Issue 104  September 27th 2019

A Russian lab containing smallpox and Ebola exploded

Russia’s State Research Center of Virology, in the city of Koltsovo in Siberia, has one of the largest collections of dangerous viruses anywhere in the world. During the Cold War, the lab developed biological weapons and defenses against them, and it reportedly stored dangerous strains of smallpox, anthrax, and Ebola among other viruses.

Technology gives labs a hand with utilization management

Lab testing is notoriously prone to errors of overuse and underuse, with serious financial and clinical consequences. When word of mouth isn't enough to change course, machine-learning models and computerized systems for monitoring the use of tests can step in with objective support, new studies show.

7 ways precision medicine will make its mark

Precision medicine promises new therapies based on an individual’s characteristics and lifestyle. The goal is to improve health monitoring, optimize pharmaceutical interventions and contribute to better population health interventions. Precision medicine also has the potential to change how clinicians conceptualize disease based on insights at the molecular level, but this is a long-term process. Here are seven key ways precision medicine could change the practice of medicine.

Better genetic testing guidelines needed to identify more at-risk patients

A substantial proportion of patients with pathogenic variants in clinically actionable hereditary cancer genes are being missed with current genetic testing guidelines, according to a recent study.

Toothache medication turns woman's blood blue

Marrying a prince isn't the only way to turn your blood blue.

A woman in the US managed to turn her actual blood literally blue after applying too much numbing pain reliever on her gums.

Urine test that can detect early-stage pancreatic cancer starts clinical study

A urine test that can detect early stage pancreatic cancer has reached the final stage of validation before being developed for use with patients.

Trial into skin collection of babies blood chemistry seeks to replace invasive sampling

Scientists at the University of Strathclyde are researching a system to measure and monitor blood chemistry levels in premature and sick babies through their skin, which if successful, could eventually replace the need for invasive blood tests.

Lab employee celebrates 50 years at HHS

When John Korver first started working at Hamilton General Hospital in 1969, the lab was still in the Victoria St. Wing—a drafty old building that had been around since the late 1800s.