Goggles and a gene injection give some retinitis pigmentosa patients limited object detection
Four of eight patients tested consistently detected a notebook through optogenetic goggles after one gene injection, a 10-person NEJM trial reports. The therapy targets surviving ganglion cells, so it need not match any of 100-plus disease genes, but ScienceAlert's account does not break results out by gene.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives55
- Confidence50
Optogenetic gene therapy was safe in 10 blind people with advanced retinitis pigmentosa, six of whom gained clinically meaningful light sensitivity. The gains were measured within each patient in a small dose-escalation study, so the result supports safety and shows the approach works in people while sharp vision stays years away.
Reality
- Evidence60
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence65
Optogenetic gene therapy restored some vision to people blinded by retinitis pigmentosa in a small NEJM trial. Seven of 10 participants improved in light sensitivity, Science News reported, though the goggle-aided sight let none of them read words or see faces.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence55
Retatrutide's top dose cut body weight by a quarter over 80 weeks in a 2,339-adult trial
Retatrutide's 12 mg dose cut body weight 25% over 80 weeks, versus 3.9% on placebo, in a 2,339-adult phase 3 trial in NEJM. Its near-30% two-year figure comes from 532 completers, and because placebo was the only comparator, the trial cannot rank the drug against Ozempic.
Reality
- Evidence65
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives70
- Confidence60
Retatrutide cuts more than a fifth of body weight in Lilly's phase 3 diabetes trial
Eli Lilly's retatrutide cut body weight by more than 20% on average at its top dose in an 80-week phase 3 trial of 1,152 people with type 2 diabetes. Lilly calls that a first for the field, and it gives the four- and five-receptor drugs now in development a figure to beat in patients with diabetes.
Reality
- Evidence68
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+12
- Incentives72
- Confidence62
One CRISPR infusion keeps LDL cholesterol roughly 50% lower for a year at the top dose
CTX310, a one-time CRISPR infusion, cut LDL by 52.5% and triglycerides by 47.8% after 12 months at its top dose in a Cleveland Clinic trial. Its 15 patients are enough to show the effect lasts but too few to rule out rare harms or to show it can replace lipid drugs.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption3
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives70
- Confidence60
Anthropic and OpenEvidence are giving doctors in about 100 low- and middle-income countries free access to a clinical search tool that is already free in the US and Europe, where physicians ran 42 million queries in August.
Reality
- Evidence48
- Adoption45
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives78
- Confidence55
Two outpatient CAR T infusions put a 3-year-old's metastatic liver cancer into remission for a year
A 3-year-old whose liver cancer outlasted surgery and three lines of chemotherapy has been in complete remission for a year after CAR T cells given entirely in the outpatient setting, Baylor doctors report.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption8
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives55
- Confidence48
A physician and a veterinary dean want hospitals to ask who is feeding the dog
Their New England Journal of Medicine perspective argues that unasked questions about pet care push patients to delay treatment or go home early, which is plausible and cheap to fix, though the piece carries no estimate of how often it happens.
Reality
- Evidence42
- Adoption8
- Hype gap+18
- Incentives58
- Confidence52