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Personalized vaccines that steer the immune system to fight unique cancer cells show promise, but another powerful way to treat cancer might be hiding in plain sight. People being treated for advanced skin and lung cancer lived longer if they had received a Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, according to new research published in the journal Nature. Both vaccines work using mRNA, which prompts cells to make a virus-like protein that triggers a useful immune response and teaches the body how to protect itself. When a team working to develop personalized mRNA cancer vaccines found that those vaccines were mostly effective due to the broad immune response they promptednot their custom-built naturethey decided to see how well widely available mRNA vaccines worked at the same task. The team analyzed records from almost 1,000 advanced cancer patients at Houstons MD Anderson Cancer Center, comparing outcomes between people that had received one of the two COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and those who hadnt. They found that lung cancer patients vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna shot lived almost twice as long after starting cancer treatment. Patients with aggressive melanoma who received an mRNA vaccine also showed improved outcomes, but people in that group lived for so long their average survival time couldnt be determined in the study. Non-mRNA vaccines like those used for the flu did not show the same positive effect. The patients with the biggest benefit were given the vaccine within 100 days of beginning the immunotherapy known as checkpoint treatment and those whose cancer looked the least likely to respond well to treatment. The research team believes that the immune response from mRNA vaccines sets up the immune system for more effective checkpoint treatment, which instructs T cells to work overtime to hunt down cancer in the body. The COVID-19 mRNA vaccine acts like a siren and activates the immune system throughout the entire body Adam Grippin, co-author and radiation oncologist at MD Anderson told Nature. … We were amazed at the results in our patients. Defunding the future Future research will continue to explore the powerful potential of mRNA vaccines to fight cancer, but the path wont be easy. Science funding in the U.S. has taken a massive hit across the board under the second Trump administration, but the situation is especially grim for mRNA research. In August, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the government would cancel $500 million in federal funds for mRNA vaccine research, throttling one of the most promising lanes of research with life-saving potential for everything from future pandemics to cancer and HIV. In a video explaining the decision to slash mRNA research, Kennedy announced that he believed science using mRNA poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses and HHS would be moving beyond the limitations of mRNA for respiratory viruses and investing in better solutions.” During Operation Warp Speed, the vaccine development program during Trumps first term lauded even by his critics, the president hailed Pfizers mRNA vaccine as a medical miracle. This is one of the greatest scientific accomplishments in history, Trump said at the time. Experts across the medical world agree, with epidemiologists issuing particularly dire warnings about Americas future without mRNA research. There is no upside, Harvard Professor of Epidemiology Bill Hanage said of the cuts to mRNA vaccine development. There is only downside. We would be fighting any future pandemic with one hand tied behind our back.
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Oil prices spiked Thursday after the U.S. announced massive new sanctions on Russia’s oil industry in an attempt to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and end Moscows brutal war on Ukraine. U.S. benchmark crude jumped 5.8%, to $61.91 per barrel midday Thursday, and analysts say if the situation remains static, U.S. consumers will soon be paying more at the pump. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said while it was difficult to predict with certainty because of the number of moving parts, consumers will likely see a bump in prices as early as next week, if not sooner. We’ll probably start to see motorists be impacted by the sanctions at the pump in the next couple days and it might take five days for that to be fully passed along, De Haan said, adding that the full impact also depends on whether the Russian or U.S. positions change. Russia will feel pressure to come to the table in light of the new developments or President Trump may react when he sees oil prices rising to levels that become uncomfortable, so I dont think this is going to be very long-lasting, De Haan said. Oil prices have been relatively low for the past few years and last week the cost for a barrel of U.S. benchmark crude fell below $57, its lowest level since early 2021. The price for a barrel of U.S. benchmark crude did rise near $79 a barrel early this year, just before President Donald Trump took office, a price not necessarily considered outrageously elevated by most analysts. The broad, extended decline in oil prices pushed the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. last week under $3 for the first time since December of last year, according to GasBuddy. For much of 2025, inflation has been held mostly in check, partly due to cheaper prices at the pump. However, that could change quickly as higher energy costs have a downstream effect on prices for virtually all products and services across industries. The impact to a lot of Americans is that products derived from cruel gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel are all likely to see price increases, De Haan said. The main reason oil and gas have stabilized at lower levels this year is that the group of countries that are part of the OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries has continued to boost production. Earlier this month, OPEC+ leaders announced they would raise oil production by 137,000 barrels per day in November, the same amount announced for October. The group has been raising output slightly in a series of boosts all year after announcing cuts in 2023 and 2024. Russia is the leading non-OPEC member in the 22-country alliance. The group’s next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 2. The sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil follow calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as bipartisan pressure on Trump to hit Russia with harder sanctions on its oil industry, the economic engine that has allowed Russia to continue to execute the grinding conflict even as it finds itself largely internationally isolated. The European Union on Thursday announced its own measures targeting Russian oil and gas. The price for Brent crude, the international standard, rose $3.26 on Thursday to $65.85 per barrel. Matt Ott, Associated Press business writer
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Clippy, the animated paper clip that annoyed Microsoft Office users nearly three decades ago, might have just been ahead of its time. Microsoft introduced a new artificial intelligence character called Mico (pronounced MEE’koh) on Thursday, a floating cartoon face shaped like a blob or flame that will embody the software giant’s Copilot virtual assistant and marks the latest attempt by tech companies to imbue their AI chatbots with more of a personality. Copilot’s cute new emoji-like exterior comes as AI developers face a crossroads in how they present their increasingly capable chatbots to consumers without causing harm or backlash. Some have opted for faceless symbols, others like Elon Musk’s xAI are selling flirtatious, human-like avatars, and Microsoft is looking for a middle ground that’s friendly without being obsequious. When you talk about something sad, you can see Micos face change. You can see it dance around and move as it gets excited with you, said Jacob Andreou, corporate vice president of product and growth for Microsoft AI, in an interview with The Associated Press. Its in this effort of really landing this AI companion that you can really feel. In the U.S. only so far, Copilot users on laptops and phone apps can speak to Mico, which changes colors, spins around and wears glasses when in study mode. It’s also easy to shut off, which is a big difference from Microsoft’s Clippit, better known as Clippy and infamous for its persistence in offering advice on word processing tools when it first appeared on desktop screens in 1997. It was not well-attuned to user needs at the time, said Bryan Reimer, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Microsoft pushed it, we resisted it and they got rid of it. I think were much more ready for things like that today. Reimer, co-author of a new book called How to Make AI Useful, said AI developers are balancing how much personality to give AI assistants based on who their expected users are. Tech-savvy adopters of advanced AI coding tools may want it to act much more like a machine because at the back end they know its a machine, Reimer said. But individuals who are not as trustful in a machine are going to be best supported not replaced by technology that feels a little more like a human. Microsoft, a provider of work productivity tools that is far less reliant on digital advertising revenue than its Big Tech competitors, also has less incentive to make its AI companion overly engaging in a way that’s been tied to social isolation, harmful misinformation and, in some cases, suicides. Andreou said Microsoft has watched as some AI developers veered away from giving AI any sort of embodiment, while others are moving in the opposite direction in enabling AI girlfriends. Those two paths dont really resonate with us that much, he said. Andreou said the companion’s design is meant to be genuinely useful and not so validating that it would tell us exactly what we want to hear, confirm biases we already have, or even suck you in from a time-spent perspective and just kind of try to kind of monopolize and deepen the session and increase the time youre spending with these systems. Being sycophantic short-term, maybe has a user respond more favorably, Andreou said. But long term, its actually not moving that person closer to their goals. Part of Microsoft’s announcements on Thursday includes the ability to invite Copilot into a group chat, an idea that resembles how AI has been integrated into social media platforms like Snapchat, where Andreou used to work, or Meta’s WhatsApp and Instagram. But Andreou said those interactions have often involved bringing in AI as a joke to troll your friends, which is different from the intensely collaborative AI-assisted workplace Microsoft has in mind. Microsoft’s audience includes kids, as part of its longtime competition with Google and other tech companies to supply its technology to classrooms. Microsoft also said Thursday it’s added a feature to turn Copilot into a voice-enabled, Socratic tutor that guides students through concepts they’re studying at school. A growing number of kids use AI chatbots for everything from homework help to personal advice, emotional support and everyday decision-making. The Federal Trade Commission launched an inquiry last month into several social media and AI companies Microsoft wasn’t one of them about the potential harms to children and teenagers who use their AI chatbots as companions. Thats after some chatbots have been shown to give kids dangerous advice about topics such as drugs, alcohol and eating disorders. The mother of a teenage boy in Florida who killed himself after developing what she described as an emotionally and sexually abusive relationship with a chatbot filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Character. AI. And the parents of a 16-year-old sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in August, alleging that ChatGPT coached the California boy in planning and taking his own life. Altman recently promised a new version of ChatGPT coming this fall that restores some of the personality of earlier versions, which he said the company temporarily halted because we were being careful with mental health issues that he suggested have now been fixed. If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it, Altman said on X. (In the same post, he also said OpenAI will later enable ChatGPT to engage in erotica for verified adults, which got more attention.) Matt O’Brien, AP technology writer
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