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All-girls team invents device to save animal and human lives: A team of four (4) girls at Colorado’s STEM School om Highlands Ranch, calling themselves the “Rubber Duckies”, chose to solve the animal-car collision problem for the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest. The “Duckies” have invented an infrared system that detects animals near roadways and feeds the information into an AI (Artificial Intelligence) algorithm that analyzes the data and, if the presence of an animal is confirmed, alerts the driver to slow down and beware. The car company “Audi” has expressed interest, and the girls are planning to test a dashcam-like prototype next.

Blood tests may reduce maternal, fetal mortality rates: New blood tests that detect biomarkers of preeclampsia might enable early interventions for people at high risk for the condition and prevent complications and maternal and fetal deaths. The tests “absolutely represent an exciting advancement, especially when you look at the field of preeclampsia and the fact that there’s been very little new introduced to the field in decades,” said Preeclampsia Foundation CEO Eleni Tsigas.

Treat the cat or treat the person to quell allergies? Sublingual liquid allergen immunotherapy reduced symptoms in a subgroup of people with cat allergies, according to a presentation by allergist Pascal Demoly at the Francophone Congress of Allergology. However, pulmonologist Alain Didier said that most allergen immunotherapy trial results have been negative, and he suggested that people with cat allergies can vaccinate the cat against Fel d 1 or feed it a diet rich in Immunoglobulin Y.

Smart bandages can detect infection, inflammation: Researchers are developing smart bandages capable of autonomously monitoring wound healing and detecting issues like infections and inflammation, according to a study published in the journal Nature Materials. The findings showed potential results in animal models, suggesting these high-tech dressings could revolutionize wound care by assisting in real time, delivering treatments and improving patient outcomes.

Experts call for more research on older women’s health: Scientific research on older women’s health is “completely inadequate,” leaving clinicians unsure of how well or even whether drugs tested on men in clinical trials will affect postmenopausal women, who are biologically different, says Stephanie Faubion, Director of the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health. Experts say more research is needed on heart disease, brain health, mental health, cancer, and bone health in older women, and the White House’s new Women’s Health Initiative might narrow some of these research gaps.

Some companies want to adapt weight-loss drugs to pets: Overweight cats lost at least 5% of their body weight within 112 days after receiving an implant containing a glucagon-like peptide 1 agonist, the active ingredient in new human weight-loss drugs, according to Okava Pharmaceuticals, which is developing the implant designed by Vivani Medical. Better Choice, which acquired Aimia Pet Healthco, is also developing pet treats that replicate the benefits of human weight-loss drugs. Although pet obesity is a problem, it is frequently due to overfeeding, and veterinarian Jeanne Ficociello says it is best to try diet and exercise and to check for underlying endocrine disorders before turning to weight-loss drugs for pets.

Regions of brains linked to paranoia found in humans, non-human primates: By comparing data from humans and non-human primates, researchers identified specific regions of the brain involved in paranoia, finding that lesions in these areas were associated with negative behaviors linked to paranoia, according to a study in Cell Reports. Scientists hope that this research could translate to other species, like mice or invertebrates, and could ultimately help find treatments for paranoia in humans.

Personalized cancer vaccines show promise in preventing melanoma recurrence: As part of a 2020 clinical trial, melanoma patients had their tumors surgically removed and received a personalized mRNA vaccine that targeted their cancer to prevent recurrence, with three-year results from Moderna and Merck showing reductions in the risk of recurrence and life span extension. The drugmakers are conducting additional vaccine trials that address other cancers, which is made possible using Moderna’s “single use personalized RNA+” machine that churns out mRNA encoding up to 34 cancer mutations selected by AI.

Flexible film that senses neural activity to allow for safer neurosurgeries: Researchers have developed a flexible film embedded with microsensors that could be placed over the brain’s surface to detect neural activity, providing resolution that’s 100-times better than current technology and allowing for improved functional brain mapping for safer brain surgery. Researchers are developing a wireless version that could allow for better epilepsy monitoring and ultimately hope to use this technology as a brain-computer interface to aid people who are paralyzed.

Placenta-on-a-chip may be game-changer for women’s health: Mechanical Engineer Nicole Hashemi is one of the few people in the world developing a placenta-on-a-chip to help researchers study the impacts of drugs and toxins on a fetus. Pregnancy is a common clinical trial exclusion criterion, studies of pregnancy registries or retrospective cohort studies are prone to errors, and findings from animal studies and research on postpartum placental tissue does not always translate to real pregnancies. Placenta-on-a-chip technology is “going to be a game-changer for pregnancy studies,” said Ahizechukwu Eke, a Maternal-Fetal Research Team Leader.