Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a new rule to limit nicotine in cigarettes and certain other tobacco products, like cigars and pipe tobacco, which would be a major step in addressing the public health concerns of smoking and tobacco use in the United States. In the following Q&A, Jonathan Foulds, professor of public health sciences and of psychiatry and behavioral health at the Penn State College of Medicine, discussed the role of research in public policy making and what the science says about the benefits of lowering nicotine levels in tobacco products.

Investigators at Mass General Brigham have uncovered how resistance to chemotherapies may occur in some cancers. Researchers focused on a pathway that harnesses reactive oxygen species (ROS) to kill cancer cells. The study found that mutations to VPS35, a key player in this pathway, can prevent chemotherapy-induced cell death. These results, published in Nature, could help pinpoint treatment-resistant tumors.

Roughly one out of three women ages 14-49 in the United States develop a vaginal bacterial imbalance known as bacterial vaginosis (BV) during their lifetime. BV is characterized by unpleasant odors, and potentially painful side effects, as well as the risk of associated health issues later in life. More than half of the patients who seek medical care do not respond to the first-line treatment, the antibiotic metronidazole, leading to recurrence.

Now Drexel researchers have developed a simple DNA PCR-based lab test — built on a more detailed genetic analysis of the main group of bacterial organisms that cause the infection — to help clinicians prescribe the right medicine for each patient. The results are published this week in the journal Genome Medicine.  

A new 3D printed customizable hydrogel performed well in preclinical trials with several different types of meniscal tears 

The new study reveals a remarkable way that cells keep us safe from transposable elements (TEs) gone wild. The researchers found that cells have taken advantage of an entire protein network to repress TE activity and keep themselves healthy.