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Beth Ivimey, a decorated oncology nurse, was diagnosed with a rare cancer of the bile ducts in 2022.

Beth’s time ‘could have been extremely short’. A new approach to cancer treatment is giving her hope

Cancer patients found to have specific gene mutations or other biomarkers are being matched to precision treatments not routinely available in Australia.

  • Kate Aubusson

Latest

More than half the black rats studied had developed a genetic mutation that could indicate resistance to rat poison.

Ratsak is losing its bite: How to get rid of the rats in your ranks

Black rats in Australia have developed a genetic mutation that’s linked with resistance to common rat poisons. And there’s more bad news.

  • Bianca Hall
PhD student Olivia Moscatelli and Associate Professor Jason Tye-Din and have developed a new blood test for coeliac disease that works without exposing people to gluten.

Think gluten makes you sick? A new test could tell you for sure

Australian scientists have developed a new ultra-sensitive blood test for coeliac disease that works even in people following a strict gluten-free diet.

  • Angus Dalton
“I keep telling her: don’t you ever change that word,” laughs Stephen Bailey.

Out of the ashes, a new treatment for a hidden cancer

It’s the insult Stephen Bailey can’t wait to hear. “You’re boring”, the nurse says, matter-of-factly, and Bailey can’t help himself. He grins, ear-to-ear.

  • Liam Mannix
Cockatoos drink from a water fountain in western Sydney.

They conquered our bins. Now Sydney’s cockatoos have learnt to use bubblers

The city-slicker cockies probably weren’t sipping the bubbler’s water for survival. Researchers think they might just be having fun, for now.

  • Angus Dalton
Hidden black mould revealed after renters pulled a couch from the wall, submitted to the Facebook page Don’t Rent Me.

How bad science warped our ideas about black mould

Fear of toxic black mould infects public consciousness. Should you panic about its health impacts?

  • Angus Dalton
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President Donald Trump.

Trump’s war on innovation is a golden opportunity for Australia, if we’re smart enough to take it

Australia could become a hub for world-class research. But our leaders must act decisively, and quickly.

  • Luke Heeney and Sarah Davis
US President Donald Trump received help to get elected from Russia in 2016.

Trump has declared war on Harvard, but there are degrees of concern in Australia

We cannot be naive about how Donald Trump’s full-blooded assault on America’s finest universities will affect us.

  • Julia Baird
Quantum scientists David Reilly and Tom Ohki at the University of Sydney after launching their new R&D company, Quantum Emergence.

Why these scientists rejected Microsoft’s riches to stay in Sydney

The salaries were large enough “to buy a house in Sydney without a mortgage”. But these quantum scientists had other ideas.

  • Angus Dalton
Cancer-suppressing superstars: why elephants don’t get more cancer has long been an evolutionary mystery.

At 2m tall, I’m at greater risk of cancer. An elephant could fix that

Why aren’t whales riddled with tumours? The answer could help us fight cancer.

  • Angus Dalton