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Biopharmaceutical

Biopharmaceuticals are medical drugs produced using biotechnology. They are proteins (including antibodies), nucleic acids (DNA, RNA or antisense oligonucleotides) used for therapeutic or in vivo diagnostic purposes, and are produced by means other than direct extraction from a native (non-engineered) biological source. The first such substance approved for therapeutic use was recombinant human insulin. The large majority of biopharmaceutical products are pharmaceuticals that are derived from life forms. A potentially controversial method of producing biopharmaceuticals involves transgenic organisms, particularly plants and animals that have been genetically modified to produce drugs.

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Health & Medicine News

January 20, 2026

Scientists have uncovered why people with chronic kidney disease so often die from heart problems: damaged kidneys release tiny particles into the bloodstream that actively poison the heart. These particles, produced only by diseased kidneys, carry ...
Researchers have identified a key molecular interaction that accelerates Parkinson’s disease by damaging the brain’s energy systems. They designed a new treatment that intercepts this harmful ...
Ibuprofen may be doing more than easing aches and pains—it could also help reduce the risk of some cancers. Studies have linked regular use to lower rates of endometrial and bowel cancer, likely because the drug dampens inflammation that fuels ...
Researchers have found a reliable way to grow helper T cells from stem cells, solving a major challenge in immune-based cancer therapy. Helper T cells act as the immune system’s coordinators, helping other immune cells fight longer and harder. The ...
Scientists have uncovered a surprising reason why some chronic wounds refuse to heal, even when treated with antibiotics. A common bacterium found in long-lasting wounds does not just resist drugs. It actively releases damaging molecules that ...
Scientists have uncovered new clues about why diabetic foot infections can become so severe and difficult to treat. By analyzing the DNA of E. coli bacteria taken from infected wounds around the world, researchers found an unexpected level of ...
A major new scientific review brings reassuring news for expectant parents: using acetaminophen, commonly known as Tylenol, during pregnancy does not increase a child’s risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability. Researchers analyzed 43 ...
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have uncovered a surprising new way to influence brain activity by targeting a long-mysterious class of proteins linked to anxiety, schizophrenia, and movement disorders. Once thought to be mostly inactive, these ...
Cannabis-based medicines have been widely promoted as a potential answer for people living with chronic nerve pain—but a major new review finds the evidence just isn’t there yet. After analyzing more than 20 clinical trials involving over 2,100 ...
Scientists have discovered that breast cancer can quietly throw the brain’s internal clock off balance—almost immediately after cancer begins. In mice, tumors flattened the natural daily rhythm of stress hormones, disrupting the brain-body ...
Researchers have identified OTULIN, an immune-regulating enzyme, as a key trigger of tau buildup in the brain. When OTULIN was disabled, tau vanished from neurons and brain cells remained healthy. The findings challenge long-held assumptions about ...
While social media continues to circulate claims linking acetaminophen to autism in children, medical experts say those fears distract from a far more serious and proven danger: overdose. Acetaminophen, found in Tylenol and many cold and flu ...

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