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Treating cancer requires some outside-the-box thinking. This is why researchers are looking at many different (and sometimes surprising) sources for cancer therapies — including bacteria and viruses. A recent study proposes the same parasite which causes toxoplasmosis — a condition that people can catch from infected meat and the faeces of infected cats — might be useful at destroying tumours.
This might sound peculiar, but the researchers chose this parasite because it’s extremely tough and triggers a strong immune response in the body. Combined with another type of cancer treatment, which recruits the body’s immune system, the mutant parasite led tumours in mice to shrink and improved survival rates. Of course, it will be many years before we know if this therapy works in humans — but the study adds to growing evidence that pathogens may help treat
difficult cancers.
We also take a look at Belarus to understand how declining trust in the authoritarian government is aggravating a devastating COVID wave.
Brazil, a notable absentee in international agreements on deforestation in the past, agreed to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030 in a landmark agreement between 124 countries at COP26 on Tuesday. But the environmental promises of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president, aren’t worth the paper they’re written on, say Marcus Gomes and George Ferns, experts in sustainability at Cardiff University. Their research shows the country was making steady progress to lower deforestation rates until 2014. Since Bolsonaro took over, however, deforestation has skyrocketed, reaching a 12-year high in 2020.
We’re keeping a close eye on the promises made at the climate change summit in Glasgow. With the help of academic experts, we’ll be highlighting which announcements are meaningful and which are bluster. You can help us keep doing this long after COP26 by donating to The Conversation today.
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Heather Kroeker
Commissioning Editor, Health + Medicine
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Not all tumours can be detected by the body’s immune system.
Peddalanka Ramesh Babu/ Shutterstock
Hany Elsheikha, University of Nottingham
The parasite which causes toxoplasmosis has shown promise in treating difficult tumours in mice.
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Failing to handle the pandemic: Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko.
Sergei Shelega/BELTA/TASS/Alamy Live News
Félix Krawatzek, University of Oxford; Gwendolyn Sasse, University of Oxford
New data shows how public disaffection with the regime of Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko, is affecting the country’s attempts to fight COVID.
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Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro, at the launch of the National Green Growth Program in Brasilia, Brazil.
EPA-EFE/Joedson Alves
Marcus Gomes, Cardiff University; George Ferns, Cardiff University
Deforestation in Brazil was falling before 2014. Under Bolsonaro, it’s back to record highs.
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Health + Medicine
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Fidelma Fitzpatrick, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
Our measures to stay safe during the pandemic may have made us more susceptible to other respiratory illnesses.
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Marianne Etherson, York St John University; Thomas Curran, London School of Economics and Political Science
When perfectionists compare themselves to others on social media, they report feelings of depression and insecurity.
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Business + Economy
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Johannes Petry, University of Warwick
China’s statist logic or market organisation is shared by the likes of South Africa, Brazil, India, Russia and even South Korea.
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Peter Rudge, Staffordshire University
Idyllic destinations have been seen a calamitous drop in income since the pandemic.
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Politics + Society
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Raffaello Rossi, University of Bristol; Agnes Nairn, University of Bristol
The less an ad explicitly tells us what to do, the more likely we are to engage with it. This is particularly true – and more detrimental – when we’re very young.
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Penelope Hannant, University of Birmingham
These children are not getting the help they need to thrive at school and at home.
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Environment + Energy
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Duncan Cameron, University of Sheffield
If we want to reduce carbon emissions and preserve planetary ecosystems, we need to protect our soils.
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Osman Ouattara, University of Manchester
Research finds a link between rising temperatures and inflation.
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