Medicine, Health

The lack of a formal link between neural network structure and its emergent function has hampered our understanding of how the brain processes information. The discovery of a mathematical framework to describe the emergent behaviour of the network in terms of its underlying structure comes one step closer.

If the knowledge that our brains can produce new cells in adulthood is ever going to help in the fight against neurodegenerative disease, we need to understand the underlying mechanisms more effectively. Towards this end, a new study drawing on EU-funded research, sheds further light on the role the protein APP plays in neuroplasticity.

Part-supported through the EU-funded RE-AGEING project, researchers offer population forecasting studies which encourage societies to break from outdated ageing measures and instead start categorising on how we live our lives.

The announcement earlier this month that a US-South Korean team have successfully modified disease causing DNA in embryos, has been widely heralded as a landmark in the long-promised genetic revolution for medicine. However, alongside recognition of the achievement has come the familiar mix of utopian and dystopian voices. But do these voices drown out measured consideration of the advance?

How do initially indolent forms of cancer evolve to become aggressive? In a quest to answer this long-standing question, an EU-funded project has studied the growth and clonal evolution of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) — a blood and bone marrow cancer that mostly starts asymptomatic but can become very aggressive over time.

Patient response to treatment — especially personalised medicine — can be very difficult to predict. To overcome this issue, the CHEMOS project has been advancing a new method for screening thousands of single-cell drug responses from small blood samples.

Part-supported through the EU-funded NEUROMICS project, researchers have identified a novel measure of disease progression for Huntington’s disease that could help slow down the disease and better target future therapies.

Almost half of patients with mature B cell neoplasia are faced with the ineffectiveness of existing treatments. However, they may soon benefit from new therapeutic tools relying on miRNA — a small non-coding RNA molecule involved in RNA silencing and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression.

Although a source of much hope among ‘multiple myeloma’ (MM) patients, adoptive T cell therapies are still held back by expensive, lengthy, individual-tailored approaches. However, an EU-funded project is aiming to shake things up with off-the shelf solutions of its own.

On an initiative of Mrs. Cresson, Commissioner for research and development, Mr. Bangemann, Commissioner for industry, telecommunications and information technologies, and Mr. Kinnock, Commissioner for transport, the European Commission has set up six task forces to develop in...

Against a backdrop of increasing concern about both obesity and depressive illness amongst European populations, an EU-funded study contributes pioneering research about the link between high-sugar intake and mood disorders.

A nine-year-old born with HIV in South Africa was treated for the first year and went on to live drug-free for eight and a half years – the virus has not returned. Early antiretroviral therapy was not standard practice at the time, but was given to the child from nine weeks old as part of a clinical trial.

The science of photonics continues to impact many areas of our lives from telecommunications to information processing, but the EU-funded PHOTOTUNE project recently highlighted its potential for medical applications, and the next generation of robotics.

Shocking new research suggests that Western men’s sperm count has more than halved between 1973 and 2011, an average of 1.4 % per year. Scientists are still uncertain as to the cause of the dramatic drop but have argued that their findings must be taken seriously and that action must be taken to address what could become a major public health crisis.

Two newly published studies have shown that regular consumption of coffee – at least three cups – results in a lower risk of stroke, heart disease, liver disease and can boost immunity and extend your lifespan. However, it is still to be proven as to whether it’s the coffee itself that protects against such illnesses or whether the lifestyles of regular coffee drinkers are simply healthier than non-coffee drinkers.

Using light pulses to create resonance in mammalian cell circuits, the EU-funded R’BIRTH project has succeeded in switching on and off signalling pathways, and now hope their achievement will feed into the treatment of degenerative neurological conditions.

A ‘painless’ sticking plaster flu jab that delivers vaccine directly into the skin has passed landmark safety tests during its first trial with human subjects. Those in higher risk categories for flu who need the annual jab but shudder at the thought of a needle should rejoice – but the new plaster also promises other benefits.

A prime-boost Ebola vaccine regime has induced a persistent antibody response of at least one year in 100% of the healthy volunteers. Partners behind the development of the vaccine include the EU’s Innovative Medicines Initiative.

Researchers working on H5N1 and its scope for mutation have modified the surface of the virus creating a version that could infiltrate human lungs. ‘We need to know what the virus could do in nature, so we can be alert and aware if we start seeing these changes,'' says the Professor leading the research.

Scientists have created a new compound that promises to be the ultimate fake tan – a chemical that releases dark pigment in the skin, thus resulting in a bronzed suntan without the need to expose oneself to harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.

A study conducted in Finland has analysed the oral glucose tolerance tests of 1970 men and 2544 women in relation to their preceding three-year employment records. It found that men with high exposure to unemployment had a higher risk for pre-diabetes and screen-detected type 2 diabetes than employed men.

Scientists investigating the impact on mice of the chemotherapy drug temozolomide (TMZ), used to treat patients with brain cancer, have found it induces behavioural and psychological changes relevant to depression.

Researchers have managed to accurately replicate images of faces seen by macaque monkeys by monitoring activity in specific regions of their brains. Scientists presented photographs of human faces to macaque monkeys and then analysed the response of around 200 cells in the regions known as the ‘macaque face patch system’, using the signals to then recreate the face shown in the photo.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) – frequent cause of stroke, dementia and heart failure – affects 2-3 % of the population in Europe and the USA. We are increasing our understanding of the causes of the condition, but prevention and therapies are not harnessing mechanistic insights. This means that, apart from the use of anticoagulation to prevent AF related strokes, treatment is still not having a great impact on outcomes.

Anyone doing their best to get their children to choose a banana over biscuits might want to read on. Research supported by EU funding has fed into the development of a computer game that could help children to go for healthy snacks over chocolate and sweets.