Portugal decriminalised the use of all drugs in 2001. Possession and use of small quantities of these drugs was treated as a public health issue, not a criminal one. The drugs were still illegal but now getting caught with them meant a small fine and maybe a referral to a treatment program, not jail time and a criminal record. Drug-induced deaths have decreased steeply since then. Portugal's drug mortality rate is now the lowest in Western Europe, one-tenth the rate of Britain or Denmark, and about one-fiftieth the latest number for the U.S.https://mic.com/articles/110344/14-years-after-portugal-decriminalized-all-drugs-here-s-what-s-happening

Genetic modification of a human embryo has led to a breakthrough that could transform our understanding of human biology. For the first time, researchers used a genome-editing technique to remove a gene from an embryo in an early stage of its development. This could revolutionise IVF, helping couples with fertility problems have children and also lead to advances in regenerative medicine. This involves using?stem cells, which can form any kind of tissue, to replace missing structures in the body or repair damage. http://www.inkl.com/newsletters/morning-edition/news/gene-editing-breakthrough-could-transform-understanding-of-human-biology-say-scientists?

The effectiveness of smart pills, biosensors and drug-delivery systems depends on the surrounding tissue inside the body. To overcome this, researchers from Cal Tech have created a mini wireless chip that can vary its output frequency in relation to a local magnetic field, enabling a precise location to be determined. In addition to one day measuring factors such as pH, blood sugar, and temperature inside the body, developments like this should enable massive improvements in our ability to diagnose and treat disease as well as possibilities for life extension. http://www.kurzweilai.net/miniature-mri-simulator-chip-could-help-diagnose-and-treat-diseases-in-the-body-at-sub-millimeter-pre

Penn-CHOP researchers have found that students who took a course in art observation significantly improved their clinical observation and professional development skills. The art sessions were taught by professional art educators using the "Artful Thinking" teaching approach, which emphasizes introspection and observation before interpretation. In a post-study questionnaire, students who received the art training indicated that they had already begun to apply the skills used in the course in clinically meaningful ways as first-year medical students. Following the success of the study, The Perelman School of Medicine will be offering this Philadelphia Museum of Art course to first-year medical students during the 2017 fall semester. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-09/uops-acc090617.php

Scientists from the University of Texas at Austin have developed a pen called the "MacSpec pen" that can screen and analyze tissue samples for cancer in just 10 seconds when the process usually takes weeks. The pen, which looks like a white permanent marker with a cord down its back, is made with a 3D-printed surgical-ready plastic tip and uses water instead of gases and other harming solvents. The tool works by releasing a small water droplet onto a tissue sample and sucking the water, with some residual tissue, into a mass spectrometer to analyze the tissue samples in real time. With 93 percent accuracy, the researchers identified lung, ovary, thyroid and breast cancers using both mice and human tissue samples. https://www.google.com.au/amp/newatlas.com/macspec-pe

Scientists are researching ways of deactivating or repairing faulty DNA within people?s bodies, another pathway that could lead to breakthrough cures. Specialists take a patient?s immune cells and reprogram them with a new gene that instructs them to detect and kill specific cancer cells. They then inject those reprogrammed cells back into patients? bodies, where they go to work destroying deadly malignancies. In a clinical trial, 83 percent of patients saw remission within three months. This technique is one of several classified as "gene therapies.? https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-new-cancer-drug-may-