Health Research;FDA approval of first drug to treat radiation sickness ♦ New possibilities for cell-based vaccines ♦ Subconscious learning shapes pain responses

Subconscious learning shapes pain responses People can be conditioned to associate images with particular pain responses – such as improved tolerance to pain – even when they are not consciously aware of the images.

Microfluidic cell-squeezing device opens new possibilities for cell-based vaccines Researchers have shown that they can use a microfluidic cell-squeezing device to introduce specific antigens inside the immune system’s B cells, providing a new approach to developing and implementing antigen-presenting cell vaccines

Anti-stroke drug effective treatment for middle-ear infections An existing anti-stroke drug is an effective treatment for middle-ear infections, showing the ability to suppress mucus overproduction, improve bacterial clearance and reduce hearing loss.

FDA approval of first drug to treat radiation sickness New research has led to FDA approval of the use of a drug to treat the effects of radiation exposure following a nuclear incident. The drug, Neupogen, is the first ever approved for the treatment of acute radiation injury.

Beyond average: New platforms genetically barcode tens of thousands of cells at a time Two separate research teams have developed high-throughput techniques to quickly, easily and inexpensively give every individual cell in a sample a unique genetic barcode. This allows scientists to analyze complex tissues by profiling each individual cell--no averaging required.