Topic
In Health
Health • Medical Research
Health Canada has recalled specific Boston Scientific Direxion and Direxion HI-FLO Microcatheters because a manufacturing issue may make devices difficult to withdraw or advance through guide catheters, prompting healthcare providers to contact the manufacturer for information.
Health
UBC researchers studying Canada’s first H5N1 case found two mutations that weakened the virus’s ability to bind human cells. The findings show why genetic surveillance alone cannot explain viral behaviour and highlight laboratory testing’s role in assessing infectious disease risks.
Health
Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys and collaborating U.S. institutions found that temporarily altering cellular energy production helped damaged mouse hearts enter a more regenerative state. Inhibiting succinate dehydrogenase with malonate promoted heart muscle-cell proliferation, blood-vessel formation and reduced scarring. The study also showed that cardiac fibroblasts are crucial to improving recovery after heart attacks.
Health
Researchers at Montreal’s RI-MUHC created a three-dimensional heart-on-a-chip from blood cells taken from a patient with dilated cardiomyopathy. The engineered tissue beat spontaneously and reproduced key disease features, including irregular rhythms. The proof-of-concept platform could help scientists study patient-specific heart disease, test responses to therapies and support future preclinical drug research.
Health
University of Toronto researchers developed a multi-organ-on-a-chip system to study why metastatic cancer rarely reaches the heart. In experiments, aggressive breast cancer cells invaded engineered liver tissue far more readily than cardiac tissue. The platform offers a controlled way to investigate how tissue environments influence cancer-cell migration, invasion and the biological mechanisms behind the heart’s comparative resistance.
Health
Canada has announced a $67 million Life Sciences Fund investment spanning five dual-use projects and additional grants. Recipients include antimicrobial, blood and transplant, RNA, dialysis and cell-culture initiatives, as well as drug-shortage monitoring, biobank infrastructure, adenovirus manufacturing and an inhaled vaccine platform.
Health
A Nature Medicine study describes MoChiAgent, an AI clinical assistant trained on millions of longitudinal medical visits to forecast maternal and infant health risks. The system analyzed routine electronic health records and laboratory results, reporting strong predictive performance for several pregnancy complications. Researchers say it could eventually support clinicians, but it has not been proven to improve real-world outcomes.
Health
The FDA has granted accelerated approval to Etcamah, a new targeted breast cancer treatment designed for certain patients with ESR1-mutated advanced breast cancer, potentially offering more time before the disease progresses.
Health
An NIH-funded study reported that semaglutide increased median lifespan by nearly 100 days in older female mice treated until death. The drug also improved muscle and cognitive function and differed from calorie restriction on some measures. The animal findings do not show that GLP-1 drugs extend lifespan in people.
Health
Researchers led by MIT scientists mapped 31 neuronal subpopulations in the human striatum, offering new clues about Huntington’s disease and opioid biology. The study identified differences in gene activity between cell types and found that a key opioid-receptor pattern seen in humans does not match mice, highlighting limits in translating some mouse research to people.
Health
A Nature Neuroscience study used whole-exome sequencing in 3,964 people with OCD or chronic tic disorders to identify 36 high-confidence risk genes. The findings greatly expand the genetic map, but rare damaging variants appear in only an estimated 3–8% of affected people. The research does not create a diagnostic test or predict an individual’s future.
Health
A Yale study has uncovered a surprising clue about how semaglutide may produce sustained weight loss. In female mice, chronic treatment recruited brain neurons normally associated with hunger, while disrupting those neurons impaired weight-lowering effects. The findings suggest GLP-1 drugs may influence more than appetite alone, although researchers have not yet established whether the same mechanism occurs in humans.
Health
Researchers at the University of Zurich used live imaging in mice to track a group of astrocytes repairing small brain lesions. The cells extended projections into damaged tissue and transported newly formed nuclei along them, a process the team says revises assumptions about astrocyte replacement. The work has not tested a human treatment.
