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A serendipitous finding led Juan Pablo Tosar to uncover the protein-making machinery outside cells — a discovery that has scientists rethinking fundamental assumptions.
Vesicles secreted by stem cells might give clinicians a safer and simpler alternative to cell therapy, but researchers are still grappling with how best to prepare and study these tiny particles.
Some studies have suggested that plants and fungi exchange RNA through extracellular vesicles. This has led some scientists to develop crop sprays that contain RNA.
Extracellular vesicles released in response to cigarette smoke might trigger chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but engineered versions could be a treatment.
Many people with symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease don’t meet the criteria for diagnosis. The field is grappling with how to define and treat these patients.
A ban on CFCs in the 1980s prompted a rethink of the devices used to deliver respiratory drugs, now new worries and the ongoing problems that some patients have using inhalers are bringing change.