Quaternary ammonium compounds are a large class of compounds used as disinfectants in hospitals, restaurants, healthcare and animal care facilities, and are popular as household cleaners. With disease outbreaks increasing our fears about infections, the use of disinfectants has skyrocketed in recent years. Understandably, we all want to feel safe. However, as Professor Terry Hrubec from the Department of Biomedical Sciences of E. Via College of Osteopathic Medicine discovered, such products may be causing more harm than good.

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy offers life-saving potential, particularly against blood cancers, but severe side effects such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) limit its safety. These toxicities are linked to uncontrolled CAR expression levels on the T-cell surface. Led by Professor Abraham P. Lee, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, have developed an advanced microfluidic system, called the Acoustic-Electric Shear Orbiting Poration (AESOP) platform, to precisely control the dose of genetic material delivered into primary T cells. This innovation promises safer, more homogeneous, and highly effective cellular immunotherapies.

For people with special healthcare needs, something as basic as visiting a dentist can be nearly impossible. A ground-breaking paper by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) exposes the scale of this crisis. By outlining potential paths forward, Dr Ray Stewart and Dr Ben Meisel offer hope for significant improvements in access to essential dental care.

MELAS is a rare and serious genetic condition that affects how the body’s cells produce energy, leading to extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, and a range of other symptoms. With no cure currently available, treatment focuses only on managing complications.
A team of researchers led by Dr Liisa Laakso at the Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland, Australia, is exploring an innovative, non-drug therapy called photobiomodulation, which uses light to stimulate mitochondria to work more efficiently. This pioneering study will provide intial evidence on whether PBM can safely reduce fatigue and improve quality of life for people living with MELAS, paving the way for future clinical trials.