Inspired by the foam on top of lattes, as well as gummy bears and Pop Rocks candies, researchers at the University of Iowa are creating new, biocompatible materials that may improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiation for treating cancers. The new materials are known as gas-entrapping materials, or GeMs, which can be formulated as foams, solids, or hydrogels, and are designed to carry high concentrations of a variety of therapeutic gases directly into tissues, including tumors.

New research from the University of Iowa finds that blocking an enzyme that lowers localized acidity in the brain reduces cocaine withdrawal symptoms and drug-seeking behavior in mice. The research led by UI professor of psychiatry John Wemmie, MD, PhD, suggests that the enzyme, carbonic anhydrase 4 (CA4), might represent a new therapeutic target for addiction and relapse.

A plant-based diet rich in isoflavones alters the composition of the gut microbiome in a way that reduces inflammation and appears to provide some protection against multiple sclerosis-like disease in mice. The new findings from the University of Iowa lab of Ashutosh Mangalam, PhD, UI associate professor of pathology, were published recently in Gut Microbes.