New research has found a microbial species that could help break down the large plastic garbage patches floating in the Pacific Ocean, write Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel in their weekly Medical Discovery News column. “The researchers are going to try to optimize the fungus to eat as much plastic as possible,” they write.

Patients who had cataract surgery had a significantly lower risk of multiple types of traumatic injuries. Those were part of the findings UTMB medical student Caitlin Hackl presented at the recent American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting. "Cataract surgery may be a way to control a modifiable risk factor for these injuries," Hackl said. This news also reported in HealthDay, U.S. News & World Report and Medical Xpress.

“Clinical familial associations — when transmission appears to be vertical, from parent to offspring — suggest that there is much yet to learn about genetic bases for autoimmunity and how certain mutations could favor selection for specific immune disorders,” Dr. Elena Shanina tells Medscape after she and colleagues presented two case reports at the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) 2024 conference.

One of the most fascinating and promising topics in medicine and research today is the gut microbiome, writes Dr. Hasan Yasin in his column in the Daily News. Scientists have now even found a microbiome inside the human brain, he writes.

“This is great news,” Dr. Thomas Geisbert tells Science about a recently announced clinical trial for treatments of Marburg virus disease launched in Rwanda. “Hopefully, lives can be saved as a result of this trial.

RSV season is here and Drs. Megan Berman and Richard Rupp discuss the latest tools available to parents and health care providers to keep babies and young children safe.