In this commentary, we strive to illustrate common misconceptions of the dopamine fasting fad that has become popular among wellness enthusiasts and purported by health gurus. Here, we review the proposed Dopamine fasting technique for managing behavioral addictions as proposed by California psychiatrist Dr. Cameron Sepah. We first summarize correct and incorrect interpretations of what Dopamine fasting involves. Next, we contextualize the role of dopamine as it relates to behavioral modification interventions for addiction. Particularly, we discuss the role of dopamine in behavioral addiction and the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques for various addictions which are the basis of the proposed dopamine fasting technique. While we see potential for dopamine fasting to offer significant benefits to individuals, we highlight the limitation of the self‐guided aspect of dopamine fasting, which could pose physical and emotional harm to individuals if the guideline is misinterpreted or misused as the sole treatment for severe disorders which require clinician input. Future studies should aim to assess not only the scientific efficacy of dopamine fasting as a potential treatment approach for behavioral addiction, but also the needs and well‐being of individuals who seek self‐directed treatment from popular media trends.

The role of viruses has been studied extensively for use as curative cancer therapies. However, the natural immunogenicity of viruses and their interaction with the host’s immune system needs to be examined to determine the full effectiveness of the viral treatment. The prevalence of cancer is increasing globally, and treatments are needed to support the increasing body of patient care. Oncolytic viral therapies used existing pathogenic viruses, which are genetically modified to not cause disease in humans when administered using a vaccine viral vector. Immunotherapies are another avenue of recent interest that has gained much traction. This review will discuss oncolytic viral approaches using three DNA-based viruses, including herpes simplex virus (HSV), vaccinia virus, and adenovirus; as well as four RNA-based viruses, including reovirus, Newcastle disease virus (NDV), poliovirus, and measles virus (MV). It also examines the novel field of cancer-based immunotherapies.

Viruses are the most numerically abundant biological entities on Earth. As ubiquitous replicators of information molecules and agents of community change, viruses have potent effects on life on Earth and may play a critical role in human spaceflight missions, life detection missions to other planetary bodies, and in planetary protection. However, major knowledge gaps constrain our understanding of the Earth’s virosphere: 1) the role viruses play in biogeochemical cycles, 2) the origin(s) of viruses, and 3) the involvement of viruses in the evolution, distribution, and persistence of life. As viruses are the only replicators that span all known types of nucleic acids, an expanded experimental and theoretical toolbox built for Earth’s viruses will be pivotal for detecting and understanding life on Earth and beyond. Only by filling in these knowledge and technical gaps will we obtain an inclusive assessment of how to distinguish and detect life on other planetary surfaces. Meanwhile, space exploration requires life-support systems for the needs of humans, plants, and their microbial inhabitants. Viral effects on microbes and plants are essential for Earth’s biosphere and human health, but virus-host interactions in spaceflight are poorly understood. Viral relationships with their hosts respond to environmental changes in complex ways which are difficult to predict by extrapolating from Earth-based proxies. These relationships must therefore be studied in space to fully understand how spaceflight will modulate viral impacts on human health and life-support systems, including microbiomes. This review addresses key questions that must be examined to incorporate viruses into Earth system models, life-support systems, and life detection. Further, the results of tackling these questions will help in our efforts to develop planetary protection protocols and further our understanding of viruses in astrobiology.

It has been nearly fifty years since a human first placed foot on the moon, part of a momentous journey that began with Nazi weaponry, thrived during the Soviet Union – United States Cold War, and ...