Chemotherapy has been the go-to treatment for many years for most types of cancers. One of the problems with chemo, however, is that it attacks all cells, not just the unhealthy ones. Many cancer patients avoid treatment altogether because of the pain and illness traditional treatments cause. A new breakthrough from the University of Freiburg in Germany might serve as a healthier, much less harmful form of cancer treatment. The research team found that charged polymers have the ability to target only cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells alone. The polymers target the endothelial cells which feed the cancer cells via blood vessels.

Endothelial cells are packed with caveolae, which protect the cells from outside substances. Although the researchers aren’t sure how, the polymers coupled with negatively charged ions force the protective barriers open, allowing drugs to be transmitted only to the cancerous cells while ignoring healthy cells. The tumor is slowly starved of its nutrients and dies, or in some cases can be directly eradicated with just one application of the charged polymers. Similar approaches have been tried in the past, but the tumors’ defense mechanisms were able to eventually stave off the attacks. The images above show cancer cells being specifically targeted, leaving the surrounding healthy cells alone. Although the mechanism that makes this treatment work isn’t entirely understood yet, the researchers are hopeful that this discovery will open the door to gentler, more effective cancer treatment.

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With any long-term medication, it’s very important to make sure that the drug maintains a steady level in the patient’s bloodstream. That’s difficult to do without weekly or even daily trips to a doctor’s office. A device called MEDIC (Microfluidic Electrochemical Detector for In vivo Concentrations) developed at UC Santa Barbara could keep track of medication concentration in real time.

According to the team behind the project, current dosing methods are primitive and mostly based on educated guesses, taking into account the patient’s weight or age. They don’t, however, consider a patient’s metabolism, diet, or other medications. The MEDIC implant is just a little larger than a jumbo paperclip and contains a gold-lined microfluidics chamber. Artificial DNA strands called aptamers extend from the chamber.

The aptamers catch the target molecules and send a little jolt of current to the MEDIC device, signaling the presence of the molecule in the blood. The method allows doctors to see how the drug is metabolizing in a patient’s body, which is a vital part of ensuring the efficacy of the treatment and the health of the patient. The device is in its early stages and still needs to undergo plenty of testing before it’s approved for use – but it’s promising, and the technology can adapt in future iterations to help control biological systems that need constant monitoring and intervention.

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Itty-bitty cameras that can be swallowed can give doctors a pretty great view of what’s going on inside a body, but could the next generation of swallowed medical devices be ones that contain both digestible material and cutting-edge electronic medical treatments? Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are working on devices that contain non-toxic biochemical batteries which could be deployed to do all sorts of amazing things like stimulating damaged tissues or targeting drug delivery – and they’re no bigger than a regular pill.

Using the non-toxic battery developed by professor Jay Whitacre, electronics could be folded up into standard size gelatin capsules. The capsules would be naturally broken down in the digestive system and the newly-exposed electronics an their batteries would be activated by moisture. The device could then do whatever it was meant to do and pass safely through the digestive system in 18 to 24 hours. A new pill could be taken every day if necessary, with no ill effects. The future of medical testing and treatment could very well lie in these futuristic biocompatible edible devices.

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3D printers have been tapped as the future of manufacturing, at-home food preparation, and now they might even be the future of pharmaceuticals. According to Craig Venter, a brilliant researcher who created the world’s first synthetic life form in 2010, a machine could be developed that would combine the amino acids, nucleotides, sugars and other elements needed to recreate medicines and vaccines. This means that, when a new vaccine is developed, the world won’t have to wait for it to be cultivated by traditional means – blueprints for constructing the vaccine can simply be emailed all around the world. As long as printers have the necessary materials available, the vaccine can be “printed” anywhere.

Theoretically, the printers could be placed within homes so that individuals could print out their own medicines. But the real benefit could be in placing the molecular bioprinters in pharmacies and other central locations, allowing vaccine access even to people who could never afford a bioprinter at home. New Scientist points out that quality control is a potential issue with pharmaceuticals being sent over the internet, but a larger issue might be that once we are able to print beneficial drugs at home, illegal drugs can’t be too far behind. Still, it seems that the amazing benefits possible with this technology far outweigh the potential misuses.

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Whether it’s pollen, animal dander, or a certain type of food, millions of people around the world suffer from allergies. We have medications to treat allergic reactions and other medications to lessen the effects of seasonal allergies, but so far there’s no universal preventive measure for all allergies. Scientists at the University of Eastern Finland are correcting that issue and may have it on the market in as little as five to seven years.

The antibody immunoglobulin E (IgE) is the cause of allergic reactions. It causes white blood cells to release histamine, which then causes a whole mess of nasty allergy symptoms. The Finnish scientists believe that they can genetically modify the IgE-binding structures in allergens so that they no longer bind to IgE, but can still interact with immunoglobulin G, which protects from allergic symptoms. By injecting this altered antibody into human bodies, the scientists believe they can prevent allergic reactions, which is sweet news for all allergy sufferers.

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