Findings from a phase 1 trial showed that a single dose of an experimental drug (Lepodisiran) produced greater than 94% reductions in blood levels of lipoprotein(a), a key driver of heart disease risk. @JAMA_current Discover more: tinyurl.com/mrxj6p2v

One of the dominant theories for the causes of Alzheimer’s has been cast into doubt following unsuccessful Phase III testing involving the antibody gantenerumab, which intended to improve cognitive function in sufferers. Alois Alzheimer’s theory that the disease was potentially caused by ‘clumps’ of amyloid beta proteins. During the trials, gantenerumab did significantly reduce these clumps, but failed to preserve cognitive abilities. The latest tests casts further doubt on the amyloid hypothesis, with anti-amyloid drug testing slowly increasing in prominence, albeit based on limited evidence. @NEJM @AlzResearchUK.

Presenting my portrait today at the Royal Society to its ex-President, the Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees. Martin is one of the world’s most distinguished and unassuming scientists.

Researchers have implanted tiny sensors to record activity in the brain's speech motor cortex that signals to speech muscles, aiming to predict the sounds a person wishes to make. One day perhaps some people unable to speak with neurological diseases might communicate through thought alone. @NatureComms nature.com/articles/s41467-0…

Our Drake Biomarker Study, which used advanced MRI scans, showed in 2021 that 23% of 44 elite rugby players, av. age 25, had white matter abnormalities, some with diffuse vascular injury: academic.oup.com/braincomms/…

A new study has used functional MRI (fMRI) to show an increase in blood-oxygenation-level-dependent signals in the brain’s white matter - indicating increased brain activity while tasks were performed. @PNASNews sciencealert.com/scientists-…

#JonasSalk born 28 October 1914 Developed the polio vaccine “There is hope in dreams, imagination, and in the courage of those who wish to make those dreams a reality.” “Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.”

Our immune system consists of around 1.8 trillion cells, according to the journal @PNASNews: pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.23… According to @ScienceAlert, In an average adult man, immune cells collectively weigh about 2.6 pounds – which is the same as one pineapple, or six hamsters.

Scientist Jazmin Aguado-Sierra has created a world-first visualisation of her own heart, which is accurate down to a cellular level. Technology of this kind could perhaps be used to forecast an individual’s health, and might allow doctors to predict the effects of a drug which are specific to each patient. The model will go on display at the Science Museum this week.