Cancer diagnoses traditionally require invasive or labor-intensive procedures such as tissue biopsies. Now, research published in ACS Central Science reveals a method that uses pulsed infrared light to identify molecular profiles in blood plasma that could indicate the presence of certain common cancers. In this proof-of-concept study, blood plasma from more than 2,000 people was analyzed to link molecular patterns to lung cancer, extrapolating a potential “cancer fingerprint.”

Wear and tear on plastic products releases small to nearly invisible plastic particles, which could impact people’s health when consumed or inhaled. To make these particles biodegradable, researchers created plastics from plant starch instead of petroleum. An initial study published in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry shows how animals consuming particles from this alternative material developed health problems such as liver damage and gut microbiome imbalances.

Researchers have found new compounds that could be used to treat a common breast cancer that can be resistant to hormone therapies, outlined in a paper published in the journal RSC Medicinal Chemistry finding two critical enzymes involved in the production of the hormone oestrogen —aromatase and steroid sulfatase—at the same time.