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Special biomolecules and compounds for medical use are being grown in plants like the commercial tobacco plant. Image credit - Pixabay/Couleur, licenced under Pixabay licence
health | coronavirus outbreak | industry
25 August 2020

We can programme plants to grow biomolecules. Is farming the future of vaccines?

On the southern outskirts of the city of Owensboro in Kentucky, US, there is a square, nondescript building. Inside, rows and rows of small plants are growing under artificial lights. This is a new generation biotech venture: a molecular farm. Others are springing up across the US and elsewhere – and they farm vaccines. This means that if we find a coronavirus vaccine that works, their produce could be used by households worldwide.

Exposure to high temperatures combined with physical activity can lead to physiological problems that affect the ability to work. Image credit- Dimitris Vetsikas/Pixabay
health | environment
13 August 2020

Why more heatwaves endanger our health and ability to work

As the Earth warms, heatwaves are expected to occur more often, with sharper intensity and for longer periods. Rising temperatures adversely affect worker productivity and human health, but for policymakers to take substantive action for heat adaptation, and meet what researchers see as a life-saving Paris climate agreement, making an economic case is key.

The speed and competitiveness of coronavirus research means sex disaggregation of the results – to understand if they are the same for males and females – is not happening, says Dr Sabine Oertelt-Prigione. Image credit: Dr Sabine Oertelt-Prigione/Radboudumc
interview | health | coronavirus outbreak
06 August 2020

Q&A: How coronavirus is putting a spotlight on sex differences in medicine

More than six months into the coronavirus crisis, data show that not just age, but also biological sex plays a pivotal role in the manifestation and response to Covid-19, with more men dying from acute infections versus women in the short term. This discrepancy has shined a spotlight on a key theme that has gained traction in recent years: is enough being done to account for sex and gender in disease and medicine? Not enough, says Dr Sabine Oertelt-Prigione, the chair of sex and gender-sensitive medicine at Radboud University in the Netherlands and a member of the European Commission’s expert group on gendered innovations.

Around half a million babies are born prematurely each year in Europe and that number is increasing. Image credit - Jeremykemp/Wikimedia commons, public domain
health
30 July 2020

Cutting the risks of premature birth

Infants born early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy, have a higher risk of dying in childhood and often suffer from lifelong health problems. But two novel devices could help cut this risk – one by improving how risk of an early birth is assessed and the other by offering personalised nutritional advice for premature babies.

Air pollution standards currently focus on the mass concentration of particles smaller than 10 micrometres in diameter (PM10) or smaller than 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5). Image credit - Panek/Wikimedia, licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0
health | environment
27 July 2020

Size matters in air pollution – but it’s not enough

Current regulations on air pollution mainly focus on the mass of particles of a particular size range in a sample, and this has been used as a marker for their threat to human health. But these air quality standards do not address the medical implications of the very smallest particles – nor other attributes that may be damaging, such as their chemical makeup.

One placenta yields enough material to grow 25 pancreases which could be a cheaper and easier form of transplant to help people with Type 1 diabetes. Image credit - E. Berishvili
health
23 July 2020

Lab grown and do-it-yourself: two emerging routes to an artificial pancreas

A ‘bio-artificial’ pancreas grown in a lab with the aid of placental stem cells, and a DIY insulin-monitoring and release system are being developed to give people with insulin-dependent diabetes an alternative to waiting for a pancreas transplant.

Single-patient isolation pods can help protect air ambulance crews from infection, allowing coronavirus patients to be transported to areas with higher intensive care capacity. Image credit - EpiGuard
coronavirus outbreak | health | frontier research
14 July 2020

Six innovations to tackle coronavirus

From bioluminescent testing kits to disinfecting robots, Horizon examines six innovations and technologies currently being developed to tackle the coronavirus.

90% of brain development happens by the age of four, so scientists want to understand the effects of air pollution at the earliest stages of life. Image credit - Unsplash/Pixabay, licenced under Unsplash licence
health | environment | frontier research
13 July 2020

Air pollution affects brain development - but when does the damage start?

The emergency rooms in Barcelona were collapsing under the pressure. Hundreds of patients were arriving in desperate need as they struggled to breathe, while intensive care units struggled to cope with the sudden influx of respiratory problems. Epidemiologists scrambled to trace the source of the outbreak.

Moving people from cars to other forms of mobility is ‘extremely complex’, partly because there are powerful lobbies resisting change, says Dr Chaix. Image credit - Basile Chaix
interview | health | transport | frontier research
06 July 2020

Q&A: What lockdown air pollution reductions mean for the future of urban transport

People in cities experienced cleaner air during lockdowns, but a permanent shift to greener modes of transport and habits is ‘extremely complex to achieve’ given how much space is devoted to cars and the groups resisting change, says Dr Basile Chaix, who studies the health trade-offs we make as we travel.

Many mental health problems begin between the ages of 12 and 24 according to researchers. Image credit - www.wallpaperflare.com/Public domain
health
29 June 2020

Does teenage anxiety have its roots in infancy?

The fact that teenagers worry isn’t necessarily a concern – it’s when the adolescent brain amplifies and distorts a simple worry that mental health problems can arise. As scientists aim to unlock why teenagers get anxious, and how infancy and upbringing are implicated, early intervention strategies are being refined to redirect harmful thoughts and teach adolescents to read the emotions of others – a crucial way to keep their own distressing feelings in check.

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