Articles
Fruit flies help shed light on drug discovery for ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating and incurable neurodegenerative disease that affects people in adulthood. It leads to the death of neurons involved in muscle control, eventually affecting almost all facets of the body, including walking, swallowing and breathing. Drs Nancy Bonini and Leeanne McGurk at the University of Pennsylvania are using fruit flies, mammalian cellular systems like neurons, […]
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A framework for global health promotion: The Circle of Health
The Circle of Health (COH) is an interactive and exemplary framework that bridges gaps in health promotion and draws together both the external and internal factors that drive our health. Spearheaded by Patsy Beattie-Huggan, BN, MScN, founder and president of The Quaich Inc., this novel tool was developed, refined and evaluated through broad consultation in PEI, Canada. With collaborators Kirsten […]
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RNA sequencing reveals secrets of skin aging
As we age, so does our skin. One of the factors that affects how quickly skin appears to age is exposure to UV light. Dr Jeong-Sun Seo of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Republic of Korea, is investigating how UV light affects skin aging at the genetic level. Using RNA sequencing data, Dr Seo and his team demonstrate that some […]
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NUMEN Project: Exploring key aspects of neutrinoless double beta decay by nuclear reactions
The Standard Model of particle physics may represent our most advanced understanding yet of the universe’s fundamental building blocks, but many physicists believe it is incomplete. One of the most enticing prospects for updating the model lies with ‘neutrino-less double beta decay’ – a process which has been theorised for many decades, but has yet to be observed. Professor Francesco Cappuzzello […]
Refining the search for the largest gravitational waves
Ask many astronomers, and they will tell you that gravitational waves are the greatest scientific discovery of the 21st century so far. In his research, Miguel Holgado at the University of Illinois studies the clever astronomical techniques which can be used to observe the very largest of these elusive ripples, originating from supermassive black holes as they orbit around each […]
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Honeycomb wings created by nature’s mechanics
Forces shape the world we live in, including the bodies we grow in to. Tiny motors in our cells push and pull to create different shapes, surrounding cells respond and react to create diverse patterns of tissue resulting in a world full of unique plants and animals. Drs Sugimura and Ikawa, from Kyoto University, studied the Drosophila fly wing to […]
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The mathematics of life:
Metabolic control in living cells
Cellular metabolism is a complex network of chemical processes that convert nutrients into energy and molecules for survival. Advances in experimental and mathematical techniques are paving the way for quantitative descriptions of how metabolism regulates itself and of how it can be artificially controlled for biotechnology. Dr Diego A. Oyarzún (University of Edinburgh) uses computational models to understand metabolism, and to […]
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Metabolic control in living cells
Reconstructing astronomical images with machine learning
Much of what we know about how our universe works has been learnt by analysing the astronomical signals captured from the sky. However, these signals will inevitably have some noise associated with them – so how can astronomers be sure that their observations of strange, unexpected signals reflect reality? Edward Higson at the University of Cambridge and his colleagues have […]
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Towards a quantitative personalised oncology
Dr Heiko Enderling from Moffitt Cancer Center, together with researchers from the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, focus on Mathematical Oncology, and radiotherapy in particular, highlighted by the interconnectivity of metastatic disease through a patient’s immune system. Studies show that different radiation doses induce anti-tumour immunity at different strengths. This prompted the research team to develop […]
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Using eHealth to monitor idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
Dr Marlies Wijsenbeek and Dr Karen Moor from the Erasmus Medical Centre are developing novel eHealth tools, in collaboration with patients, to enable home monitoring of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Patients are able to use the eHealth tool to find information about IPF, record their symptoms and conduct consultations via video or email. Furthermore, the patient can take […]
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