Approximately 350,000 chemicals are predicted to be commercially available worldwide. Little is known about which chemicals are potentially neurotoxic, meaning harmful to the (developing) brain. To date, efficient testing methods are lacking. A research team at the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has now developed a screening approach based on the zebrafish embryo model that enables high-throughput neurotoxicity testing without the need for conventional animal experiments. In the study, the researchers uncovered the neurotoxic effects and underlying molecular mechanisms of the chemical chlorophene. The study was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Researchers have created what could be called “skin in a syringe”. The gel containing live cells can be 3D printed into a skin transplant, as shown in a study conducted on mice. This technology may lead to new ways to treat burns and severe wounds. The study was led from the Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology and Linköping University in Sweden, and has been published in Advanced Healthcare Materials.

Gastric cancer that metastasizes to the peritoneum, or the lining of the abdominal cavity, has a very poor prognosis and is challenging to treat. Now, a group of researchers has developed mRNA-based vaccines that can target tumor-specific ‘neoantigens.’ In combination with anti-PD1 therapy, these vaccines show high antitumor efficacy against gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis. This approach can potentially be expanded in order to develop ‘personalized’ cancer vaccines for complicated cancer cases.