Health

28 June 2018

‘Radical collaboration’ is shaking up the pharmaceutical industry – Carlos Moedas

‘Radical collaboration’ where multinational companies work together and share data instead of keeping it secret is helping to change the model of the pharmaceutical industry and solve problems more quickly, according to Carlos Moedas, the EU’s commissioner for research, science and innovation.

interview | health | open innovation

25 June 2018

Europe is in danger of being out-innovated in regenerative medicine – Prof. Ton Rabelink

Regenerative medicine should be governed, firstly, by the principle of do no harm, but a better balance between risk and regulation is required to bring innovations to market more quickly, according to Ton Rabelink, professor of internal medicine and head of nephrology at Leiden University in the Netherlands. He says that Europe is in danger of falling behind countries such as Japan and the US if there is not more flexibility in how new therapies are regulated.

health | open innovation

22 June 2018

Plant-based molecules company wins EU’s women innovators prize

Dr Gabriella Colucci, the founder of two biotechnology companies that discover new plant-based molecules for industrial use, has won the top award of €100,000 in the 2018 EU Prize for Women Innovators, which was presented at a ceremony in Brussels, Belgium on 21 June.

health | open to the world

21 June 2018

Ebola outbreak – this time it’s different

Lessons learned from past Ebola epidemics are helping to combat a fresh outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Investing in new vaccines, diagnostic tests and laboratories is paying off as expert networks spring into action.

health

20 June 2018

Cell factories mass-produce living drugs

Table-top cell production factories and placentas harvested after birth are promising to bring life-saving cell therapies to unprecedented numbers of patients.

Prof Cédric Blanpain studies the different forms and shapes cancer cells can take to better understand how they spread. Image credt - Fondation ULB

health

18 June 2018

Discovery of hybrid cancer cells reveals how disease spreads

Scientists studying skin and breast cancer in genetically modified mice have spotted hybrid cancer cells that combine the properties of different cell types, a discovery that could help understand how cancer spreads in the body and provide a new target for treatment.

health

04 June 2018

Want to cure disease? Repurpose the body’s cells

If one part of the body breaks, can you just replace it with cells from another organ? That’s the hope of stem cell scientists who are reprogramming cells to treat major conditions such as incontinence and heart failure.

environment | health

24 May 2018

Noise pollution is one of the biggest health risks in city life

Noise is one of the biggest pollutants in modern cities but the risk is often overlooked despite being linked to an increased risk of early death, according to research conducted by scientists.

health | ict

23 May 2018

Complex diseases get the big data treatment

The big data explosion, which allows scientists to analyse factors such as people’s lifestyles, genes and medical records to develop personalised treatments for conditions, has so far mostly benefitted rare diseases with simple causes. But now, complex problems such as cardiovascular disease and dementia are getting the big data treatment.

health

18 May 2018

Healthy competition intensifies 30-year quest for HIV vaccine

In 1984, after HIV was identified as the cause of AIDS, the US secretary of health, Margaret Heckler, declared a vaccine would be found within two years. Reports of a mysterious virus predominantly affecting gay men had been growing across the US and, with awareness rising, the World Health Organization had held its first conference to address the global situation earlier that year. But there was still little understanding of how the disease evolved and spread.