By: David Westrom

A single T-cell surface.

Cancer immunotherapy is a treatment for cancer involving the body’s own immune system as the actual treatment (Dillman 2011). Instead of medications, like chemotherapy, or external treatments, like radiation, cancer immunotherapy makes use of the patient’s built in disease-fighting system to kill cancer cells. As a result of the immune system’s complexity, however, there are numerous types of immunotherapy treatments with different mechanisms of action. From 1986-2010, the FDA approved 17 different cancer immunotherapy treatments, ranging from BCG, an injected bacterium, to cytokines, proteins normally secreted by cells that activate an immune response, to adoptive cellular therapy (ACT), the use of cells to treat cancer (Dillman 2011). Each of these treatments has shown at least some success in treating certain types of cancer. Out of the immunotherapy treatments available, adoptive cellular therapy shows extra promise in its ability to cure multiple types of cancer and could eventually become a mainstream solution to curing cancer patients.

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Base Hospital #5 by Kentucky National Guard Public Affair’s Office available under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).

By Caroline Collins

Consider a world in which each individual possessed x-ray vision. Instead of having to walk to the fridge to open it and view its contents, one could view the inside from his couch to see that, as usual, he was out of coffee creamer. While x-ray vision might evoke a sense of wariness among many, it would still prove to be beneficial in many different aspects of life, such as occupations. Research and advancements throughout the last two decades have resulted in the development of augmented reality (AR), which, in certain scenarios, resembles x-ray vision. Augmented reality is defined as technology that allows a viewer to superimpose computer-generated images on the real world, and view those images through some sort of monitor or lens (Fuchs 2006). Specifically, researchers aim to utilize augmented reality in surgical operating rooms. Within the medical field, augmented reality would allow a surgeon to view the internal anatomy of his patient hovering above the patient’s body in real time, much like x-ray vision (Azuma 2006). Ultimately, the implementation of augmented reality will enhance the operating room by causing surgeries to be safer, providing more comprehensive opportunities for surgeon training, and aiding in the precision and accuracy of operations.

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White Robotic Arm by Franck V. on Unsplash under Public Domain

What is rehabilitative robotics?

By: Katy Meier

For many of us, walking is a mindless task. However, that is not the case for all. In 2014, there were 46 million people living in the United States at the age of 65 and older who fit the criteria for the general category of “elderly”. An analysis conducted by the Population Reference Bureau estimates that this elderly population will exceed twice this amount by the year 2060

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Beneficial Gut Bacteria by National Institutes of Health Available under Attribution- Noncommercial 2.0 Generic (CC VY-NC 2.0)

Healthy Gut, Healthy Body

By Jill Koski

We are often told when faced with tough decisions to “go with our gut,” but should we really listen? Recent research into the gut-brain axis (GBA) has revealed an intricate system of communication that does not simply regulate the gastrointestinal tract but also affects emotion and cognitive function. The bacteria present in the intestines have been found to have a significant influence on these interactions. Gut microbiota and the brain communicate through both the central nervous system and the enteric nervous system by means of the vagus and pelvic nerves (Furness et al. 2014). This communication ensures that systems throughout our bodies are operating as they are supposed to. It is when this bidirectional flow of information is disrupted, however, that our bodies begin to respond in negative ways.

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By Tershona Branch

The day has come- more importantly, the technology has arrived. For thousands of years, disease was a death sentence. If a child was born deformed, it was looked at as a curse and the child was ostracized. If a child was born with a genetic disease, such as cystic fibrosis, the child had a low life expectancy under 10 years of age. However, in the past two centuries, we have given children a few more years through advancements which prepare families for children with genetic disorders. Some of these diseased children have a greater life expectancy as a result of developments in medicine. These individuals with genetic disorders were given options to manage their disorders, live to the age of reproductions, and have families. Today, we have new technology that can edit genes at the moment of life, giving children the opportunity to live normal, healthy, disease-free lives. This new gene editing technology is called CRISPR. CRISPR/Cas9 is a gene-editing technology that has effectively repaired genetic disorders in mice, modified human embryos, and has clinical potential. In the future, after many trials and lots of research, CRISPR could be used to treat genetic disorders during gestation, over the course of a lifetime, and after they may be acquired. The various ways that CRISPR technology can be used will change healthcare and the way we approach inherited diseases.

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3D Bioprinting, Pioneering the Third Industrial Revolution

By: Annie Zhang

Introduction

By now nearly everyone knows about, or has at least heard of, 3D printing and its promising technological advances. 3D printing, from a general standpoint, is characterized by the use of digital computer aided design (CAD) files to directly generate the rapid production of 3D objects (Leigh et al 2012). Initially, the materials used included light and photosensitive resins or filaments of molten plastic (Leigh et al 2012). However, as 3D printing’s applicability expanded in various fields, the multitude of materials and uses for 3D printing also grew exponentially. Due to 3D printing’s versatile nature, the technology-oriented Third Industrial Revolution is in fact being propelled forward through this newly invented mode of production, and it has even infiltrated the medical scene in its specialized state as 3D bioprinting (Liu et al 2018). In bioprinting, bioartificial organs are created using bioink–a combination of living cells, scaffold materials, and other growth factors–and one of five bioprinting methods: inkjet-based printing, extrusion-based printing, laser-assisted printing, stereolithography-based printing, and microvalve-based printing (Liu et al 2018). Progress continues to be made as more conducted studies prove that 3D printing, particularly bioprinting, has great potential to truly root itself into the clinical setting. Some achievements so far include, but are not limited to, the printing of the liver, heart, bone, cartilage, and skin (Liu et al 2018).

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By Sandhya Sundar Rajan

Introduction

Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are intimidating words that people do not want to hear. This is especially true as modern medicine has not advanced at a linear rate for the past three decades for this particular disease (Selkoe 2012). Even with the ongoing research and clinical trials, researchers are unsure about if and when a cure can be found for this disease. Alzheimer’s complications come from its association with several confounding variables, in addition to genetics, such as lifestyle choices, environment, and existing medical conditions. Many wonder if it is possible to prevent this disease, but unfortunately this relates to less than 1% of the population are identified with having this disease due to genetics and in addition, the clinical trials for prevention of this disease have not shown much progress throughout the years [s1] (Folch, Jaume 2016). However, research seems to hold a promising future on the delay of Alzheimer’s by targeting on a protein known as the beta-amyloid peptide. This particular protein is responsible for cognitive impairment, meaning the disruption of higher order thinking and processing, and neuronal death, which refers to cell death in the nervous system and particularly near the brain and the spinal cord (Folch, Jaume 2016). Therefore, with the current research trends, it would be best to focus on delaying Alzheimer’s rather completely preventing the disease itself. Continue reading →

By: Chaz Crosby

Introduction

 “I see dead people”, proclaims Cole Sear in the gut-wrenching thriller The Sixth Sense. Although this may just seem like a scene out of a horror movie, schizophrenic patients may actually face the reality of having false perception and hallucinations everyday. Only affecting 1% of the entire population, symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, hearing voices, disordered language, abnormal behaviors and flattened affect. Because of the emotional, behavioral, mental and physical impairments of this illness, those who are affected must endure lifelong ramifications from this psychiatric disease. There are several genetic, biological, and environmental factors that contribute to the development of schizophrenia. Genetically, a person with a schizophrenic identical twin or mother are more prone to acquiring this illness. Biologically, abnormalities in brain structures and high dopamine levels also contribute to schizophrenia. Environmentally, childhood trauma, drug use, and parental influences during conception and pregnancy are linked with schizophrenia. This very fascinating yet misunderstood mental illness lacks consensus amongst researchers about some of the factors and their relationship to schizophrenia. Childhood trauma, dopamine levels, specific genes, and substance abuse are still challenged topics that researchers cannot come into agreement on.  Because schizophrenia is still a relatively unsolved mental illness, more research needs to be done in order to completely understand the etiology of this psychiatric disease.

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The Cluster Headache by JD Fletcher available under Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)

By: Alex Morrow

Cluster headaches, colloquially referred to as suicide headaches, are one of the rarest and most severe forms of headache disorders a person can be diagnosed with. Classified as a type of primary trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia (TAC), cluster headaches cause “severe, strictly unilateral pain that is orbital, supraorbital, temporal, or any combination of these, lasts 15–180 min, and occurs from once every other day to eight times a day” (Ljubisavljevic and Trajkovi 2018). Impacting only 0.1% of the world’s population, cluster headaches are not a well-known disorder when compared to the more prevalent headache types such as tension headaches and migraines (Kingston and Dodick 2018).

The lack of available research participants and studies makes breakthroughs regarding cluster headaches difficult to establish in the scientific community. One such recent breakthrough is the correlation between psychoactive substances such as Psilocybe cubensis, magic mushrooms, and a critically increased remission period from cluster headache attacks. However, since magic mushrooms are classified as a schedule I substance by the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), their use in medicine is strictly forbidden in the United States (Food and Drug Administration 1971; Andersson 2017).  The epidemiologic and pathophysiologic structures of cluster headaches lead to both physical and emotional trauma that necessitates further studies into the use of psychoactive substances as a new medicine for cluster headaches.

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