A running collection of observations, research notes, and commentary on dermatology, skin health, and science that catches our attention at the clinic.
A new antifungal drug called olorofim helped roughly three-quarters of patients with a severe, drug-resistant fungal infection (Valley fever) in a recent trial. What makes it exciting isn't just this one disease — it's that olorofim is the first antifungal with a genuinely new mechanism in about 20 years, which matters a great deal as fungal resistance keeps rising.
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For decades, treating autoimmune disease or preventing transplant rejection has meant a lifetime on immunosuppressants — drugs that dampen the whole immune system and raise the risk of infection, cancer, and organ damage. A new class of therapy uses the body's own regulatory T cells (Tregs) to retrain immune tolerance precisely, where it's needed, without shutting everything down. The first Treg cell therapy just won FDA approval.
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Researchers coated tiny biodegradable particles in the membrane of immune cells (macrophages), creating 'nanodiscs' that recognise Candida fungus the way a white blood cell would — then physically tear the fungal cell open. In infected mice they cleared fungus from organs and improved survival. A genuinely novel angle on the growing problem of drug-resistant fungal infection.
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Phages have long been pitched as 'living antibiotics' — viruses that kill bacteria we can no longer kill with drugs. A new framework argues that's too simple: phages and their bacterial hosts move through three different relationship stages, and only one of them looks like straightforward killing. What we do with phages therapeutically depends on which stage we're in.
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Fungi already gave us penicillin, statins, and cyclosporine — but their genomes are known to hold far more useful chemistry than we've ever managed to switch on. A new prime-editing tool from Penn does exactly that: activate silent biosynthesis. First haul from the technique: 18 complex molecules, eight of them brand new, three of them showing selective anti-cancer activity.
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A new synthetic peptide called D-GK17 — engineered as a mirror image of a fragment of our own immune molecule LL-37 — breaks apart bacterial biofilms, kills the WHO's most-feared resistant bacteria, and stays safe at therapeutic doses. Early stage, but a genuinely interesting line of work.
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Doxycycline taken after sex (doxyPEP) was supposed to cut gonorrhoea cases. A new Lancet study shows the protective effect collapsed within a year of rollout in California — as the tetM gene driving high-level tetracycline resistance spread rapidly through circulating gonorrhoea strains.
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A common food additive — cinnamic acid, the molecule behind cinnamon's scent — has been shown to block the way bacteria share antibiotic-resistance genes with each other. It doesn't kill bacteria; it just stops them passing resistance around. A surprisingly elegant approach to one of medicine's biggest headaches.
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Over the years we've shared a fair few doctor and dermatology comics on our Facebook page. Here's a curated gallery with thumbnails, credits, and links to each artist — because medicine is serious work, but laughing at it is what keeps everyone sane.
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A team at Flinders University has developed a sulfur-rich polymer that is potent against drug-resistant fungi and bacteria yet gentle on human skin cells — a promising step for future topical antifungal treatments.
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Researchers at Kiel University have found that harmless soil fungi and their dangerous human-infecting cousins are genetically almost identical — the real difference is how fast they translate genes into fat-metabolising proteins. That makes the jump to becoming a human pathogen smaller than we thought.
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A 5,500-year-old skeleton from Colombia has yielded DNA from an ancient Treponema pallidum lineage — pushing the history of syphilis-like diseases back 3,000 years and pointing to the Americas, not Europe, as a likely origin.
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Lone Star tick bites can turn a person who has eaten meat their whole life into someone who reacts — sometimes severely — to beef and pork. UVA researchers have now identified the immune cells behind the switch.
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Contrary to habit, the American Academy of Dermatology recommends children aged 6–11 only need to bathe 2–3 times a week. Daily bathing before puberty can dry out skin and worsen conditions like eczema.
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Mycoplasma genitalium is a sexually transmitted bacterium many people have never heard of — and often have no symptoms from. Research has confirmed it's spread through sex and linked to genital inflammation and fertility complications.
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UC San Diego researchers built the first 3D map of human skin chemistry and found around 8% of detected compounds came from cosmetics, deodorants, and clothing — residues that hang on well after a shower.
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A case report from the UK described a rare tapeworm that migrated roughly 5 cm across a patient's brain over four years — a striking reminder of how some parasitic infections can present in unexpected ways.
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Chia, flax, hemp, pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower seeds are nutrient-dense and worth more attention than most Malaysian diets give them. A short guide to what each one offers.
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Researchers developed a stripped-down IVF protocol using dramatically simpler equipment, aimed at bringing fertility treatment within reach of couples in lower- and middle-income settings.
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A controlled trial found that young men who added walnuts to their diet showed measurable improvements in sperm parameters. One of several fertility-and-diet studies worth knowing about.
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A Glasgow-based trial injected neural stem cells into stroke patients' brains and reported early signs of improvement. Stem cell therapy for stroke remains an active research area, with cautious optimism rather than routine clinical use.
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Researchers identified a gene essential for sperm production in mice — an early but important step toward a potential non-hormonal male contraceptive. A decade on, the work continues.
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Around one in six cancers worldwide is caused by an infection — HPV, hepatitis B and C, H. pylori, and others. That means a meaningful chunk of the global cancer burden is preventable with vaccines and treatment.
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HPV doesn't only cause cervical cancer. Rates of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer in men are rising in many countries. The vaccine — given early — prevents both.
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Modern non-African humans still carry immune-gene variants inherited from Neanderthals. Interbreeding gave our ancestors useful alleles for fighting local pathogens — part of why human immune responses vary so widely today.
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Puberty in girls is arriving earlier than it did a generation ago — sometimes as young as seven. The causes are debated (nutrition, obesity, endocrine disruptors, genetics), and parents often need guidance on what's normal and when to be concerned.
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