Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology, which rose to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic, is now being repurposed by South African scientists to tackle one of the world’s oldest infectious diseases—tuberculosis.

At the Wits Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit (AGTRU), Dr Kristie Bloom leads efforts to develop a locally produced mRNA-based TB vaccine. Unlike traditional vaccines, which rely on weakened viruses, mRNA vaccines deliver genetic instructions that prompt the body to produce a harmless piece of the virus, training the immune system to respond.

This technology offers speed, adaptability, and potentially stronger immune responses. "We can manufacture mRNA vaccines rapidly and adjust them easily if pathogens mutate or emerge," says Bloom.

In collaboration with the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) at the University of Cape Town, AGTRU is advancing two TB vaccine candidates. These vaccines aim to trigger the T-cell responses needed to overcome Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a pathogen responsible for 56,000 deaths in South Africa in 2023 alone.

Researchers believe that a successful vaccine could prevent up to 76 million TB cases and save 8.5 million lives over 25 years. “This isn’t just about innovation—it’s about self-reliance and equity in global health,” Bloom says.

The University of Texas at Dallas opened a new facility to help researchers and industry partners fast-track energy storage innovation and close supply-chain gaps in battery manufacturing.

June marks Scoliosis Awareness Month, a time when Shriners Children’s shines a light on a spinal condition that affects thousands of children and adolescents across the world each year. When caught early, scoliosis can often be treated non-surgically through bracing or physical therapy, especially in younger children. More advanced or progressive curves may require surgical solutions. 

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is evolving rapidly, AI models still struggle with understanding long videos. A research team from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed a novel video-language agent, VideoMind, that enables AI models to perform long video reasoning and question-answering tasks by emulating humans’ way of thinking. The VideoMind framework incorporates an innovative Chain-of-Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) strategy to reduce the demand for computational resources and power, advancing the application of generative AI in video analysis. The findings have been submitted to the world-leading AI conferences.

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory will partner with venture capital firm SOSV and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to advance plasma technologies with an eye toward commercial impact