March 7, 2024: Nonhuman animals can teach each other new tricks, a promising class of cancer drugs on the way, and physicists devise ways to weigh a neutrino. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | Bull's-Eye Cancer Treatment | A promising new class of cancer drugs is gaining momentum. Antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, target specific hormone receptors on cancer cells and deliver growth-stopping drugs directly to tumors. Fourteen ADCs have been approved for breast, bladder, ovarian, blood, and other cancers, some difficult to treat with traditional tactics. About 100 other ADCs are in the preclinical pipeline.
How these drugs are different: Traditional chemotherapeutic drugs kill cancer cells, but also kill healthy cells in the process, leading to severe side effects in the patient. Because of the debilitating side effects, most patients cannot endure a maximum dose of chemotherapy. ADC technology could also be used to deliver radiation therapy directly to tumor cells, or deliver drugs that activate the patient's immune system to eradicate the cancer.
What the experts say: Enhertu, a new ADC treatment for breast cancer that uses special molecules to link the antibody to the drug that targets cancer cells, has been shown to stop cancer growth for four times longer than a compound without the linker molecules. "It was a landslide in terms of how much better it was," says oncologist Sara M. Tolaney of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. "It's a really nice example of how ADC technology leads to dramatic differences in outcomes." | | | Two new studies on chimpanzees and bumblebees show "convincing evidence" that nonhuman animals can teach one another complex behaviors. In the first experiment, researchers trained two "high ranking" female chimps to open a puzzle box for a peanut reward. The chimpanzees went on to teach peers how to solve the puzzle. In the other experiment, researchers painstakingly trained two bumblebees to manipulate a set of pull-tabs to access a sugar treat. Some individuals in the bees' groups that were paired with the trained bees were able to learn the behavior.
Why this is interesting: These observations challenge the idea that only humans have the capacity to teach each other and develop a culture of learning.
What the experts say: "If this is true for animals as different as the ape and the bee," says Andrew Whiten, a psychologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, "traditional ideas about what makes human culture different to animals are going to need some rethinking." | | | • Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are facing malnourishment and potential starvation. Studies of famines in other countries show they can have long-lasting impacts on people's health and their descendants. | 6 min read | | | • Extreme marine heat last summer killed off substantial numbers of corals being used to restore reefs in Florida. Experts worry this year might be just as bad. | 5 min read | | | • Physicists around the world are ramping up new experiments to answer the most basic questions about mysterious particles called neutrinos. | 5 min read | | | The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) detector uses the radioactive decay of tritium to measure the neutrino's mass. Credit: KIT | | | • Congress founded the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in 2022 to apply unbiased scientific evaluation and intelligence methods to reviewing data on unidentified anomalous phenomena (also called UFOs). Conspiracy theories invading this vital mission only serve as a dangerous distraction, writes Sean Kirkpatrick, first and former director of AARO. "Many outside observers nonetheless have criticized AARO as supposedly part of a continuing government cover-up of the existence of aliens. Interestingly, they have not provided any verifiable evidence of this, nor are some of the more outspoken willing to engage with the office to discuss their positions or offer up the data and evidence they claim to possess," he says. | 5 min read | | | I've finally gotten around to reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning tome "Emperor of All Maladies," whose author Siddhartha Mukherjee set out for it to be a "biography of cancer." What's most striking to me so far is the brutal history of cancer treatment--from radical surgery to hyper-toxic chemotherapies. To be sure, the last two decades since Mukherjee's book was published have seen remarkable progress against this devastating disease, but that journey has been slow and painful for patients and doctors alike. | Reach out anytime with suggestions or feedback, my line is always open: newsletters@sciam.com. Until tomorrow. | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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