Keck Medicine of USC is participating in a national, multisite clinical trial examining if a genetically engineered herpes simplex virus, when combined with immunotherapy, reduces or eliminates melanoma tumors.

A new, low-cost biosensing technology that could make rapid at-home tests up to 100 times more sensitive to viruses like COVID-19. The diagnostic could expand rapid screening to other life-threatening conditions like prostate cancer and sepsis, as well. Created by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, the test combines a natural evaporation process called the “coffee-ring effect” with plasmonics and AI to detect biomarkers of disease with remarkable precision in just minutes. 

Key findings:

--Energy-generating waves on the membranes of cancer cells may help to fuel disease progression.

--Disrupting the process could slow or halt cancer metastasis. 

--Higher levels of the enzymatic waves appear linked to more severe forms of cancer, indicating that measuring them could help scientists stage cancers.