Health

Personalised nutrition to serve up a healthy life with a side of living longer

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A tool that accurately assesses someone's dietary intake will allow scientists to deliver highly personalised advice.

A new tool that uses molecular clues to determine what someone has eaten and a better understanding of how genes affect the way we break down food could pave the way for personalised dietary advice that not only helps people avoid diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease, but could also lengthen life. Six … Read more

Sea anemone sting cells could inspire new drug-delivery systems

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A group of creatures known as cnidarians, which includes sea anemones, are the only animals that inject venom via sting cells.

A multi-stage genetic process for the formation of sting cells in sea anemones could inspire a new way of delivering drugs into the human body. It’s part of a field of work that looks at how venom and the way it’s produced in animals could be used to create life-saving treatments for humans. Dr Kartik … Read more

Fighting cancer with nanobodies and computer simulations

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Researchers in the Netherlands are hoping to move vaccine therapy from the lab to inside the body.

Stimulating or enhancing someone’s own immune system to fight cancer is not a new concept but scientists are taking it one step further by using nanoscience and computer simulations to improve existing treatments. Immunotherapy drugs are specifically designed to help the immune system respond to cancerous cells, something that it doesn’t naturally do. That’s because cancer cells … Read more

Life scientists unite to close EU’s innovation gap

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Research excellence relies not only on funding but also on the right governance and culture, according to experts.

Nepotism, a lack of transparency and poor governance are among some of the challenging conditions faced by researchers in Central and Eastern Europe, according to a consortium of life scientists who have set up a project to raise the level of research excellence in those countries. ‘The importance of institutions in providing a favourable environment … Read more

Your phone may soon know when you’re stressed – and help you cope

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A sleep tracker uses smartphone acceleration sensors to monitor body movement and sleep stages - good predictors for stress and wellbeing.

by Ethan Bilby European businesses lose hundreds of work hours each year to stress-related absences, but an app that monitors stress levels and a device to teach relaxation exercises could help provide an answer. Christopher Lorenz is the co-founder of Soma Analytics, a UK-based start-up company that has made a smartphone app that detects people’s … Read more

Map of brain cell activity may help us control when we sleep

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Scientists still have much to learn about the underlying circuitry that triggers the onset of sleep.

For many people who struggle to get a good night’s rest, being able to switch on and off the brain circuits that control sleep would be a life-changer. The good news is that’s exactly what scientists hope to do, but first they need to get a better understanding of what’s going on. It’s easy to … Read more