Health

A steerable needle mimicking the wood wasp’s stinger can deliver life-saving cancer drugs directly to a brain tumour.

Researchers have shown that all immature gut cells can develop into stem cells. The findings could help improve stem cell therapy.

Scientists have teamed up with engineers to develop a new type of coronary stent based on antibodies to improve its integration into blood vessels.

The EU- and industry-funded Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) held its annual Stakeholders Forum in Brussels on a very rainy 12 June, the venue being the gorgeous Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. The topic discussed: Brain health and disease, and how digital technologies are transforming the search for new treatments and patient care.

Scientists have developed a new type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to provide doctors with more reliable information about breast cancer.

Scientists have started testing the effectiveness of a novel mesothelioma treatment that uses the body’s immune system to fight cancer.

EU-funded researchers have developed nano-vehicles that can overcome the body’s immune response and biological barriers to deliver drugs to the target site.

The human ability to use a ‘tool’ (our brain), to build another tool to explain the workings of the first tool, is an evolutionary gift that distinguishes us from other animals. Powerful simulation engines like “The Virtual Brain” exemplify both this gift, as well as its unwrapping.

A crucial part of what gives the brain its power is its ability to learn from the interactions of the body under its control with the world. Neurorobotics research offers a unique opportunity to understand how this action-perception loop works, and to use this knowledge to build the next generation of robotic systems.

Definitions and understandings of consciousness have been hotly contested down the centuries, engaging philosophers and more recently neuroscientists. To make further sense of it all, the HBP models both the neurological ‘wood and the trees’ simultaneously.

As a European Flagship Programme, the Human Brain Project (HBP) embraces ICT advances and pools distributed neuroscience and neuromedicine resources and competences. This more unified view of the brain will benefit both people and technology.

Researchers have identified a novel approach to test the adverse impacts of man-made chemical mixtures. Their methodology will help improve the assessment and management of health risks.

There’s promising news for the overweight. A supplement based on lemon verbena and hibiscus extracts can help manage body weight and improve health.

Landmark study finds processed food causes overeating and weight gain.

Is healthy ageing possible for both rich and poor? To find out, EU-funded researchers studied the processes driving healthy ageing in a person’s lifespan.

Fast, accurate and affordable food safety testing is now possible. Thanks to a portable scanner, farmers, food manufacturers and retailers can now do their own tests in the field, eliminating costly and time-consuming lab tests.

A new study has shown that the placenta also plays a role in fetal penis development by producing a second hormone outside the testes.

Scientists prove that two drugs are better than one in the battle to treat people infected with both a potentially deadly parasitic disease and HIV.

Scientists have placed a device in the arm of a below-elbow amputee to connect an artificial hand to the nerves and muscles. This will provide tactile sensations and better control of movements.

Scientists have come one step closer to introducing a preventive vaccine against pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM) to the market.