Private genetic tests, and the case for ‘Genetic education’
An advisory body to the UK government, the Human Genetics Commission has called for more regulation of genetic tests that are available for the public to buy privately. The completion of the human genome project, and the advances (and econo…
Read MoreRestoring Sensation to Amputees’ Lost Limbs
Scientists at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University made two amputees ‘feel’ their lost arms by rerouting to their chest the key nerves that transfer sensations from hand to brain. After several months, stimula…
Read MoreExercise Cures Depression: Mens Sana In Corpore Sano
Exercise has long been recommended to alleviate depression, but now scientists from Yale University have isolated a gene (VGF) within the hippocampus area of the brain which is responsible for these effects, leading to hope of a new, more e…
Read MoreDirty work but someone hasn’t got to do it anymore
Today’s UK papers trumpet articles on robots made in Japan to do the ‘D-work’ — dirty, dangerous and difficult. The tone is upbeat with a slight sense of amusement reserved for futuristic ideas. Yet these developments may not be so ridiculo…
Read MoreUnjustified asymmetries in the debate on GM crops
In his valedictory speech as Government’s chief scientific adviser on November 27th , David King said there was a "moral case" for the UK and the rest of Europe to grow genetically modified crops as the technology could help…
Read MoreHonest Opinions or Bullying?
Recently the website SpickMich.de that allows German pupils to anonymously rate their teachers defeated a legal challenge from teachers claiming invasion of personal privacy. This was just the latest of a series of legal victories for the s…
Read MoreFeeling good about the failure of others
The journal Science last week published a study indicating that the reward centres in our brains are highly sensitive to the success of others. In the study, 19 pairs of subjects were presented with a task involving the estimation of the nu…
Read MoreOur Obligations to the Poor
The relationship between the rich and the poor countries of the world has been questioned in a number of ways today. Oxfam have released a report, Investing for Life, which suggests that pharmaceutical companies are missing an important opp…
Read MoreThe importance of life extension
One of the most important ideas in public health is that we can never really save lives: we just extend them. If a doctor ‘saves the life’ of a 60 year old patient who later dies at 90 years of age, then she hasn’t actuall…
Read MoreIs this the end of the debate for human embryo research?
Two landmark papers published this week have demonstrated that stem cells (“Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells”) capable of developing into a wide range of different tissues can be made from human skin cells. It has been claimed in …
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