With the release of the latest guidelines on what is and isn’t a psychiatric disorder (DSM-5) the debate is raging over whether psychiatry has gone too far. The SMC gathered some of the top UK experts from psychology, psychiatry and beyond to preview DSM-5 and discuss everything from drugs to classification to environmental causes and the evidence behind therapies. read more

Approximately 70% of embryos produced, either naturally or through IVF, are lost before birth. A study published in Reproductive Biomedicine Online looks at a new approach (IVF time-lapse imaging) and examines for the first time whether it can be used to classify the risk of abnormality in developing human embryos. read more

Despite the importance of autopsy following the death of a baby or young child, parents often object to them and consent rates for both neonatal and foetal autopsy are falling. It has previously been suggested that post-mortem MRI may offer an effective alternative to autopsy, and new research in The Lancet reports the first large prospective study of post-mortem MRI in foetuses, infants and children. read more

Ice2sea is an EU-funded project whose goal is to produce state of the art projections of sea level rise. Four of the lead UK scientists came to the SMC to discuss the project’s conclusions, including global mean sea-level rise to 2100 and beyond and the impact on Europe’s coastline. read more

As the number of human cases of avian flu continues to rise, China and its surrounding regions remain on high alert, and the rest of the world watches the developing situation with great interest. leading virology and health experts came to the SMC to discuss what we know about this virus, how it compares to previous flu viruses, how scientists monitor emerging outbreaks such as this one, and whether it is ever possible to predict or prepare for what will happen next. read more

More and more of us now fly regularly as part of our usual routine, yet many doctors are not fully aware of the changes that take place in our bodies when we fly. King’s College London first ever professor of Aerospace Medicine came in to discuss why we need such a post, why doctors, including GPs, need to be better trained and what does happen to our bodies while in the skies. read more

Cyber attacks – malicious or mischievous attempts to disrupt or damage via computer systems – are becoming commonplace. At the same time we are becoming increasingly reliant on personal computing devices and highly interconnected systems regulating everything from communications and transport to energy and finance. A panel of engineers came to the SMC to discuss where the weak points are and what we are doing – and failing to do – to protect ourselves. read more

Heart failure is a debilitating condition that affects more than 750,000 people in the UK, but there is currently no treatment capable of improving heart function once the disease takes hold. Experts from the British Heart Foundation came to the SMC to talk about the beginning of clinical trials for a new gene therapy approach to treatment for advanced heart failure. read more

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS Medical Director, led a Review of the Regulation of Cosmetic Interventions and members of the Review Committee came to the SMC to brief journalists about their findings and recommendations to Government. read more

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS; also known as ME) is an incredibly controversial field, not just in terms of public perception, diagnosis and treatment but even for the very researchers trying to help, who have experienced campaigns of harassment from some patients. However, the new UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative is being launched to bring together many of the best researchers in a bid to understand and, ultimately, find treatments for this debilitating disease. read more

After sustained media interest in the South Wales measles epidemic, the SMC invited speakers in for a background Q and A session, and to hear about a paper on teenagers’ understandings of and attitudes towards vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases. read more

Donor-conceived people born as a result of donations made after April 2005 will be able to contact their donor, if they wish, when they reach the age of 18. This report addresses if, how and when information about donor conception should be shared between donor-conceived people, parents, donors, and health professionals. read more

The SMC invited one of the UK’s leading experts on GM animals, Professor Helen Sang, to describe some of the on-going applications of GM technologies in farm animals and the issues around regulation and public acceptance. read more

The Science Media Centre invited Professor Sir John Beddington into the SMC for a valedictory on his time as Chief Scientific Advisor to Government. read more

The Science Media Centre and British Neuroscience Association joined together to run a pre-conference briefing on research being presented at the BNA Festival of Neuroscience at the Barbican Centre in London. read more

On 15 March 2013, Britain abstained in the EU vote on suspension of neonicotinoids. More recently a Defra assessment including new results from a study carried out by FERA has concluded that available evidence is not currently sufficient to warrant a change in the law on use of this class of insecticide. read more

Concerns have been raised about the recruitment and training of psychiatrists in the UK, and the Academy of Medical Sciences has identified psychiatry as a vulnerable academic discipline. This briefing marked the launch of the Academy of Medical Sciences report ‘Strengthening Academic Psychiatry’ and shared the recommendations made by an expert working group chaired by Sir David Carter. read more

In 2012 the Government established an ad hoc Nuclear R&D Advisory Board, under the leadership of Chief Scientist Sir John Beddington, to look at the implications for R&D of a wide range of nuclear futures. The report set out a route to help the UK to return to the international “top table” in relation to nuclear research. read more

The best method for introducing psychiatric patients into the community has always been controversial. For many years experts called for compulsory supervision outside hospitals (Community Treatment Orders) and they have proved popular in many countries. They were introduced in the UK in 2008 but, until now, there has been little robust data to show whether they work or not. read more

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) recently carried out a public consultation on new IVF-based treatments to avoid mitochondrial disease, gathering a wide range of views about mitochondria replacement and whether it should be made available to patients in the UK. read more

Up to 1.5 million people in England alone have learning disabilities and they are more than twice as likely to have health problems as other people. Following concerns over early deaths a Confidential Inquiry was set up to investigate the extent of these deaths and what could be done to save many of these lives. read more

There has been a lot of media coverage and public debate about violence committed by veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. A paper in the Lancet is the first large-scale study of its kind. It links data from 13,856 randomly selected serving and ex-serving UK military personnel with national criminal records to assess the impact of deployment, combat exposure, and post-deployment mental health problems on subsequent offending behaviour. read more

There are more deer in the UK than at any time since the ice age. In the absence of natural predators deer populations are continuing to expand, threatening biodiversity and causing road traffic accidents and crop damage. read more

The advances of modern neuroscience mean we know more than ever about chronic brain damage in boxers since it was first described nearly a century ago. But has this knowledge really changed anything and is long-term brain injury from contact sport a ticking time bomb? read more

A new report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) highlights how humans have massively altered global cycling of nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients. While this had huge benefits for world food and energy production, it has also created a web of water and air pollution that is damaging human health, causing toxic algal blooms, killing fish, threatening sensitive ecosystems and contributing to climate change. read more

The SMC asked a number of food science and equine experts to come and talk about the scientific aspects of the current horsemeat scandal, including issues around food safety, traceability, toxicology and DNA testing. read more

Explosive eruptions of energy from the Sun that cause minor solar storms on Earth are relatively common events. Superstorms, by contrast, occur very occasionally – perhaps once every century or two. A new report by the Royal Academy of Engineering brings together engineering and scientific experts from across many disciplines to identify and analyse the impact of solar superstorms on the UK’s engineering infrastructure. read more

The government is proposing a minimum price of 45p per unit for the sale of alcohol in England and Wales. Public health campaigners will welcome such a move, while some industry groups and economic think tanks oppose it. But what does the evidence say? read more

Personalised medicine has been the mantra for cancer researchers for several years, but it’s only now – with an explosion in our knowledge of the genetics of cancer – that we’re beginning to put that ambition into action through techniques like tumour profiling. read more

A new paper published in Nature Climate Change evaluates the regional and global impacts avoided by a set of climate mitigation policies. The study examines the how the size and speed of emission reduction would affect a number of key climate threats including water availability, coastal flood risk, crop suitability and rising energy demand for cooling. read more

Death is one of the very few things that happens to us all, yet as a society we are surprisingly bad at talking about it. Recent debate about the Liverpool Care Pathway has brought some of the issues to the fore, but how much do we really know about palliative and end of life care? How should we treat those in their final days, and is there ever such a thing as a ‘good death’? read more

Asthma is a common chronic illness affecting more than a million children and young people in the UK. Current treatment approaches use different medications depending on the severity and persistence of symptoms. But research has suggested a particular genotype is associated with exacerbations in asthmatic children exposed daily to popularly prescribed medications, and these findings have now been tested directly in the community. read more