2 . Covid-19 vaccines are starting to roll out in several countries, a momentous breakthrough that hopefully signals a light at the end of this dark pandemic. For Katalin Karikó, the moment is particularly special.

Karikó has spent decades of her career researching the therapeutic(治疗的)possibilities of mRNA, a component of DNA that is considered to be one of the main building blocks of life. Through multiple setbacks, job losses, doubt and transatlantic move, Karikó stood by her conviction(信念): That mRNA could be used for something truly groundbreaking. Now, that work is the basis of the Covid-19 vaccine.

From Hungary to the US

Karikó, 65, began her career in her native Hungary in the 1970s, when mRNA research was new and the possibilities seemed endless. But the call of the American dream(and more researching and funding opportunities)took root.

In 1985, she and her husband and young daughter left Hungary for the US after she got an invitation from Temple University in Philadelphia. They sold their car, Karikó told The Guardian, and stuffed the money—an equivalent of about $1, 200—in their daughter’s teddy bear for safekeeping.

“We had just moved into our new apartment, our daughter was 2 years old, everything was so good, we were happy,” Karikó told the Hungarian news site G7 of her family’s departure “But we had to go.”

She continued her research at Temple, and then at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine. But by then, the bloom was off the rose of mRNA research, and Karikó’s idea that it could be used to fight disease was considered too radical, too financially risky to fund. She applied for grant(拨款)after grant, but kept getting rejections, and in 1995, she was demoted(降级)from her position at UPenn. She also was diagnosed with cancer around the same time.

“Usually, at that point, people just say goodbye and leave because it’s so horrible,” she told Stat, a health news, in November. “I thought of going somewhere else, or doing something else. I also thought maybe I’m not good enough, not smart enough.”

From doubt to breakthrough

But she stuck with it.

Eventually, Karikó and her former colleague at the University of Pennsylvania, Drew Weissman, developed a method of utilizing synthetic mRNA to fight disease that involves changing the way the body produces virus-fighting material, she explained to CNN’s.

That discovery is now the basis of the Covid-19 vaccine, and some have said both Weissman and Karikó, now a senior vice president of the Germany-based BioNTech, deserve a Nobel Prize.

“If anyone asks me whom to vote for some day down the line, I would put them front and center,” Derek Rossi, one of the founders of pharmaceutical giant Moderna, told Stat. “That fundamental discovery is going to go into medicines that help the world.”

While recognition, after all of this time, must be nice, Karikó says scientific glory isn’t what’s on her mind right now.

“Really, we will celebrate when this human suffering is over, when the hardship and all of this terrible time will end, and hopefully in the summer when we will forget about virus and vaccine. And then I will be really celebrating,” she told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.

Karikó said she plans to get the vaccine soon, along with Weissman, and she said she’s “very, very confident” it will work. After all, it was their discoveries that contributed to it.

In the meantime, Karikó said she allowed herself a little treat to celebrate the vaccine news: a bag of Goobers, her favorite candy.

3 . Art therapy(疗法) is a creative approach to improving one’s life.This can be done in many ways, such as drawing, coloring, painting, sculpting and many more art forms.These activities can help a person create a better physical, emotional and mental state.Art therapy can be especially beneficial to those who do not feel they can tell how they are feeling and instead can use different methods to express feelings and emotions.

In art therapy, the patient has all the control.This can be beneficial when someone has had all control taken away from them in their trauma(创伤).This allows the patients to feel powerful and more expressive, being comfortable in the unknown.Art therapy allows space for joy and connection to the inner child.When children are growing up in an unsafe environment, sometimes they cannot feel safe to play.Art therapy offers a structure with flexibility.

Art therapy can be seen in different lights.Within the comfort of your own home, you can draw or make clay sculptures to express yourself.However, working with a licensed art therapist will be at a greater advantage to the individuals as the activities can be personalized to the person's needs.Art therapy can sometimes be administrated in a group setting which can help build connections with other people while being creative.This may be as beneficial as the creating of the art, as having healthy connections can be beneficial for fighting depression.

Studies show there is a giving-off of dopamine(多巴胺) when being creative; when we do something pleasurable, the chemical makes us feel happier.This can have a positive effect when dealing with anxiety or depression and is good to self-respect.A chain event occurs where the patient comes to understand themselves on a deeper level, and consequently, communication becomes easier and emotion roadblocks are solved.

4 . The biomedical world is flooded in data. We have a lot of genomic information from mouse to human, precious health measurements from clinical tests, and a large amount of so-called real-world data from insurance companies and drugstores. Using powerful computers, scientists have carefully researched it with some fine results, but it has become clear that we can learn much more with an assist from artificial intelligence. Over the next decade deep-learning neural networks will likely transform how we look for patterns in data and how research is conducted and applied to human health. This special report explores the future of this new transformation.

Right now the biggest assumptions are being placed in the field of drug discovery, and for good reason. The average cost of bringing a new drug to market nearly doubled between 2003 and 2013 to $2.6 billion, and because nine out of ten fail in the final two periods of clinical tests, most of the money goes to waste. Every large drug company is working with at least one AI-focused start-up to see if it can raise the return on investment.

Machine-learning algorithms (算法) can get through millions of chemical compounds, narrowing the choices for a particular drug target. Perhaps more exciting, AI systems — free by leading theories and biases — can identify entirely new targets by spotting tiny differences at the level of cells, genes or proteins between a healthy brain and one marked by Parkinson’s — differences that might avoid or even puzzle a human scientist.

That same sharp-eyed ability is also being used to explain medical scans. Some systems can already discover early signs of cancer that might be missed by a radiologist or see things that are simply beyond human capacity — such as evaluating cardiovascular (心血管) risk from a retinal scan. The Food and Drug Administration is approving imaging algorithms at a rapid click. Other AI applications lie a bit further down the road.

Will the inefficiencies of today’s electronic health records (EHRs) be solved by smart systems that prevent prescribing mistakes and provide early warnings of disease? Some of the world’s biggest tech giants are working on it.

Despite fears that machines will replace humans, most experts believe artificial and human intelligence will work cooperatively. The bigger concern is a shortage of people with both biomedical knowledge and algorithm proficiency. If this human problem can be solved, the key to creating successful AI applications may depend on the quality and quantity of what we provide them with. “We rely on three things,” says the CEO of one deep-learning start-up. “Data, data and more data.”

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5 . It is commonly known that when people have disease or feel ill, they will have pills or go to see a doctor in the hospital. They are accustomed to seeing a human doctor. However, have you tried seeing a doctor that is not a human being?

Many hospitals employ therapy dogs to comfort and inspire patients.     1     Peyo is a 15-year-old horse who used to compete professionally with his trainer Hassen Bouchakour. Now, he’s comforting patients and family members alike.

    2     The staff in the French hospital always call him “Doctor”. His trainer Hassen Bouchakour says that even at competitions, Peyo seemed to seek out contact specifically with those struggling physically or mentally. After a few years of research, vets believe Peyo’s brain functions in a unique sympathy-rich way.

In the hospital, Peyo goes from door to door in the care center. He has been highly effective for reducing patients’ stress and relieving anxiety for their family members as well. According to doctors, they knew how beneficial Peyo’s presence was by observation.     3    

Peyo has stayed with many patients right until the end of their lives. One patient, Daniel, was a former athlete.     4     When he passed away this year, his family requested that the horse accompany his coffin to the funeral.

Animals are born with power to comfort us.     5     Perhaps this uplifting story of animal companionship will encourage more medical facilities to look into the healing benefits of animals.