Health

The 2020s should be a turning point where the world averts impending disaster, according to Sandrine Dixon-Declève. Image credit - Pxfuel, licensed under CC0

environment | health | social sciences | frontier research

02 January 2020

What’s the most urgent action we need to take in 2020?

Declaring a global planetary emergency, improving sub-volcanic imaging to predict eruptions and developing artificial intelligence that works for humans are some of the urgent actions and research that experts in different fields want to see in 2020.

Image credits - PlanetMallika/ Pixabay; Pablo Trincado, licensed under CC BY 2.0; Image credit - Pixnio/ Janice Haney Carr, Jeff Hageman, M.H.S, USCDCP, licensed under CC0; Virpi Lummaa

science in society | frontier research | health | environment

19 December 2019

Our top 12 science facts from 2019

From bacterial invisibility cloaks to unexpected dinosaur colors, Horizon uncovered some fascinating facts in 2019. Here are our 12 favourites.

Gene editing researchers should act responsibly and not be driven by fame or patents, says Prof. Christiane Woopen. Image credit - Reiner Zensen

interview | health

17 December 2019

We need to talk about CRISPR

We need an active public debate on the ethics of gene editing technology to realise its potential and prevent it being used in nefarious ways, for example by the military and amateur scientists, and to take cultural differences into account, according to Professor Christiane Woopen, executive director of the Centre for Ethics, Rights, Economics and Social Sciences of Health (CERES) at Germany’s University of Cologne.

In sickle cell disease, the red blood cells are misshapen and don't carry oxygen well. Image credit - OpenStax College licensed under CC BY 3.0

health

12 December 2019

CRISPR provides hope of sickle cell cure

Thanks to the ‘cut and paste’ gene editing technique CRISPR, scientists are homing in on a cure for sickle cell disease - a genetic blood disorder - while other research is looking at how to expand the potential of CRISPR-based treatments.

Genetically engineered mutations in cows could pave the way for transplant patients to receive whole animal organs in the future. Image credit - Pexels/Kat Jayne, licensed under Pexels license

health

06 December 2019

Genetically engineered animals offer fresh hope to heart valve patients

Scientists have cloned a genetically engineered bull which they hope will help heart valve transplant patients lead better quality lives and benefit people with red meat allergies.

In the early Bronze Age, there was an infusion of a different genetic makeup in Europe whose origin ancient DNA experts are trying to explain. Image credit - geograph/David Dixon, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

health | frontier research

03 December 2019

How did the plague reshape Bronze Age Europe?

Europe changed dramatically during the Bronze Age, with huge population shifts generally ascribed to the rise of new metal technologies, trading and climate change. But scientists believe that there may have been another reason for this social upheaval – the plague, possibly transported by, or on the back of, newly domesticated horses.

Sir Peter was one of three winners of this year's Nobel prize in physiology or medicine. Image credit - Courtesy of Ludwig Cancer Research

interview | health | frontier research

02 December 2019

Nobel prize winner: Oxygen regulation discoveries are starting to lead to new anaemia, cancer drugs

Drugs that activate or block the body’s oxygen-sensing machinery to treat conditions such as anaemia in patients with chronic kidney disease and cancer are being made possible because we now understand the way that cells respond to oxygen deprivation, according to Sir Peter Ratcliffe, one of three winners of this year’s Nobel prize in physiology or medicine.

Studies into consciousness could help explain why patients in vegetative states have varying levels of awareness. Image credit - Dr. Leon Kaufman. University Of California, San Francisco, licensed under CC0

health | frontier research

13 November 2019

Pinning down consciousness could improve mental health, brain disorder treatments

Consciousness – the awareness we have of our self and surroundings – is often referred to as ‘the hard problem’. It’s not easy to scientifically explain how a subjective experience, which is something intangible, can be created by the brain – a physical object. But understanding more about how consciousness works could help us find treatments when things go wrong.

This micro-swimmer encased in a soft hydrogel-like material has fins that are mobile and can expand and contract when stimulated. Such structures could in the future be used to deliver treatments inside the human body. Image credit - Dr Florea

health | industry | frontier research

05 November 2019

Nanovehicles that mimic nature could deliver treatments of the future

Tiny vehicles up to 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair that are cloaked in biological camouflage could provide new ways of treating cancer with fewer side-effects.

More than half of people with advanced Parkinson's disease experience freezing of gait, which can lead to falls. Image credit - Fernandoz Himinaicela/ pixabay

health | frontier research

29 October 2019

Parkinson’s disease: Stimulation of brain, feet may help people overcome freezing episodes

Paolo Sanvito would often freeze like a statue after entering a meeting room when he was working as a manager in a multinational company. Known as freezing of gait, it’s a disabling symptom of Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative brain disorder that he suffers from.

Health