While debate about recreational marijuana use continues, researchers are investigating the effectiveness of cannabis for treating pain, spasticity, and a host of other medical problems. In a symposium organized by the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) as part of the 2015 American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting held this week in San Jose, California, world-renowned experts from North America and the U.K. share their perspectives on the therapeutic potential of medical cannabis and explore the emerging science behind it.

A company which has developed a groundbreaking way of growing ‘soap’ from bacteria has been shortlisted for a prestigious award.

It's a wonder new medications are ever developed at all. Taking a new drug from promising molecule to marketable product can cost upwards of a billion dollars and take a decade or more to move from clinical trials to approval. And the overall failure rate hovers near 95 percent.

Researchers at Duke University report the first lab-grown, contracting human muscle, which could revolutionize drug discovery and personalized medicine.

Cataract is one of the most common eye diseases, becoming more prevalent as people age. Over half of adults in the United States develop cataracts before age 80 and more than six million have undergone surgery to prevent vision loss caused by the clouding of the eye lens.* 

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, will explore ways to speed production of the Ebola drug Zmapp with a $200,000 rapid-response grant from the National Science Foundation.

A common over-the-counter drug that tackles pain and fever may also hold keys to a longer, healthier life, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist. Regular doses of ibuprofen extended the lifespan of multiple species, according to research published in the journal Public Library of Science-Genetics.

As proof-of-principle, the TSRI team makes dozens of new chemical entities.

Making and modeling better membranes could help unclog pharmaceutical pipelines