A recent cancer vaccination study has the potential to eventually protect humans from cancer, and researchers are set to begin vaccine trials on dogs. (Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons/Darmstadt Koeln) 

By Jacob Williamson-Rea

Our weekly round-up compiles stories and news, both from here at Penn and around the world, that highlight the intersection of animal, environmental, and human health.

FEATURED ITEM:
A shot against cancer slated for testing in massive dog study
Scientific American, June 7, 2018
Biochemist Stephen Johnston of Arizona State University wants to protect people from cancer. Researchers are testing a shot on dogs that has the potential to destroy cancerous cells before they become malignant, but some oncology specialists say this is impossible.

In a conservation catch-22, efforts to save quolls might endanger them
Science News, June 7, 2018
In an attempt to save the northern quoll, a small marsupial that lives in Australia, conservationists may have accidentally eliminated the animals’ fear of its predators—in just 13 years and 13 generations.

A 5-year-old girl’s sudden paralysis was a mystery. Then her mother checked her scalp.
The Washington Post, June 11, 2018
After a young girl struggled suddenly to stand and speak one morning, her mother discovered a tick embedded in the girl’s scalp. The condition, called tick paralysis, isn’t common, but can lead to respiratory failure if no action is taken.

Scientists developed a new vaccine based on spider silk microcapsules
TechExplorist.com, June 12, 2018
Spider silk microcapsules strengthen the effects of immune system vaccines, and could potentially deliver the vaccination right to the core of immune cells.

How is our health tied to the health of The Great Lakes?
WDET, June 15, 2018
The Great Lakes are in trouble because of pollution, bio-contamination, and plenty of other challenges. Solving these problems does more than just help the bodies of water. Professor Carol Miller of Wayne State University sees the lakes as crucial for all life forms.

The magical wilderness farm: raising cows among the weeds at Knepp
The Guardian, June 15, 2018
By selling their farm machinery and allowing their land’s vegetation and ecosystem to grow untamed, the owners of Knepp farm, located 45 miles outside of London, discovered a new farming method, one that places an emphasis on ecology and conservation.

Williamson-Rea is a junior science writer in the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Communications. He is also an MA candidate in Science/Medical Writing at Johns Hopkins University.