Articles Archives

Health & Medicine

Leaving a legacy of ill health: The trans-generational effects of smoking

The University of Bristol is a respected authority in research at the intersection of epigenetics and epidemiology. Founded by Jean Golding, Emeritus Professor of Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, also known as Children of the 90s) is one of the world’s most comprehensive ongoing data sets spanning generations. Findings from this multi-generational […]

Health & Medicine

Early Action Review: Preventing local outbreaks from becoming pandemics

If we are to avoid the fallout of another global pandemic, we need to be better prepared. Dr Stella Chungong and Dr Landry Ndriko Mayigane of the Health Security Preparedness Department in the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme are encouraging countries to implement early action reviews (EARs) of disease outbreaks. EARs are based on a 7-1-7 metric to assess […]

Thought Leaders

Proofig AI: An AI tool to ensure image integrity in scientific publications

Proofig AI is an innovative and reflexive AI-powered proofing tool, aimed at researchers, editors, institutes, and publishers. The tool aims to identify the improper usage of images in scientific publishing and beyond. Research Outreach spoke with Dr Dror Kolodkin-Gal, the founder of Proofig AI. He shares insight into the challenges scientific publishing faces with the publication of fraudulent manuscripts, and […]

Thought Leaders

Science, AI, and securing a sustainable future

Around 95% of the world’s population agree with the concept of sustainable development goals (SDGs) as a way of building a sustainable future in the face of the climate crisis. But SDGs come with a hefty price tag. Stefan Brunnhuber is a clinician and socioeconomist who believes the solution to this conundrum is a switch in the global mindset. Sustainability […]

Health & Medicine

CRISPR gene editing: Can we make cancer cells easier to kill?

Lung cancer accounts for approximately one in five cancer deaths globally. The high death toll makes the development of new treatments and improvement of old ones a top priority. One of the challenges with traditional chemotherapy is that tumours can develop resistance to treatment. For several years, Eric B Kmiec, PhD, at the Gene Editing Institute of ChristianaCare, USA and […]

Arts & Humanities

From Charlemagne to Obama: Unifying ancestries and Western European genealogy

What do Britain’s Prince George and former American President Barack Obama have in common? The answer: they are both descendants of Charlemagne, the 9th-century Holy Roman Emperor. Reagan W Moore, Emeritus Professor at the School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA is creating a genealogical history of the Western world. Based on the […]

Health & Medicine

A matter of choice: Free to choose medicine in the 21st century

The US Food and Drug Administration’s system for medicine approval is lengthy and expensive, and only 1 in 12 drugs in human clinical trials obtain approval. Bartley J Madden of the Madden Center for Value Creation at Florida Atlantic University proposes an alternative free to choose medicine (FTCM) pathway. He suggests that with the advice of their doctors, patients should […]

Engineering & Technology

How could we build a liveable space habitat?

In the not-too-distant future, humanity will be faced with the challenge of building permanent homes in space. For this to happen, space habitats will need to closely replicate Earth’s gravity, while dealing with the threat of radiation and meteorites from outer space. Through his research, Werner Grandl at Space Renaissance International in Italy considers how these challenges could be overcome. Through […]

Education & Training

University workplace health promotion programmes: Getting the balance right

Workplaces have a role to play in their employees’ health and mental wellbeing. Health promotion programmes are supposedly designed with this in mind, admittedly with other priorities. But how effective are they, and do they measure up to accepted guidelines? Dr Hayden McDonald of Australia’s Torrens University and colleagues examined workplace health promotion programmes at leading Australian universities – diverse […]

Biology

Challenging shrimp bacterial diseases with phytobiotics

Whiteleg shrimp, a prized species in aquaculture, faces severe threats from emerging bacterial diseases, with acute hepatopancreatic necrosis (AHPND) posing a significant risk. Traditional reliance on antibiotics to combat this disease, although effective, raises concerns about antibiotic resistance. Dr Carla Hernández-Cabanyero and Dr Belén Fouz of the University of Valencia, Spain, have pioneered a One Health approach, introducing two cutting-edge […]