🌊 5 Stories We're Thankful For

Anyone else miss the days when Black Friday was America’s Hunger Games?

The Best Buy brawls, the Target looting, and the 2 AM wakeups – weren’t those the good old days? Watching the action on social media felt like you were Nero watching Rome burn. Except Nero never had to see his neighbor get trampled over a Wii.

Happy Black Friday, Roca Nation. Let’s spread the positive vibes — Bears fans need them — and focus on exclusively good news stories today.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

AI Model Detects Brain Tumors in Seconds

Researchers at the University of Michigan developed an AI model that detects cancerous brain tumors left over during surgery in just 10 seconds

• The technology – named FastGlioma – outperformed conventional assessment methods, achieving an average accuracy of 92% in identifying remaining tumor tissue. It missed high-risk residual tumor tissues only 3.8% of the time, compared to a 25% miss rate for traditional methods. The model combines microscopic optical imaging with advanced AI techniques, trained on over 11,000 surgical specimens

• A lead researcher testing the technology stated that it could revolutionize neurosurgery and improve patient outcomes for various brain tumor types

KEY STORY

Frozen River Rescue

Elaine Ratt, a woman from Saskatchewan, Canada, saved a boy from drowning in an icy lake

• The woman was working in a store when a boy rushed in pleading for help and saying that his friend had just fallen through the ice

• "The fear in [his] eyes scared me," Ratt said, so she dialed 911 and rushed with the boy to Sucker River Lake, where his friend had fallen through the ice while they were playing

• "I see that he's still above water and that he was struggling," Ratt said. "I went to the edge right where the ice was. I just kept telling the boy, 'Keep your head above water, keep your head above water’...By the time I was getting toward him, he was already starting to float down underneath the water"

• Just as Ratt reached the boy, the ice broke beneath her, too, sending her into the icy water. While trying to stay afloat, she lifted the boy onto a solid ice patch and tried to get herself out

• "I couldn't get out because every time I tried to get out of the water, [the ice] kept breaking. The water was up to my neck," she later recalled

• Eventually, though, she managed to pull herself out of the frigid water. She and the boy were both later treated for hypothermia

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KEY STORY

Promising Vaccine for Aggressive Breast Cancer

A new vaccine trial for an aggressive type of breast cancer patients showed an 88% survival rate after three years – signaling a potential medical breakthrough

• Conducted by researchers at Washington University, the trial involved personalized vaccines targeting specific tumor mutations. Of its 18 patients, 16 remained cancer-free after three years

• While the trial was intended to test the vaccine’s safety and therefore didn’t have a control-group to compare efficacy, the researchers said that, on average, only about half of patients remained cancer-free three years after treatment. Additionally, the vaccine was found to be “well-tolerated”

• “We are encouraged by what we’re seeing with these patients so far,” one of the researchers said

KEY STORY

Notre Dame Rings Again

The bells of Notre Dame rang for the first time since 2020, marking a significant milestone in the cathedral's restoration

• The cathedral has been undergoing a massive restoration project since being largely destroyed in a 2019 fire. The eight bells tolled during a technical test, which the person overseeing the bell restoration called, “The culmination of a big project”

• While the cathedral missed President Emmanuel Macron’s goal of reopening by this summer’s Paris Olympics, it’s on pace to reopen in early December

ROCA WRAP

Miracle Milk

In 1995, in the halls of Lund University in Sweden, a team of scientists embarked on what seemed like a straightforward experiment: They were studying the antimicrobial properties of breast milk – a substance long hailed for its ability to nourish and protect infants.

In a lab filled with petri dishes and microscopes, the researchers sought to explore how compounds in breast milk combated bacteria. They had no intention of rewriting the narrative of cancer research.

As they introduced the milk’s molecular ingredients to a dish of lung cancer cells, the results defied explanation. The cancer cells, notorious for their resilience, began to die. This wasn’t the slow, irregular degradation scientists might have expected from cellular stress – it was a systematic eradication; a groundbreaking finding.

The team identified the molecule behind this phenomenon. It wasn’t an innate component of breast milk but something that emerged when two of the milk’s specific ingredients interacted under precise conditions. This newfound complex, dubbed HAMLET – short for Human Alpha-lactalbumin Made Lethal to Tumor Cells – had a unique property: It triggered cell death in tumor cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed. It seemed to target only the malignant, sparing the innocent.

What other miracles could breast milk contain?

Breast milk’s main ingredients are water, lactose, lipids (a fatty compound), and sugar molecules. Yet it also contains thousands of other proteins, vitamins, hormones, and other substances that are only partially understood. In the decades since the discovery of HAMLET, successive studies have uncovered formerly unidentified molecules and their potential benefits.

For much of the modern era, breast milk was seen as a nutrient-rich substance designed to nourish infants. HAMLET and other studies countered this narrative, though, by revealing it to be a sophisticated cocktail of bioactive molecules with the power to shape immune systems, combat diseases, and perhaps even heal the human body. That realization sparked a wave of research, potentially paving the way to revolutionary medical therapies.

One of the first breakthroughs after HAMLET’s discovery was the recognition of Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) – a group of complex sugars found exclusively in human milk.

These sugars don’t nourish the baby directly. Instead, they feed beneficial bacteria in the infant’s gut, helping develop their immune systems. Scientists learned that HMOs not only helped infants fight infections but also reduced risks of allergies and autoimmune disorders later in life. In 2016, a study revealed potential application of HMOs beyond infancy: The new findings suggested that HMOs could alleviate symptoms of gastrointestinal diseases like Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome by rebalancing gut bacteria. Pharmaceutical companies soon began working to replicate these sugars, hoping to harness their effects for adults.

Scientists also learned more about lactoferrin, a protein abundant in milk that was found to kill harmful bacteria and have antiviral, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. A 2020 study found that lactoferrin has potential to treat sepsis, an often-fatal condition caused by overactive immune responses to infection, and ongoing research is looking at its potential to combat viral infections.

One of the most groundbreaking findings occurred in 2007, when researchers discovered the presence of stem cells in breast milk. These cells – capable of transforming into different types of tissues – have the potential to treat damaged tissues and potentially conditions like Parkinson’s, and breast milk could be a source.

Another new frontier was opened in the last decade through the discovery of exosomes – tiny packages of genetic material able to regulate cellular communication and immune responses. Exosomes’ natural origin makes them ideal candidates for drug delivery, as they are less likely to provoke immune reactions. They are now being studied as a potential delivery system for targeted therapies, from cancer treatments to gene editing.

One study released this September found that a drug developed from HAMLET reduced the size of 88% of tumors in bladder-cancer patients. The drug caused no side effects aside from injection site discomfort. Ongoing studies to test the drug in mice with brain and colon cancer appear promising.

Another study, published in 2021, found that an HMO reduced the development of artery blockages in mice, suggesting applicability to preventing heart attack and stroke. Other studies suggest that breast milk-based treatments can help the body accept bone marrow transplants, prevent developmental disabilities, and reduce the effects of brain injury.

Despite the progress, knowledge of breast milk remains limited: One study released earlier this year that analyzed milk from 1,200 mothers identified ~50,000 molecules, most of which were unknown to science. That study’s authors now plan to use AI to analyze the ingredients and link them to specific aspects of babies’ development, to better understand of how they could help all people.

The breast milk boom may just be beginning.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Being back home with our families feels heavenly. We hope you got a chance to celebrate Thanksgiving with loved ones. On a day like yesterday, we also remember all those who don’t have a family to celebrate with. And the soldiers stationed overseas.

Have an amazing weekend. And if you get into a fight over a TV… please send us a video.

–Max and Max