In today’s Good News, an AI tool can detect Type 2 diabetes by analyzing just 20 seconds of a patient’s speech, providing a fast and noninvasive screening method. And in another less-invasive advancement, the immune system could be trained to control HIV sans medication, according to a new study.

Anya Jaremko-Greenwold
The Week Digital

An FDA advisory panel has recommended approval of biotech company Grail’s Galleri blood test, which screens for multiple cancers before symptoms appear. The panel’s favorable vote “represents an important step forward for the field,” said Ajay Goel, a professor and diagnostics expert at cancer research organization City of Hope, to Scientific American. But if the FDA approves Galleri, it should be viewed as an “additional screening tool, not a replacement for established cancer screening.”

Artificial intelligence can detect Type 2 diabetes by listening to short voice recordings, according to research presented at a meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Milan. The AI tool can identify someone likely to have the condition from a 20-second clip because “increased hoarseness and an inability to control breath are linked,” said The Telegraph. The technology, using voice recordings collected by phone or an app, “opens a new route” for diabetes testing, researchers said in the study.

The immune system could be trained to control HIV without medication, according to a study published in Nature. Antiretroviral drugs suppress HIV but don’t eliminate it. Study participants stopped taking the drugs after receiving treatments designed to bolster different parts of their immune system. Seven of the 10 kept the HIV under control, and six maintained low levels of the virus for months. More research is needed, Bloomberg said, as the treatment “remains far too complex for routine use.”

Slag, a waste product in steel production, can be used to build roadways, according to a study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. It’s “ideal for pavement” because of its “high strength and angular structure,” making it more durable than conventional pavement, said Science Alert. The improved durability saves fuel and wear-and-tear costs for the cars and trucks that drive on the pavement, reduces carbon emissions and repurposes industrial waste. 

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