Directorate-General for Research & Innovation logo Horizon: the EU Research & Innovation magazine | European Commission logo
Receive our editor’s picks

Health

It’s difficult for medical staff to frequently and accurately record patients' vital signs, paving the way for an automated solution. Image credit: Max Pixel/ public domain
health
27 March 2017

Monitoring vital signs with artificial intelligence

Wireless patient monitors are being hooked up to a centralised artificial intelligence system by researchers who say the technology will be able to decide which patients need doctors’ attention first.

There were approximately 10.4 million new cases of TB in 2016. Image credit: Flickr/ Yale Rosen
frontier research | health
24 March 2017

Exact strain diagnoses can halt TB’s spread

In a disease outbreak, the exact strain of bacteria or virus can remain a mystery for weeks, preventing patients from receiving the most effective treatment and letting the illness spread. Now, more precise diagnostic tools are helping to quickly identify the right therapy, an approach that could be particularly valuable in treating a disease that kills 1.8 million people a year - tuberculosis. 

Biofilms are colonies of bacteria that can live on implants and cause infections, yet are resistant to antibiotics. Image credit: ‘Biofilm sur vasePortAuray’ by F.Lamiot is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
health | security
13 March 2017

Marine organisms enlisted in battle against bacterial sheets

A mother and daughter team believe they can fight bioterrorism and antibiotic resistance using natural substances found in the ocean. 

Sound waves similar to the hum of an electric shaver could show which cancer treatments work. ‘Wave sound digital representation splitted channels’ by Fillbit is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
health
07 March 2017

‘Electric hum’ technology opening window on cancer treatment

A new technology that uses sound waves could show which cancer treatments work, and even help slow down cancer spread.

Prof. Hanns Lochmüller says that data sharing is already speeding up discovery of rare disease treatments. Image courtesy of Hanns Lochmüller
health | interview
28 February 2017

Sharing data between researchers too often an afterthought in rare disease work – Prof. Hanns Lochmüller

Sharing data between researchers is speeding up the discovery of treatments for rare diseases but is too often an afterthought and needs to be encouraged through the way funding is structured, according to Professor Hanns Lochmüller from Newcastle University, UK. He chairs the interdisciplinary committee of the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC), which was set up to increase collaboration in the area. 

Some viruses can evade bacteria’s natural defence systems. Credit: ‘Crystal Structure of Cas9 in Complex with Guide RNA and Target DNA’ by Hiroshi Nishimasu is under CC BY-SA 3.0
health
15 February 2017

Bacterial failsafe may unlock superbug treatment

Special viruses that can disable a fundamental defence system used by bacteria are opening a new front in the war against superbugs.

Reproduction and longevity are optimised differently in men and women. Image credit: Pixabay/ Pexels
health
14 February 2017

The battle of the sexes can show us how to live longer, say researchers

There are important evolutionary reasons that explain the differences between men and women, and understanding them can help us live longer, healthier lives, scientists say.

The test can quickly tell if an infection is viral or bacterial. Image credit: European Union / Lukasz Kobus
health | policy | open innovation
07 February 2017

Finger prick test wins EUR 1 million to fight antibiotic resistance

A finger prick test that can show almost instantly whether an infection is bacterial or viral has won EUR 1 million from the EU as part of the first-ever Horizon Prize.

Gold nanoparticles can produce heat when a laser is shined on them. Image: ‘Nanostar 1’ by NIST is in the public domain
health
03 February 2017

Gold nanoparticles shine light on cancer cure

Whether it is by heating up tumour cells so they are more susceptible to cancer drugs, or by showing researchers exactly which molecules can stop cancer growing, tiny gold nanoparticles are opening up new avenues in the fight against the disease.

Vladimir Baulin has demonstrated how nanoparticles cross a lipid membrane and says we need to find out how exactly they affect living organisms.
industry | health | interview
25 January 2017

Nanotechnology is like the early days of radioactivity when it comes to knowing the risks – Dr Vladimir Baulin

When radioactive materials were first introduced into society, it took a while before scientists understood the risks. The same is true of nanotechnology today, according to Dr Vladimir Baulin, from University Rovira i Virgili, in Tarragona, Spain, who together with colleagues has shown for the first time how nanoparticles can cross biological - or lipid - membranes in a paper published in the journal Science Advances.

Pages