Cervical cancer, one of the most common cancers in women, is often treated with surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy, which can affect fertility and quality of life. Researchers at Chiba University have developed a new nasal therapeutic vaccine as a non-invasive treatment option. In animal studies, the vaccine produced strong and lasting immune responses against cervical tumors. If proven effective in humans, it could provide women with a safer, fertility-preserving alternative to current cancer treatments.

From medicine to agriculture and aquaculture, bacteriophages are poised to have a huge global impact. As viruses which target only bacterial cells, they hold promise as an alternative to antibiotics, overcoming increasing issues around antibiotic resistance. However, the size, complexity and growth conditions of phages make them difficult to study, limiting progress in the field. Now in Science Advances, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and University of Otago describe the bacteriophage Bas63 in unprecedented detail, supporting new mechanistic understanding into how these viruses function.