After mpox outbreak, Africa is under the threat of yet another virus outbreak, this is the Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda. So far, six people have died from the outbreak, confirmed the health minister. Most victims were the healthcare workers in the hospital's intensive care unit. As per reports, 20 cases have been identified since the outbreak was confirmed on Friday.

What Is Marbug Virus?

With the fatality rate of 8% it is the same virus family as Ebola. The main carrier is from fruit bats which spreads to humans then through the contact of bodily fluids of infected individuals, it spreads to others.

Common Signs And Symptoms

The common signs and symptoms of the Marburg virus include fever, pain, diarrhoea, vomiting and in the case of extreme blood loss, death too can happen.

So far, there is no specific treatment or vaccine for the virus. However, treatments like drugs and immune therapy are being developed as per the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Call Of Action

Rwanda says that it has intensified its contact tracing, surveillance and testing to contain the spread. It has also tracked about 300 people who had come into contact with individuals affected by the Marburg virus.

The health minister has urged people to stay vigilant and avoid any physical contact and to wash their hands with clean water, soap or sanitiser and report any suspected case.

As of now, most of the cases have spread to the capital in Kigali. In light of this, the US Embassy in the city has advised its employees to work remotely for the next week.

This is the first time Rwanda has confirmed for Marburg cases, before this, in 2023, Tanzania confirmed the outbreak, whereas three people had died of this in Uganda in 2017.

History Of Marburg

As per WHO, this virus kills half of the people it infects. In the previous outbreaks, it has killed between 24% to 88% of the patients.

The virus was first detected in 1976 after 31 people were infected, out of which 7 died in simultaneous outbreak in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany, and Belgrade in Serbia.

The source was traced to African green monkeys who were imported from Uganda. However, other animals too are linked to the virus spread, including bats.

In the past, the virus outbreaks have happened in countries like Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. In 2005, this virus killed 300 people in Angola.

However, for the rest of the world, only two people have died from the virus in the rest of the world, with one of them being in Europe, and the other in the US. These both have been on expeditions to caves in Uganda.

Back pain is often treated as a problem that comes with ageing, but new research suggests that some forms of spinal degeneration may have specific biological trigger, and an existing osteoporosis drug could help treat it.

A study published in Communications Biology found that a class of osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates reduced abnormal mineralisation in the spinal tissues of genetically modified zebrafish.

The findings show promise in treating intervertebral disc degeneration, a major cause of chronic back and neck pain.

What Did The Study Find?

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh and University of Bristol studied zebrafish lacking a functioning copy of the col9a1b gene. This gene is linked to collagen IX, an important structural component of spinal discs.

As the fish aged, they developed changes resembling human disc degeneration. Their vertebrae began to fuse and mineral deposits accumulated in the ligaments between the vertebrae, making the normally flexible spinal structures increasingly hard.

The researchers found that the mineralisation was preceded by deterioration of the structural tissue supporting that supported the developing spine.

They also identified changes in lipid metabolism, mTOR signalling, phosphate regulation and vitamin A-related pathways.

Most importantly, when researchers treated the animals with etidronate, a bisphosphonate, mineral accumulation was reduced. Other interventions targeting fat metabolism also reduced spinal fusion.

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Why Is Disc Mineralisation A Problem?

Intervertebral discs act as cushions between the bones of the spine. They allow the back to bend and move while absorbing daily physiological stress.

With disc degeneration, the disc's structure can wear off. Abnormal mineralisation can make these tissues stiffer and contribute to vertebral fusion, making movement challenging and contributing to pain.

Currently, there are no medications that can reliably stop or reverse intervertebral disc degeneration. Treatment generally focuses on pain management, physiotherapy and lifestyle measures, while severe cases may eventually require surgery.

Also read: Yoga Poses That Can Fix Your Kid's 'Slouched' Posture

More About The Osteoporosis Drugs

Bisphosphonates are already widely used to protect bones in people with osteoporosis. They work by slowing the activity of cells that break down bone.

In this study, however, their potential benefit appeared to involve something different: preventing minerals from accumulating where they should not.

Study lead Dr Erika Kague said the research could help with alternatives to surgery. “For decades, surgery has been the only real answer for disc disease,” Kague said.

She added that the findings suggest several ways of slowing the process, including a drug already used in patients.

Dr Caroline Aylott of Arthritis UK said the findings offer “fresh hope” for the millions of people living with back pain and could help scientists move closer to new treatments.

Researchers caution that the findings are promising but still early and that larger trials will be needed to validate the study. Also, this was an animal study, not a clinical trial in people with back pain.

Researchers will need to establish whether the same biological process occurs in humans and whether bisphosphonates can safely and effectively prevent or slow disc degeneration in patients.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a soft, wearable device that targets a deep brain region involved in sleep regulation through focused ultrasound.

In a study published in Nature Communications, the patch, called NEUSLeeP, was found to boost REM sleep and help people reach that stage of restorative rest faster.

What Is NEUSLeeP?

NEUSLeeP is a bioelectronic patch that can be attacked on the skin. It combines focused ultrasound stimulation with electrodes that continuously monitor brain activity during sleep.

The device targets the subthalamic nucleus (STN), a deep structure within the brain that forms part of the basal ganglia network.

Researchers used a specialised ultrasound array to focus stimulation on the region while simultaneously recording electrical signals linked to sleep.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to noninvasively target deep brain regions involved in REM sleep, while simultaneously monitoring brain activity,” said Kai Wing “Kevin” Tang, who led the research.

The patch weighs about 103 grams and is designed to remain attached during overnight sleep. Its electrodes allow researchers to track EEG, eye movements and muscle activity, helping determine which stage of sleep a person is experiencing.

Also read: Practicing Yoga Everyday Does THIS To Your Sleep Cycle

What Did The Study Find?

The study involved 28 participants, including 16 healthy sleepers and 12 people with some degree of insomnia symptoms.

Participants underwent two consecutive nights of sleep testing, with the first night serving as the sham condition and ultrasound stimulation delivered on the second night.

Researchers found that NEUSLeeP increased the proportion of REM sleep by about 4.6 percentage points, equivalent to roughly 16 additional minutes of REM sleep. It also reduced the time taken to enter REM sleep by approximately 43 minutes, or 24%.

Additionally, researchers did not observe significant changes in other sleep stages or overall sleep efficiency.

The team also reported changes in heart-rate variability and brain activity associated with processing emotions, suggesting that manipulating REM sleep could eventually have implications beyond sleep itself.

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Why Is REM Sleep Important?

REM, or rapid eye movement sleep, is the stage associated with vivid dreaming, rapid eye movements and increased brain activity.

It usually becomes longer during the later part of the night and accounts for roughly 20% to 25% of sleep in adults.

REM sleep has been linked to memory processing and emotional regulation. Research has suggested that the brain uses this stage to process emotional experiences and integrate memories.

“REM sleep is not just about dreaming. It’s about emotional reset and stress adaptation,” said Gregory Fonzo, a co-principal investigator on the project.

Poor sleep is associated with several mental and neurological consequences. Researchers believe that selectively influencing REM sleep could eventually become part of treatments for sleep disorders and conditions like chronic insomnia, depression and PTSD. However, the patch is not yet a treatment available for patients.

Limitations Of The Study

Although the findings seem promising, they come from a small, early-stage human study involving 26 participants.

The researchers also deliberately used a fixed order, with sham stimulation on the first night and ultrasound on the second, because they were concerned about possible carryover effects.

That means larger, longer and independent trials will be needed to determine whether increasing REM sleep actually produces meaningful improvements in health, mood or daytime functioning.

Cancer drug research may undergo a significant shift as scientists are not just studying what happens to a cell after treatment, but watch the process unfold in real time.

Indian-origin biotech entrepreneur Parmita Mishra is developing a live-cell technology that combines Raman spectroscopy, photonics, microfluidics and computational biology to continuously monitor living cells without fluorescent labels or destructive sample preparation.

The approach, described by the researchers as “live-cell cinema,” aims to address a longstanding problem in drug discovery: conventional laboratory techniques often provide snapshots of cellular behaviour rather than a continuous picture of how cells respond to treatment and other changes.

Mishra said, "Biology is constantly moving, yet for decades we have largely studied it through static snapshots. If we want to understand why cancer cells change, adapt or resist therapy, we need technologies that allow us to observe living biology continuously rather than after the fact. Our mission is to give researchers that capability."

Why This Could Be Game Changing In Cancer Drug Research?

Traditional experiments require cells to be fixed, stained, lysed or otherwise destroyed before researchers analyse them. Even studies that examine multiple time points may rely on different populations of cells at each stage of the research.

A recent Drug Discovery News report highlighted research that cancer cells can move through intermediate molecular states as they develop treatment resistance, suggesting that important biological changes may occur before resistance becomes obvious.

The idea behind live-cell examination is therefore simple: if biology changes continuously, why should scientists only measure it at the end?

Also read: Lung Health After 40: Natural Changes, Warning Signs And Ways To Protect Your Lungs

How Does The Technology Work?

Raman spectroscopy analyses how light interacts with molecules, producing chemical information without necessarily requiring dyes or labels.

Its system combines this optical technology with microfluidic chips that maintain cells under controlled conditions, including temperature, nutrients and carbon dioxide. This allows researchers to observe the same living cells as their biology changes.

Mishra said that artificial intelligence can process enormous amounts of information, but its utility in drug discovery depends on having better biological data to learn from.

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How Could This Impact Cancer Drug Discovery?

By capturing biochemical changes continuously, technologies such as live-cell Raman imaging could potentially help researchers identify drug responses, toxicity or resistance earlier during preclinical testing.

Dr. Shyam Aggarwal , Chairperson, Department of Medical Oncology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi said “Real-time observation technologies could help researchers better understand how cells respond to candidate drugs, monitor subtle biochemical changes earlier, and potentially identify promising therapies more efficiently during preclinical research. Understanding precision oncology with CGP comprehensive genome profiling and MRD minimal residual disease detection will help physicians improve targeted personised medicine for cancer patients. While such technologies are not themselves treatments, they may strengthen the scientific foundation on which future therapies are developed.”

For cancer research, that window could eventually help scientists understand not only whether a drug works, but how a living cancer cell changes while the drug is working.

Mishra further added "We are not trying to replace scientists or physicians—we are trying to give them a better window into living biology," "When researchers can continuously measure how cells behave instead of relying on biological 'autopsies,' they may uncover insights that were previously impossible to observe. That has implications far beyond cancer, extending into immunology, neuroscience, rare diseases and regenerative medicine. "For decades, we've been studying life after it has stopped.The future of biomedical research lies in understanding life while it is still unfolding."

However, the technology is still being developed and requires independent validation before its potential impact on drug discovery can be established.

Dr Rahul Bhargava, Principal Director of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram said “Cancer is an extraordinarily dynamic disease, and researchers around the world are exploring technologies that can better capture how living cells change over time. Innovations that enable continuous, non-invasive observation of cellular behavior could become valuable research tools for improving disease models and accelerating drug discovery. While clinical validation remains essential, this represents an exciting direction for biomedical science."