Axios

Cows can produce a type of antibodies that have been shown in laboratories to stop 96% of HIV strains from infecting human cells, according to a new study in Nature.

Why it matters: Scientists have been trying to elicit these so-called "broadly neutralizing antibodies" (bNAbs) by immunization for decades in hopes of creating a vaccine that can provide protection from HIV. The bNAbs made by the cows, which don't contract HIV, can be studied to understand how they might potentially be elicited in humans via a vaccine. "The study … doesn't tell us how to make a vaccine for HIV in people, but it does tell us how the virus evades the human immune response," John Mascola, director of vaccine research at NIAID, told STAT News.

Still TBD: We've "shown in a test tube that the antibodies can neutralize the virus," but not in a real human model, Anthony Fauci, the director of NIAID at the NIH, told Axios. He added it would be "pretty easy" for scientists to "modify [the bNAbs] so that they'd be compatible to administer them to humans" for short-term prevention or treatment. It is unclear whether effective antibodies can be produced at a scale and rate that works for widespread distribution.

On top of everything else, Sen. John McCain is looking at a lot of medical expenses for his treatment for glioblastoma — a nasty, aggressive form of brain cancer. He's likely to have a lot of those expenses covered, but not all — and a brain cancer patient with less generous insurance would be even worse off. (Which is one reason advocates for cancer patients are so worried about the Senate health care bill.)

Per the National Brain Tumor Society:

"Brain tumors have the highest per-patient initial cost of care for any cancer group, with an annualized mean net cost of care approaching $150,000, as well as the highest annualized mean net costs for last-year-of-life care relative to other cancers at $135–$210K (depending on age and gender) per-patient."

Here's the passage from President Trump's New York Times interview that lit up health care Twitter yesterday:

"So pre-existing conditions are a tough deal. Because you are basically saying from the moment the insurance, you're 21 years old, you start working and you're paying $12 a year for insurance, and by the time you're 70, you get a nice plan. Here's something where you walk up and say, 'I want my insurance.'"

We really are not trying to give Trump a hard time every time he talks about health care. But here's why this statement matters: