will require “workable” risk mitigation strategies.

    Payer coverage and reimbursements will also be important for the broad adoption of psychedelics, he added, as well as the capacity of clinics and treatment centers to dispense psychedelic treatments and monitor patients.

    The rescheduling of the controlled substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency is also an outstanding worry, though Jefferies’ Tsai is confident, given the encouraging policy environment, that this “shouldn’t be a bottleneck.”

    None of these barriers are insurmountable, Tsai believes. Companies are taking the challenge of functional unblinding “very seriously” with strictly-controlled trials, he said, while some developers are “actively engaging” with government bodies regarding trial management.

    “We think the field is going in the right direction by being cautious,” Tsai said, “without taking shortcuts for the sake of speed.”

  • A daily glass of fruit juice was linked to lower depression scores

    A daily glass of fruit juice was linked to lower depression scores

    Drinking a daily glass of 100% fruit juice or a smoothie as part of the UK’s 5-a-day guidance may help support mental well-being, according to research from Newcastle University in the UK.

    In a randomized controlled trial, adults who typically ate relatively little fruit and vegetables received support to increase their intake. Some participants were also asked to include one glass of fruit juice or a smoothie each day as they worked toward the 5-a-day target.

    After four weeks, both groups increased the amount of fruit and vegetables they consumed. However, participants who included fruit juice or a smoothie also reported lower depression scores.

    The peer-reviewed findings were published in the British Journal of Nutrition and funded by the Fruit Juice Science Centre. Researchers say the results add to evidence that relatively simple and practical dietary changes may have benefits for mental health.

    Dr. Courtney Neal, who completed the study while at Newcastle University and is now at the University of Liverpool, said: “While most people know eating 5-a-day can be good for your health, many people struggle to.

    “Our trial showed that when people with low fruit and vegetable intake were provided with targeted financial and educational support to address common barriers to eating 5-a-day, they were able to make meaningful changes to their diet. We found that simple, cost-effective solutions, like drinking a small glass of 100% fruit juice or a smoothie daily, could help people reach their 5-a-day, with potential benefits for mental well-being.”

    Reaching the 5-a-day Goal

    Eating recommended amounts of whole fruits and vegetables has been associated with a lower risk of chronic disease and better long-term health. Despite those benefits, fewer than 1 in 5 (17%) UK adults and only 1 in 10 teenagers currently meet the 5-a-day recommendation.

    Everyone who took part in the 4-week trial ate two or fewer portions of fruit and vegetables per day when the study began. Participants received support designed to help them increase their intake to 5-a-day.

    Some participants were instructed to meet that target using whole fruits and vegetables alone. Others increased their intake of whole fruits and vegetables while also drinking one glass of fruit juice or a smoothie each day.

    Researchers evaluated changes in mood using validated questionnaires that measure symptoms of anxiety and depression. Participants who consumed fruit juice and smoothies alongside whole fruit had lower depression scores than the control group.

    Their scores were 2.52 points lower on a 27-point scale, a difference the researchers described as modest but statistically significant.

    Fiber Intake Also Increased

    Dietary recalls completed during the study suggested that both intervention groups increased their daily fiber intake by an estimated 8-10 g.

    That finding indicates that including juice did not stop participants from adding other fiber-rich fruits and vegetables to their diets.

    The study included 42 participants. Despite concerns about the sugar content of fruit juice, researchers found no adverse effects on metabolic health markers after four weeks among those who consumed fruit juice or smoothies as part of the intervention.

    Dr. Oliver Shannon, Lecturer in Nutrition and Ageing at Newcastle University and one of the senior authors of the study, said: “Given the ongoing cost of living pressures in the UK, the price of fresh produce is often a barrier for people trying to eat more fruit and vegetables. Our study shows that drinking a daily glass of fruit juice or a smoothie could be part of the solution and help people reach 5-a-day fruit and vegetable targets.

    “The finding that fruit juice drinkers had reduced depression scores is promising and worthy of further exploration, particularly in individuals experiencing poor mental well-being. It backs up studies which report improved brain blood flow and cognitive function after people drink citrus juices. Simple dietary changes — like increasing fruit intake, including through a daily glass of juice — could play a role in supporting mental well-being.”

    How the Study Was Conducted

    The 4-week trial included 42 people who consumed two or fewer portions of fruit and vegetables per day at the start of the research. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups.

    The first group included 14 people who served as controls and were asked to continue eating their usual diet.

    A second group of 14 participants received support to increase their fruit and vegetable consumption to 5-a-day using whole fruits and vegetables only.

    The remaining 14 participants were also encouraged to reach 5-a-day through whole fruits and vegetables, but they additionally consumed one glass of fruit juice or a smoothie each day.

    All three groups received £10/week. Participants in groups 2 and 3 were also provided with educational materials intended to help them make the recommended dietary changes.

    Researchers assessed participants’ mood using validated questionnaires for anxiety (GAD-7 – Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7) and depression (PHQ-9 – Patient Health Questionnaire-9).

    The fruit juice and smoothie group scored statistically significantly lower for depression markers than the control group. Scores were 2.52 points lower on the 27-point scale in the fruit juice group versus the control – with an adjusted mean score of 5.45 in the control group and 2.93 among participants who included fruit juices.

    Participants also completed four dietary recalls during the study describing what they had eaten during the previous 24 hours. Based on those records, both intervention groups were estimated to have increased their daily fiber intake by 8-10 g.

  • Scientists say just 7 days of meditation can rewire your brain

    Scientists say just 7 days of meditation can rewire your brain

    A week of intensive meditation and other mind and body practices may be capable of producing measurable changes far beyond simple relaxation. In a recent study, researchers at the University of California San Diego found that a seven-day retreat was associated with changes in brain activity, blood chemistry, immune signaling, metabolism, and the body’s natural pain control systems.

    The researchers also found signs of increased neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt, reorganize, and form new connections. The findings, published in Communications Biology, offer new clues about how mental practices and conscious experiences may influence physical biology.

    Measuring the Biology of Meditation

    Meditation and related practices have been used in cultures around the world for thousands of years as tools for health and well-being. Scientists, however, are still working to understand exactly what happens inside the brain and body when people engage in these practices.

    The new research was part of a multi-million-dollar initiative supported by the InnerScience Research Fund. According to the researchers, it is the first study to comprehensively measure the biological effects of several mind and body practices delivered together during a short, intensive program.

    “We’ve known for years that practices like meditation can influence health, but what’s striking is that combining multiple mind-body practices into a single retreat produced changes across so many biological systems that we could measure directly in the brain and blood,” said senior study author Hemal H. Patel, Ph.D., professor of anesthesiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine and research career scientist at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. “This isn’t about just stress relief or relaxation; this is about fundamentally changing how the brain engages with reality and quantifying these changes biologically.”

    Inside the Seven-Day Retreat

    The study involved 20 healthy adults who participated in a 7-day residential program led by neuroscience educator and author Joe Dispenza, D.C. The retreat included daily lectures, approximately 33 hours of guided meditation, and group healing practices.

    Some of those healing activities relied on an “open-label placebo” approach. Unlike a traditional placebo, where participants may not know they are receiving an inactive treatment, people taking part in an open placebo know from the beginning that no active medical ingredient is involved. Researchers have studied this approach because expectations, social interaction, and the experience of participating in a treatment can sometimes produce measurable effects even when no active drug is given.

    Before and after the retreat, scientists examined participants’ brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This type of scanning detects changes in blood flow associated with brain activity, allowing researchers to observe which areas and networks are more or less active.

    Blood samples were also collected so the team could examine changes involving metabolism, immune activity, molecular signaling, and other biological processes.

    Changes From the Brain to the Immune System

    The researchers reported several notable differences following the retreat.

    Brain activity became less pronounced in regions associated with internal mental chatter during meditation. The researchers interpreted this pattern as a sign of more efficient brain function.

    Evidence of increased neuroplasticity also emerged in laboratory experiments. When scientists exposed laboratory-grown neurons to blood plasma collected from participants after the retreat, the neurons developed longer branches and formed more connections. These changes are commonly associated with the ability of nerve cells to communicate and adapt.

    Metabolism changed as well. Cells exposed to plasma collected after the retreat showed increased glycolytic (sugar-burning) metabolism. Glycolysis is one of the main ways cells convert glucose into usable energy, and the researchers said the shift pointed toward a more flexible and adaptable metabolic state.

    The retreat also appeared to activate the body’s own pain control mechanisms. Blood concentrations of endogenous opioids increased after the program. Endogenous opioids are naturally produced chemicals that act on some of the same biological systems targeted by opioid pain medications, helping the body regulate pain without an external drug.

    Researchers also detected changes in immune signaling. Both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory signals increased at the same time, suggesting that the immune system was undergoing a more complicated adaptive response rather than simply becoming more or less active.

    Small RNA molecules and patterns of gene activity in the blood also changed, particularly in biological pathways associated with brain function. Small RNA molecules help control how genes are expressed and can influence the activity of cells throughout the body.

    Mystical Experiences and Brain Connectivity

    Researchers were also interested in the subjective experiences participants had while meditating.

    The volunteers completed the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ-30), which is designed to measure experiences involving feelings of unity, transcendence, and altered consciousness. Average scores increased significantly, from 2.37 before the retreat to 3.02 afterward.

    People who reported stronger mystical experiences also tended to show greater biological changes. In particular, higher questionnaire scores were associated with increased integration of activity between different regions of the brain.

    That relationship suggests that greater communication across brain networks may be associated with a stronger likelihood of experiencing profound changes in consciousness.

    Similarities to Psychedelic Brain States

    One of the most intriguing findings involved patterns of brain activity that resembled effects previously documented in people using psychedelic substances.

    The researchers said intensive meditation appeared capable of producing some of the same types of neural connectivity associated with psychedelic experiences, despite participants not taking psychedelic drugs.

    “We’re seeing the same mystical experiences and neural connectivity patterns that typically require psilocybin, now achieved through meditation practice alone,” added Patel. “Seeing both central nervous system changes in brain scans and systemic changes in blood chemistry underscores that these mind-body practices are acting on a whole-body scale.”

    Psilocybin is the psychoactive compound found in certain psychedelic mushrooms. Researchers have increasingly studied it because it can produce dramatic changes in perception, mood, and the way different brain networks communicate.

    The similarities observed in the meditation study do not mean that meditation and psychedelic drugs produce identical effects. Instead, the findings suggest that very different experiences may sometimes engage overlapping brain processes associated with altered states of consciousness.

    Possible Implications for Health and Pain

    The findings give researchers a potential biological framework for understanding how non-drug mind and body interventions might support health and well-being.

    Increased neuroplasticity could potentially support processes involved in mental health, learning, emotional regulation, and resilience to stress. Changes in immune activity could also prove important if future research shows that these effects are reliable and clinically meaningful.

    The increase in endogenous opioids is especially interesting for pain research. Because these chemicals are part of the body’s built-in pain-regulating system, the researchers said the combination of practices used during the retreat could eventually have implications for chronic pain management.

    However, the study was conducted in healthy adults rather than patients with diagnosed medical conditions. Controlled clinical trials will therefore be necessary before researchers can determine whether the observed biological changes translate into meaningful treatment benefits.

    The team is particularly interested in studying whether similar retreats could help people living with chronic pain, mood disorders, or conditions involving the immune system.

    What Researchers Still Need to Learn

    Another major unanswered question is which parts of the retreat were responsible for the observed effects.

    Participants experienced several interventions at the same time, including meditation, reconceptualization, and open-label placebo healing. Because those elements were combined, the current study cannot establish how much each individual practice contributed.

    Future research will examine the components separately and in different combinations. Scientists also want to determine how long the biological changes last and whether repeating the interventions can strengthen or maintain them over time.

    “This study shows that our minds and bodies are deeply interconnected — what we believe, how we focus our attention, and the practices we participate in can leave measurable fingerprints on our biology,” said first author Alex Jinich-Diamant, a doctoral student in the Departments of Cognitive Science and Anesthesiology at UC San Diego. “It’s an exciting step toward understanding how conscious experience and physical health are intertwined, and how we might harness that connection to promote well-being in new ways.”

    Additional coauthors of the study include Sierra Simpson, Juan P. Zuniga-Hertz, Ramamurthy Chitteti, Jan M. Schilling, Jacqueline A. Bonds, Laura Case, Andrei V. Chernov, Natalia Esther Amkie Stahl, Michael Licamele, Narin Fazlalipour and, Swetha Devulapalli, at UC San Diego; Joe Dispenza and Michelle A. Poirier at Metamorphosis LLC; Jacqueline Maree and Tobias Moeller-Bertram at VitaMed Research; and Leonardo Christov-Moore and Nicco Reggente at the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies.

    The research was supported by the InnerScience Research Fund and a Veterans Administration Research Career Scientist Award (BX005229).

    Disclosure: One co-author (Joe Dispenza) is employed by Encephalon, Inc., the company offering the retreat; all other authors declare no competing interests.

  • A protein older than blood circulation could transform cancer immunotherapy

    A protein older than blood circulation could transform cancer immunotherapy

    An immune molecule that appeared in evolution long before blood circulation may help improve cancer immunotherapy. Scientists at Nagoya University in Japan discovered that complement C3 can prevent immune-suppressing cells from building up inside tumors, but only when the protein is produced locally within the tumor. C3 traveling through the bloodstream did not influence how well treatment worked.

    The findings, published in Nature Communications, suggest that reproducing this local effect could benefit patients whose tumors do not produce enough C3 naturally.

    An Ancient Part of the Immune System

    C3 is an evolutionarily ancient protein found even in simple animals such as sponges and jellyfish. Most C3 is made in the liver and released into the bloodstream, where it helps the immune system defend the body against infections.

    Scientists know much less about what C3 does when it is produced directly inside tissues and organs.

    “Cancer tumors are surrounded by normal cells called fibroblasts. Until now, the role of complement C3 produced by these cancer-associated fibroblasts within tumor tissue was not known,” said lead author Yuki Miyai, assistant professor at the Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University.

    Local C3 Helps the Immune System Reach Tumors

    The researchers found that C3 made within tumor tissue prevents immunosuppressive myeloid cells from entering the tumor microenvironment. These cells can weaken the body’s ability to attack cancer. By keeping them out, locally produced C3 gives the immune system a better opportunity to recognize and fight tumor cells.

    The results point to C3 as an important regulator of cancer immunotherapy, a form of treatment that helps the immune system identify and attack cancer cells.

    To determine whether C3 in the bloodstream also affected immunotherapy, the team conducted experiments in mice that allowed them to distinguish between C3 from different sources.

    When the amount of liver-produced C3 was reduced by 90%, an immunotherapy drug (anti-PD-1 antibody) remained just as effective as it was in mice with normal C3 levels.

    The outcome changed when researchers stopped fibroblasts inside the tumor from producing C3. Under those conditions, the same treatment became less effective, even though the amount of circulating C3 fell by only a small amount (a 9% decrease).

    “What determined the efficacy of the immunotherapy treatment was not the C3 in the blood, but the local C3 produced at the tumor site. When this C3 breaks down, it forms a fragment called iC3b that stops harmful myeloid cells from entering the tumor. As a result, immunotherapy is more likely to work,” Miyai explained.

    Overcoming Resistance to Immunotherapy

    The team then investigated whether they could reproduce the effects of C3 in cancers that normally resist immunotherapy. They tested a drug designed to imitate the way C3 blocks myeloid cells from entering tumors.

    This approach allowed immunotherapy to work against tumors that had previously resisted treatment. It also significantly extended survival in mice.

    The findings could eventually help doctors identify which patients are most likely to benefit from immunotherapy. They may also lead to new treatment options for cancers that do not respond at first.

    Lung Cancer Samples Support the Findings

    Researchers also examined tumor samples from patients with lung cancer. Those with higher levels of C3 in the tissue surrounding cancer cells experienced better treatment results and longer survival.

    About half of the patients with high local C3 levels responded to treatment. None of the patients with lower levels responded. As in the mouse studies, C3 levels in the bloodstream were not linked to treatment success.

    Next Steps for Cancer Treatment Research

    The researchers now plan to test ways of increasing C3 levels inside tumors and to determine the most effective timing for treatment.

    They also believe that learning more about the local activity of C3 could improve understanding of other biological processes, including wound healing and the regulation of inflammation.

  • Scientists find a simple way to stop cavities without drilling

    Scientists find a simple way to stop cavities without drilling

    Untreated cavities send thousands of young children in the United States to emergency departments each year. Because hospital doctors usually cannot repair the underlying dental problem, some children continue to suffer from pain and infection, while others eventually need surgery under general anesthesia.

    A low-cost liquid known as silver diamine fluoride, or SDF, may offer a much simpler option. Dentists apply it directly to a cavity with a small sponge-tipped applicator, a process that takes only a few seconds for each tooth. The treatment can stop decay without drilling, injections, or sedation.

    A Long-Used Treatment Gains Stronger Evidence

    SDF has been used successfully in many countries for decades. In the United States, dentists have used it off-label since 2014, when it was approved as a medical device for reducing tooth sensitivity.

    However, researchers had not yet completed the large U.S. clinical trials needed to demonstrate its safety and effectiveness as a cavity treatment. That evidence would be necessary for the Food and Drug Administration to approve SDF as a drug for treating tooth decay.

    A clinical trial led by the University of Michigan has now supplied those data.

    The Phase III study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, included 830 children younger than age 6. Participants were recruited through dental offices, pediatric medical practices, Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Michigan, New York and Iowa.

    SDF Stopped Decay in Many Baby Teeth

    The researchers found that 38% SDF stopped tooth decay in more than half of the affected baby teeth when the treatment was applied every six months.

    Traditional cavity treatment usually involves removing damaged tooth material and placing a filling. SDF requires no removal of the tooth. Instead, the liquid is painted directly onto the decayed area.

    “This is a very effective and safe treatment — even in children as young as 1,” said Margherita Fontana, professor of dentistry at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and the study’s lead investigator.

    Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease among children and affects more than 40% of children in the United States. Cavities that are not treated can lead to intense pain, infections, difficulty sleeping or eating, missed school days and repeated medical appointments.

    A Potential Option for Hard-to-Treat Patients

    Fontana said SDF could be particularly useful for very young children, older adults, people with developmental or physical disabilities, and patients with severe dental anxiety. It may also help people who have limited access to conventional dental care or cannot easily tolerate standard procedures.

    The treatment does have a visible drawback. The silver permanently turns the decayed part of the tooth dark.

    “If we want more children and families to benefit from this treatment, we need rigorous evidence showing both that it works and that it’s safe. From a public health perspective, if we want broader implementation across the United States, including in medical settings, we need carefully collected data in U.S. populations, and we now have that,” Fontana said.

    The research began in 2018 and continued despite disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “In medicine, clinicians want high-quality evidence before changing practice,” Fontana said. “It is important to have data they can refer to because young children often see pediatricians years before they ever visit a dentist; broader acceptance could allow many more cavities to be treated while a referral to a dental home is successful, and before they become painful, infected, or require surgery.”

    Findings Could Support FDA Approval

    Fontana worked with researchers from New York University, the University of Iowa and Indiana University, as well as the NIH’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. The institute provided more than $12 million to support the study.

    The trial generated the clinical evidence the manufacturer needs to submit a dental caries drug application to the FDA. Elevate Oral Care supplied Advantage Arrest 38% SDF, the product tested in the study.

    Amr Moursi, professor of pediatric dentistry at New York University College of Dentistry, said the findings could help expand access to the treatment.

    “Our results support FDA approval of SDF for managing arrest of tooth decay in young children. Removing SDF from off-label status would be an important innovation which could lead to increased utilization by providers, enhanced payments by insurers and more consistent product quality,” said Moursi, a co-principal investigator on the study.

    A Bridge or Long-Term Treatment

    For some children, applying SDF again every few months may control the cavity until the baby tooth falls out naturally. In adults, it could function as a long-term treatment or provide temporary protection until a restorative procedure becomes affordable or practical.

    “For almost anyone, this can arrest the decay and stop the infection and the pain it causes,” Fontana said. “This could benefit many people.”

  • CRISPR makes prostate cancer vulnerable to immunotherapy

    CRISPR makes prostate cancer vulnerable to immunotherapy

    Prostate cancer is notoriously difficult to treat with immunotherapy, a type of cancer treatment that helps the immune system identify and destroy tumors. Now, researchers have developed an experimental RNA targeting technology that may make prostate tumors far more vulnerable to an immune attack.

    Most prostate tumors are considered “immune cold” because they attract very few T cells (a type of immune cell). Without enough T cells entering the tumor, immunotherapy has little chance of working. In laboratory studies, scientists used a CRISPR-based tool to change RNA inside prostate cancer cells, effectively making the tumors more visible and attractive to cancer-fighting immune cells.

    The findings, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, showed that the technology improved the response of prostate tumors to immune checkpoint therapy in mice. More immune cells entered the tumors, where they attacked and destroyed cancer cells.

    “Immune therapy is a monumentally different way to treat cancer, and a great way because you don’t have to give patients terrible drugs that kill the cancer but harm healthy cells in the process,” said Eric J. Wagner, PhD, co-author of the study from the University of Rochester Medicine. “The problem is that some cancers respond well to immune therapy, but others develop resistance or don’t respond at all. Our tool strengthens the immune system’s ability to make the cancer go away and could be used in conjunction with existing immunotherapies in prostate and potentially other immune-cold tumor types.”

    Why Prostate Cancer Resists Immunotherapy

    The work grew out of a discovery Wagner’s team made 12 years ago. While studying glioblastoma (brain cancer), the researchers found that many mRNAs (messenger RNAs) in tumor cells were shorter than normal. Later studies by Wagner’s group and other scientists showed that this shortening occurs across many types of cancer and may help tumors adapt, survive, and escape treatment.

    mRNA carries genetic instructions from DNA to the cell’s protein-making machinery, which turns the information into proteins the body needs to function. Shortened mRNAs tend to be more stable. Like animals that make themselves smaller for protection (think hedgehogs and pangolins), compact mRNAs have less exposed surface area and are less likely to be “eaten” by enzymes inside the cell.

    Short mRNAs are also harder for cells to regulate. Because they remain active for longer periods, they can continue producing large amounts of protein and may spread their effects without normal cellular controls.

    The Immune Signal Cancer Cells Destroy

    One reason a tumor can become immune cold is the loss of the MHC-1 complex. This complex acts like a molecular signal that helps T cells recognize tumor cells. Without it, malignant cells become much harder for the immune system to identify and kill.

    The researchers uncovered a chain of events that helps explain how prostate cancer shuts down this signal:

    • There is a specific protein (SPSB1) that destroys the MHC-1 complex.
    • In prostate cancer, the mRNA that carries the instructions to create this protein is shortened. Consequently, it produces more protein.
    • More SPSB1 protein means less of the MHC-1 complex.
    • Less of the MHC-1 complex makes immune therapy futile, because there’s no magnet to attract T cells to the tumor.

    CRISPR Restores the Tumor’s Immune Magnet

    The collaborative research team, led by scientists from Duke University School of Medicine, created a first-of-its-kind therapy designed to restore the normal length of the mRNA that produces SPSB1. Using an RNA-based CRISPR Cas13 system, the researchers forced the shortened SPSB1 mRNA to re-lengthen.

    CRISPR tools often work by cutting DNA or RNA. In this case, however, the system was engineered to attach to a specific section of the mRNA rather than cut it. By binding to that location, the tool prevented cancer cells from reaching and shortening the end, or tail, of the molecule.

    Keeping the mRNA at its normal, longer length reduced the amount of SPSB1 protein produced by the cancer cells. This allowed the MHC-1 complex to return.

    Once the MHC-1 complex was restored, immune checkpoint therapy became much more effective against the prostate tumors. The researchers also performed a detailed analysis of the results and found no detectable off-target effects from the experimental CRISPR treatment.

    “No one has ever done this before. It’s an excellent preclinical model showing that mRNAs can be forced to re-lengthen and when they do, there’s therapeutic benefit,” said Wagner, professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics and co-director of the Center for RNA Biology. “Cancer is super smart at evolving, but it’s not a magician. If we can hit it with immunotherapy and another synergistic drug that pumps up the immune response, we could potentially cure it. It won’t be able to evolve fast enough.”

    Testing the Technology in Other Cold Tumors

    Wagner, who is also a member of Wilmot Cancer Institute’s Genetics, Epigenetics and Metabolism research program, now plans to investigate whether the approach can work in other immune cold cancers.

    His team recently received pilot funding from Wilmot and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center to test the technology in pancreatic cancer, another tumor type that often responds poorly to immunotherapy.

    The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

  • The billion-dollar problem keeping Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound from patients

    The billion-dollar problem keeping Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound from patients

    GLP-1 medications have been shown to improve health and offer strong value for their price, yet many insurance plans continue to restrict access. Researchers at the University of Mississippi are investigating the financial and practical reasons behind those limits, along with the consequences for patients.

    A recent analysis from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, an independent nonprofit that assesses the value of medical treatments, concluded that GLP-1 drugs including Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound are cost-effective. In other words, the health improvements they provide are considered substantial enough to justify their price.

    Why Cost-Effective Does Not Mean Affordable

    In a study published in the Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy, Sujith Ramachandran, associate professor of pharmacy administration, explained that a treatment can be cost-effective without being cost-saving for insurers.

    “The ICER report shows that GLP-1s, at the cost that they are currently being sold, provide tremendous value to society,” he said. “But the impact they create on the budget is still massive.

    “That is happening because the patient population eligible for this medication is so large. So even if the medications themselves represent good value for society, that does not mean we, as a society, can take the impact of how many individuals would use this.”

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 40% of Americans have obesity. If even a relatively small share of that population began GLP-1 treatment, insurance companies could be responsible for billions of dollars in new spending.

    “ICER has a budget impact threshold that estimates whether the uptake of a drug can lead to a budget impact concern,” he said. “The threshold for this year is $821 million.

    “GLP-1s blow way past that threshold, even at lower numbers of uptake.”

    Long-Term Savings Remain Unproven

    Supporters of broader GLP-1 coverage often argue that treating obesity earlier could prevent expensive health problems and reduce medical spending over time. Ramachandran said current evidence has not yet demonstrated that those expected savings actually occur.

    “We expect that if we address the obesity issue in this country, then in theory, it should create savings down the road for cardiovascular conditions, liver conditions and kidney conditions,” he said. “But does that mean it actually produces savings? Well, the existing data do not show that.”

    Many patients stop taking GLP-1 drugs within the first year. Common reasons include the cost of treatment, reaching a target weight, and gastrointestinal side effects. After discontinuing the medication, many people regain some or all of the weight they lost.

    Ramachandran said insurers are more likely to see lasting financial benefits if patients can maintain their weight loss and preserve the related reduction in obesity-associated disease risks. Achieving that may require coverage that extends beyond the six months or one year offered by many insurance plans. It may also require providing the same lifestyle support used in clinical trials.

    GLP-1 Treatment Requires More Than Medication

    “The first thing to remember is that all of the clinical trials, GLP-1s were not tested against no treatment; they were tested against lifestyle management interventions,” he said. “It was not lifestyle management versus GLP-1; it’s lifestyle management versus lifestyle management plus GLP-1.”

    That distinction means patients may need a broader support system rather than medication alone, Ramachandran said.

    “You have to provide them access to a registered dietitian, you have to provide them access to a gym membership, you have to provide them access to a fitness instructor or whatever network of services it is that you can provide to make sure that the change is in a lifestyle and not just in taking a medication once a week,” he said.

    Concerns About Compounded GLP-1 Drugs

    When insurance does not cover GLP-1 medications, less expensive compounded products may appear to offer a more affordable option. However, the researchers warn that these alternatives can carry significant risks.

    Compounded GLP-1 drugs are not subjected to the same rigorous review process as medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to Liang-Yuan Lin, an Ole Miss doctoral candidate in pharmacy administration who studies compounded drug pharmacies.

    “The FDA has already issued warning letters about compounded GLP-1s,” she said. “The FDA has found websites selling unapproved ingredients or even the wrong ingredients, which is terrifying for patients.

    “Even if they’re listing the right ingredients, you don’t know where these ingredients are from or how they’ve been transported or handled, which could be really dangerous.”

    Lin and Ramachandran advise patients to speak with a physician before beginning a GLP-1 medication and to remain under medical supervision while using it. A doctor can help manage side effects, monitor safety, and confirm that the medication is FDA-approved.

    Coverage May Expand for Some and Tighten for Others

    “I, and I think most people, would hope that everybody who needs this medication gets it,” Ramachandran said. “But what we are seeing is that GLP-1 coverage is getting more accessible for specific conditions — sleep apnea, diabetes, extremely high BMI or a combination of these things — but for other conditions, coverage is probably going to get more restrictive.

    “But those compounding pharmacies are so dangerous. Those prices are more reasonable because these drugs are often not being manufactured correctly, and you don’t always know what you’re injecting in your body.”

  • Popular childhood drinks may raise blood pressure decades later

    Popular childhood drinks may raise blood pressure decades later

    Drinking fruit juice and sugar-sweetened beverages regularly from childhood into adulthood may increase the likelihood of developing high blood pressure later in life, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation.

    “Dietary habits in early life can have lasting health consequences,” said senior study author Vasanti Malik, Sc.D., M.Sc., an associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Nutrition and Chronic Disease Prevention in the department of nutritional sciences at Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and an adjunct faculty member in the department of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

    “High blood pressure is also emerging earlier in life, with growing rates being seen in younger adults, in children and adolescents, which highlights the importance of early detection and prevention,” she said.

    Why Early Blood Pressure Risk Matters

    High blood pressure can increase the risk of serious health problems, including heart attack and stroke. Some risk factors, such as family history, age, gender and race, cannot be changed. However, lifestyle factors including poor diet, smoking and low levels of physical activity can also contribute to the development of high blood pressure.

    The new analysis included more than 25,000 participants enrolled in a long-running study of U.S. youths. Through questionnaires completed every 1 to 4 years, participants reported how often they consumed sugar-sweetened beverages such as soda, fruit punch, lemonade, sweetened tea and sports drinks. They also reported their consumption of fruit juice, whole fruit and other foods and beverages, along with information about body measurements, physical activity and smoking.

    Researchers examined whether total fructose intake and the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, fruit juice and whole fruit were associated with self-reported diagnoses of high blood pressure. They also created statistical models to estimate what might happen if participants replaced sugary beverages or fruit juice with whole fruit, milk or water. Participants were followed for as long as 25 years.

    Sugary Drinks Linked to a 52% Higher Risk

    Participants who consumed two or more servings of sugar-sweetened beverages each day had a 52% higher risk of developing high blood pressure later in life compared with those who drank fewer than three servings per week. One serving was defined as a 12-ounce can or glass.

    Different types of sugary drinks showed varying levels of risk. Each daily serving of soda was associated with a 23% higher risk of high blood pressure, while each daily serving of sports drinks was linked to a 36% higher risk.

    Fruit juice was also associated with increased risk when consumed in larger amounts. Participants who drank 1.5 or more servings of fruit juice per day had a 35% higher risk of developing high blood pressure than those who consumed less than one serving per week. A serving of fruit juice was defined as an 8-ounce glass.

    Among specific juice types, each daily serving of orange juice was associated with a 20% higher risk of high blood pressure. Apple juice and other juices were not associated with the same increase. However, the researchers cautioned that some orange-flavored beverages containing added sugar may have been incorrectly reported as orange juice.

    Whole Fruit May Be a Better Choice

    The substitution models suggested that replacing one daily serving of a sugary beverage with whole fruit could be associated with a 22% lower risk of developing high blood pressure.

    Replacing one daily serving of fruit juice with whole fruit was associated with a 19% lower risk.

    The models also found that replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with milk or water was associated with up to a 13% lower risk of high blood pressure. However, replacing fruit juice with milk or water was not associated with a significant change in risk.

    The connection between sugary drinks, fruit juice and high blood pressure remained even after researchers considered overall diet quality, physical activity and other factors.

    “Sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soda and sports drinks, which are often marketed as somewhat healthy, should be limited,” Malik said. “Fruit juice intake may be harmless at low levels yet harmful at higher intake levels. They should always be 100% fruit juice, and even so, consumed only in moderation. Whole fruit should be emphasized over sugary beverages.”

    The Source of Sugar May Matter

    A 2026 Dietary Guidance to Improve Cardiovascular Health scientific statement from the American Heart Association recommends minimizing added sugar in foods and beverages.

    American Heart Association volunteer expert Amit Khera, M.D., FAHA, vice-chair of the dietary guidance writing committee, said the association between sugar-sweetened beverages and higher hypertension and cardiovascular risk has been generally consistent across previous research. However, he said the new findings provide several additional insights.

    “First, the focus on childhood and the importance of health behaviors in childhood with adult risk factor development provides a critical opportunity for prevention. As has been seen in adults, the total amount of fructose seems less important for the development of hypertension than the type of food where it is consumed, so sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice relate to increased risk, while whole fruit does not.

    “Secondly, there has been a misconception about fructose in general being harmful for cardiovascular health regardless of the source, and that fruit juices are beneficial for health. This study demonstrates that neither seems to be correct,” added Khera, the director of preventive cardiology and clinical chief of cardiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

    Khera also pointed out that the study population consisted mostly of White children and adults. “however, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic American populations have the highest sugar-sweetened beverages intake, so these findings may be even more relevant for those groups.”

    Policies Aimed at Reducing Sugary Drink Intake

    The American Heart Association supports science-based policies designed to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks. These include establishing taxes on sugary beverages, strengthening nutrition standards for school meals, improving “informed dining” in restaurants and raising diet quality within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

    Research Highlights

    Over a follow-up period lasting as long as 25 years, people who consumed more sugary beverages and fruit juice beginning in childhood had a greater risk of developing high blood pressure than those who consumed less.

    Replacing one daily serving of a sugary beverage with whole fruit, milk or water was associated with a lower risk of high blood pressure. Replacing fruit juice with whole fruit was also associated with lower risk.

    Study Design and Participant Details

    Participants came from the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS), which included GUTS I, launched in 1996, and GUTS II, launched in 2004. Children of participants in the Nurses’ Health Study II were recruited from across the United States.

    The study followed 25,749 participants who were ages 9 to 16 at enrollment, (about 55% female and 96% non-Hispanic White participants) for up to 25 years. By the end of the follow-up period, the median participant age was 36.

    Participants completed 132-item food frequency questionnaires annually from 1996 through 1998, followed by additional questionnaires in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2015. Children who already had high blood pressure or lacked dietary information at the beginning of the study were excluded from the analysis.

    The questionnaires asked participants how often they consumed a standard serving of each food or beverage, with responses ranging from “never or less than once per month” to “6 or more per day.” A serving was defined as a 12-ounce can or glass for sugar-sweetened beverages and an 8-ounce glass for fruit juice.

    Sugar-sweetened beverages included sodas, fruit punches, lemonades, iced teas, sports drinks and non-carbonated fruit drinks. Fruit juice included orange juice, apple juice and other 100% fruit juice beverages. Whole fruits included apples, oranges, bananas, mangos, grapes, pears, melons, strawberries and peaches.

    For the substitution analysis, researchers compared one daily serving of a sugar-sweetened beverage or fruit juice with one serving of fruit juice, milk (1%, 2% and whole milk but not chocolate or flavored milk), water or whole fruit.

    Study Limitations

    Blood pressure outcomes were self-reported in questionnaires completed from 2010 through 2021. Participants were asked whether a healthcare professional had ever diagnosed them with high blood pressure. In the 2010 questionnaire, the earliest option for the year of diagnosis was “before 1996” and responses extended through “2010+.”

    Because the study relied on questionnaires and self-reported diagnoses, it cannot prove that sugary drinks or fruit juice directly caused high blood pressure. Other factors not included in the analysis may also have influenced the results. In addition, because most participants were non-Hispanic White, the findings may not apply equally to populations that were not well represented in the study.

  • MIT’s new lidar chip could give self-driving cars a wider view

    MIT’s new lidar chip could give self-driving cars a wider view

    Lidar technology uses pulses of infrared light to calculate distances and create detailed 3D maps of the surrounding environment. This allows autonomous vehicles to detect objects in their path and respond quickly. However, conventional lidar sensors are often large and costly, and many rely on moving components that can wear out over time. These limitations make the systems difficult to use in a wider range of settings.

    MIT researchers have now developed an approach that could lead to smaller, more durable lidar sensors that operate without any moving parts. Their advance centers on a new silicon-photonics chip, a type of semiconductor device that controls light instead of electrical signals.

    Existing lidar systems built with silicon-photonics chips usually have a narrow field of view. As a result, they struggle to scan areas located toward the edges of a scene. Previous attempts to expand this viewing range have often introduced extra noise and reduced measurement accuracy.

    The MIT team addressed those problems by creating an array of integrated antennas that greatly limits unwanted crosstalk, which occurs when neighboring antennas interfere with one another. The design allows the chip to scan across a broader field of view while producing less noise than other silicon-photonics-based methods.

    A Smaller Lidar System With a Wider View

    The advance could support the development of more capable lidar sensors for challenging uses, including autonomous vehicle navigation, aerial mapping, and the monitoring of construction sites.

    “The functionality we demonstrated in this work solves a fundamental problem for integrated optical-phased-array technology, enabling future lidar sensors that can achieve significantly higher performance than we could demonstrate previously,” says Jelena Notaros, the Robert J. Shillman Career Development Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at MIT, a member of the Research Laboratory of Electronics, and senior author of a paper on this innovation.

    The study also includes lead author and EECS graduate student Henry Crawford-Eng, along with EECS graduate students Andres Garcia Coleto, Benjamin M. Mazur, Daniel M. DeSantis, and Tal Sneh. The findings were published recently in Nature Communications.

    How Lidar Maps Its Surroundings

    Many traditional lidar systems use a large rotating unit to direct light pulses across a scene. When the light strikes nearby objects, it reflects back toward the sensor. The returning signals provide the information needed to reconstruct a detailed map of the environment.

    Silicon-photonics-based lidar works differently. Rather than rotating a mechanical device, it scans a beam of light electronically in several directions with a system known as an integrated optical phased array (OPA).

    At the heart of an OPA is a group of integrated antennas. Each antenna contains tiny, regularly spaced variations along its length. These features, known as corrugations, cause light from an input source to scatter upward and out of the photonic chip.

    Researchers can control the direction of the outgoing beam by changing the phase of the light sent to each antenna. Adjusting these phases changes the angle at which the array releases light, making it possible to steer the beam without moving any physical components.

    The Antenna Spacing Problem

    Placing the antennas close together creates a serious obstacle. Neighboring antennas can couple with one another, scrambling the light they produce. Engineers have traditionally prevented this interference by increasing the distance between antennas, but wider spacing creates a different set of problems.

    When antennas are too far apart, the array produces several copies of the same beam at different angles. The primary beam can only be moved a limited distance before it becomes difficult to distinguish from these additional copies.

    “This limits our field of view, so the autonomous vehicle now only knows what is in front of it for a certain angular range,” Garcia Coleto explains.

    The unwanted beam copies, called grating lobes, can confuse the sensor and generate false detections. They also consume energy that could otherwise be directed into the main beam.

    To overcome this tradeoff, the MIT researchers developed antennas with reduced crosstalk that can be positioned close together without strongly coupling.

    Three Antenna Shapes Reduce Interference

    In a conventional OPA, every antenna has an identical structure and uses the same pattern of corrugations. When these matching antennas are placed close together, they interact very strongly.

    The MIT team instead created a repeating set of three antennas with distinct shapes. They changed the width of the antennas as well as the size and placement of the corrugations. Because the antennas have different geometries, each one also has a different propagation coefficient, which describes how light moves through the structure.

    “Because the antennas have very different propagation coefficients, when we put them close together, essentially each antenna doesn’t ‘see’ the antenna next to it. Therefore, it won’t couple with its neighbor,” Garcia Coleto says.

    Making Different Antennas Behave the Same Way

    Reducing the coupling was only part of the challenge. Although the antennas needed different propagation coefficients, they still had to release light in the same consistent manner.

    The team designed the antennas around three essential requirements.

    Each antenna had to emit the same amount of light. Every antenna also needed to release its beam at the same angle when receiving the same wavelength. Finally, the angle of emission had to change evenly across the entire array as the beam was steered.

    “We have this challenge where we require the antennas to have different geometries to reduce the crosstalk, but we need to simultaneously design the antennas to have the same emission characteristics. While it is possible to engineer this, it is extremely difficult because, typically, when antennas are designed with different geometries, they tend to behave differently,” Crawford-Eng says.

    The researchers began by developing the basic electromagnetic theory describing how radiative modes couple. They then used this theoretical framework to guide the design and computer simulation of the antennas.

    Based on those calculations, the team manufactured an OPA containing the reduced-crosstalk antennas. The antennas were placed much closer together than those in a conventional system, and the completed device was then tested experimentally.

    Interference Falls From About 100 Percent to 1 Percent

    Under the conditions of the experiment, a typical OPA would have produced coupling of approximately 100 percent. The MIT design lowered that coupling to about 1 percent while still generating one clean and precise beam.

    The system accurately steered the beam across a broad field of view without producing any grating lobes. This combination of wide scanning, low interference, and strong beam quality addresses one of the central obstacles facing integrated lidar technology.

    The researchers now plan to refine the method so the system can cover an even broader viewing range. They are also studying another possible approach to wide field-of-view performance that emerged while they were developing the underlying theory.

    “This work addresses a longstanding challenge in integrated optical phased arrays: simultaneously achieving both a wide field of view, which requires dense antenna spacing, and high beam quality, which requires low crosstalk between neighboring antennas. The authors solve this problem with an elegant antenna design. Their innovation is an important step forward for chip-scale, solid-state beam-steering technology,” says Joyce Poon, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Toronto and director of the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, who was not involved with this work.

    The Semiconductor Research Corporation, the National Science Foundation, an MIT MathWorks Fellowship, the U.S. Department of War, and the MIT Rolf G. Locher Endowed Fellowship supported the research, in part.

    Some of the work was carried out using MIT.nano facilities.

  • Scientists revive a powerful antibiotic that superbugs had defeated

    Scientists revive a powerful antibiotic that superbugs had defeated

    Antibiotic resistance is becoming one of the most serious dangers facing modern medicine. As bacteria evolve, drugs that once worked reliably can lose their effectiveness. This makes common infections harder to treat and can increase the risks associated with routine surgery, cancer care, and other medical procedures.

    Researchers worldwide are searching for ways to stay ahead of these rapidly changing microbes. One promising strategy is not to invent a completely new antibiotic, but to help existing drugs work again. This is the idea behind antibiotic adjuvants, which are companion molecules that do not kill bacteria directly but instead restore the power of antibiotics.

    Building New Molecules to Speed Drug Discovery

    Professor John Moses and his team at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have spent years developing chemical reactions that can make the drug discovery process faster and more efficient.

    The researchers use a technique called diversity oriented clicking (DOC), which was created in the Moses laboratory. With this method, they have built a library containing more than 150 different compounds. Molecules from this collection have already contributed to research on both antibiotic resistance and cancer.

    Now, through a collaboration with Scripps Research, the library has helped scientists restore the effectiveness of vancomycin. This powerful antibiotic is commonly used against severe infections, including those caused by MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C. diff). Both pathogens can develop resistance and become “superbugs” that evade frontline drugs such as vancomycin. They can then spread through hospitals, nursing homes, and communities.

    Restoring Vancomycin Against Resistant Bacteria

    In the new study, scientists from the Moses laboratory at CSHL worked with Professor Howard Hang’s team at Scripps to identify a way to make vancomycin effective again.

    The researchers targeted a bacterial enzyme called secreted antigen A (SagA). They blocked the enzyme using a small molecule known as pghi-4, which was first discovered in the Moses laboratory in 2020.

    When drug-resistant E. faecium was treated with both vancomycin and pghi-4, the antibiotic regained its ability to kill the bacteria.

    For Moses, one of the most notable parts of the finding is that the research did not begin as a direct search for a new antibiotic.

    “This discovery came from fundamental chemical research,” he explains. “Reaction development led to the discovery of the first inhibitor of an important enzyme involved in antibiotic resistance. This is a process we’re constantly refining to both keep our library of molecules up to date and add more for collaborators to take advantage of in their research.”

    A Broader Strategy Against Superbugs

    By making the molecular library available to other researchers, the team hopes similar approaches could eventually lead to treatments for additional drug-resistant infections. These could include resistant forms of tuberculosis.

    “This work reflects a philosophy of chemistry that’s designed to accelerate drug discovery in its purest form,” says Moses. “By using reliable, robust, and intelligent chemical reactions, we can build new molecules more efficiently. That’s exactly the approach we used here.”

    As antibiotic resistance grows around the world, the findings show that important medical advances may come from rethinking the chemistry of drugs that already exist. A future treatment may begin not with a new antibiotic, but with a carefully designed molecule that helps an old one work again.

    Funding

    National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Australian Research Council, New York State Biodefense Commercialization Fund, F.M. Kirby Foundation, Starr Foundation