biotech
A pioneer in AI drug development is about to face its biggest test
Niki Chan Wylie for STAT
Nine times out of 10, a drug company trying to create a new medicine will fail. That didn't deter the founders of Recursion Pharmaceuticals, a motley crew made up of a medical school dropout, an entrepreneur who had built a custom sign-making e-commerce shop, and an exacting University of Utah scientist. Their idea was to pull data from images of healthy and diseased cells, and use it to identify overlooked drugs that could be repurposed as rare disease treatments.
The company has become a frontrunner in AI drug development, but it hasn't exactly been a smooth ride. Just one founder remains, using his "extraordinary ability to keep pulling rabbits out of hats" to keep the business running. The year ahead will be critical as Recursion releases its first proof-of-concept clinical trial data. Will it survive? Read more in the profile by STAT's Allison DeAngelis.
reproductive health
How to transplant a uterus
First, you have to pick the right uterus. It must be "proven," meaning the person donating it has had a child before. The donor should be premenopausal, and of course, should have a blood type that matches the recipient. If the procedure goes smoothly, then the odds are looking good: A new cohort study found that, out of 20 total uterus transplants, 14 procedures were successful. All 14 women were able to have at least one baby.
Since a woman with a transplanted uterus first gave birth in 2014, more than 70 such babies have been born worldwide. It's a nascent and controversial field of medicine, but experts assert that infertility is a disease, and patients deserve treatment for it. I wrote about the latest study, published in JAMA, that analyzed the largest clinical trial of women to receive transplants so far. Read more.
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