Medical Bulletin 05/March/2026 - Video

Here are the top medical news stories for today:

Vitamin B12 Essential for Infant Brain Development, PGI Study Finds

A new study from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI) underscores the critical role of Vitamin B12 in infant brain development. Published in Pediatric Neurology, examined 141 infants diagnosed with B12 deficiency using MRI scans and standardized developmental assessments.

The findings revealed that affected infants commonly presented with delayed or regressed developmental milestones, lethargy, anaemia, tremors, and, in severe cases, darkened skin and light-coloured hair. Notably, many babies were not underweight, which can create a false sense of reassurance about their health. Nearly 60% showed reduced brain volume, reflected in poor head growth.

Encouragingly, after Vitamin B12 treatment, many infants demonstrated rapid improvement in alertness and developmental progress, highlighting the vitamin’s therapeutic potential. However, researchers cautioned that while early intervention can reverse many symptoms, long-term effects on learning, intellect, and behaviour may persist if treatment is delayed.

Lead author Naveen Sankhyam explained that Vitamin B12 is essential for red blood cell formation, DNA synthesis, and nervous system health. It plays a key role in myelin production—the protective covering around nerves that enables efficient brain signaling—making it especially crucial during the first year of life, when rapid brain growth occurs.

The study also points to India’s high risk profile, particularly among vegetarian mothers and exclusively breastfed infants of B12-deficient women. Since natural B12 sources are primarily animal-based, awareness, supplementation, and food fortification are vital public health strategies to prevent this entirely avoidable cause of long-term cognitive impairment.

REFERENCE: Pawan Kumar, Naveen Sankhyan, et al.; Neurological Consequences of Infantile Vitamin B12 Deficiency — A Prospective Cohort Study; Pediatric Neurology, Volume 177, 85 – 94; DOI: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2025.12.012

Researchers Develop Tumor-Eating Bacteria for Targeted Cancer Therapy

Scientists at the University of Waterloo are developing an innovative cancer therapy that uses genetically engineered bacteria to attack tumors from the inside. The approach targets one of cancer’s key weaknesses: the oxygen-starved core found in many solid tumors.

At the heart of the strategy is Clostridium sporogenes, a microbe that thrives only in completely oxygen-free environments. The inner regions of solid tumors—often filled with dead cells and lacking oxygen—provide ideal conditions for this bacterium to grow. Once bacterial spores enter the tumor, they detect the nutrient-rich, oxygen-poor environment and begin multiplying, effectively consuming tumor tissue from within.

However, a major challenge arises as the bacteria spread outward. The outer edges of tumors contain small amounts of oxygen, which can kill the microbes before they finish destroying the cancer. To overcome this, researchers inserted a gene from a related, more oxygen-tolerant bacterium. This modification allows the engineered bacteria to survive longer in areas with limited oxygen.

Safety was a critical concern. Activating oxygen tolerance too early could enable the bacteria to grow in healthy, oxygen-rich tissues like the bloodstream. To prevent this, the team used quorum sensing—a natural bacterial communication system. As bacteria multiply inside the tumor, they release chemical signals. When the population reaches a specific threshold, the signal triggers activation of the oxygen-resistance gene, ensuring the feature turns on only within the tumor environment.

Using synthetic biology, researchers designed DNA “circuits” to control this process precisely. Their next step is to combine these engineered features into a single strain and test its effectiveness in pre-clinical tumor models.

REFERENCE: Sara Sadr, Bahram Zargar, Marc G. Aucoin, Brian Ingalls. Construction and Functional Characterization of a Heterologous Quorum Sensing Circuit in Clostridium sporogenes. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2025; 14 (12): 4857 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.5c00628

Scientists Identify Diet That May Trigger Fat Burning Without Exercise

Researchers at the University of Southern Denmark have discovered that reducing two specific amino acids in the diet may trigger the body to burn more calories—without eating less or exercising more. Their findings, published in eLife, suggest a potential new pathway for obesity treatment.

Instead of exposing the body to cold temperatures to stimulate thermogenesis—the process of generating heat and burning calories—the scientists tested whether diet alone could activate this “internal heat engine.” They focused on lowering methionine and cysteine, amino acids found in high amounts in animal-based proteins such as meat, eggs, and dairy.

In experiments conducted over seven days, mice fed a diet low in methionine and cysteine showed a 20% increase in thermogenesis compared to mice on a standard diet. Importantly, the animals ate the same amount of food and maintained similar activity levels. Yet they lost significantly more weight. According to lead researcher Jan-Wilhelm Kornfeld, the effect was nearly as strong as keeping mice at 5°C continuously—an environment known to dramatically increase calorie burning.

The extra energy expenditure occurred in beige fat, a type of fat located under the skin in both mice and humans. Beige fat is also activated during cold exposure, suggesting it responds similarly whether stimulated by temperature or diet. Co-author Philip Ruppert noted that beige fat “doesn’t care” what triggers the burning response.

While the research was conducted only in mice, the findings raise the possibility that diets lower in animal proteins—or future functional foods—could help boost energy expenditure. Researchers are now exploring whether combining such dietary strategies with obesity medications like Wegovy may enhance weight loss outcomes in humans.

REFERENCE: Philip MM Ruppert, Aylin S Güller, Marcus Rosendal, Natasa Stanic, Jan-Wilhelm Kornfeld. Dietary sulfur amino acid restriction elicits a cold-like transcriptional response in inguinal but not epididymal white adipose tissue of male mice. eLife, 13 October 2025 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.108825.1