Author Archives: Science Media Centre
the future of gas in the UK
Gas is sometimes seen as a bridging fuel between dirty coal and a low carbon future. But is that really true for the UK, and what future does it have in our energy mix? How much gas can we permit ourselves to use and still meet emission targets? And how damaging was the Chancellor’s withdrawal of support for carbon capture and storage? read more
expert reaction to study looking at weight loss of 5% body weight (and additional weight loss) and health benefits in a group of obese people
Publishing in the journal Cell Metabolism a group of researchers have looked at the effects of weight loss in obese people and report the health benefits of 5% weight loss, especially in terms of metabolism. read more
expert reaction to MenB vaccine for meningitis B, following the public petition calling for all children in the UK to be given the vaccine
A petition to give the Meningitis B vaccine to children up to the age of 11 has gathered more than 575,000 signatures, which means the matter will be debated in parliament. read more
expert reaction to study investigating a genetic test for inherited heart conditions
Publishing in the Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research group of researchers have described their efforts to develop a genetic test for diagnosis of inherited heart conditions. read more
expert reaction to paper investigating Wolbachia parasite infection of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes as a potential tool against arbovirus infection
Mosquitoes help to spread a large number of diseases which a responsible for the sickness and death of millions of people around the world each year, and a variety of efforts are underway to combat this. Publishing in the journal PLOS Pathogens a group of scientists have investigated the effectiveness of infecting Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit dengue and Zika, with bacteria to reduce their capability of carrying disease. read more
expert reaction to reports of closure of three wards at Leicester Royal Infirmary following H1N1 flu infections in some cancer patients
Three wards at Leicester Royal Infirmary have been closed after a number of cancer patients were diagnosed with the H1N1 strain of influenza. read more
expert reaction to case study looking at Zika virus from amniotic fluid of foetuses with microcephaly in Brazil
An association has been suggested between the ongoing Zika outbreak and microcephaly and a paper published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal has reported the detection of the genome of the Zika virus in the amniotic fluid of two pregnant women whose foetuses were diagnosed with microcephaly. read more
expert reaction to study looking at testosterone treatment in older men with low testosterone
A group of scientists have published their work in the New England Journal of Medicine where they attempted to analyse the effect of raising testosterone levels in older men over the age of 65 with very low testosterone levels, and reported that this had a moderate benefit regarding sexual function and some benefit with regard to mood and depressive symptoms, but not with vitality. read more
expert reaction to review article discussing the potential of CRISPR/Cas9 and gene drive as possible methods of mosquito population control
The ongoing outbreak of Zika virus has brought up a number of suggestion with the aim of controlling its spread, and the use of genome editing and gene drive techniques to control mosquito populations, and hence limit the spread of the diseases which they carry, is the subject of an article in the journal Trends in Parasitology. read more
expert reaction to US study looking at cannabis use and risk of substance use disorders
Publishing in JAMA Psychiatry a group of scientists have examined the mental health effects of cannabis use and report that within the population in which they looked cannabis use was associated with increased risk for substance abuse disorders in the following years, but was not associated with any increased risk of depression anxiety. read more
expert reaction to differences between organic and conventional milk and meat
Feeding into the debate and uncertainty over whether the use of organic production standards affects food quality, researchers have published two meta-analyses in the journal British Journal of Nutrition which report the differences in nutrient content of organic and conventional bovine milk and meat. read more
differences between organic and conventional milk and meat
Feeding into the debate and uncertainty over whether the use of organic production standards affects food quality, researchers have published two meta-analyses in the journal British Journal of Nutrition which report the differences in nutrient content of organic and conventional bovine milk and meat. read more
expert reaction to study looking at probiotics, gut microbes and liver carcinoma in mice
The potential health benefits of probiotics (mixtures of live microbes used with the aim of aiding digestion) is the subject of a paper published in the journal PNAS, with the authors reporting that, in their mouse model, a probiotic mixture reduced growth and size of liver tumours, which they suggest could be due to a reduction in certain immune cells. read more
expert reaction to study investigating proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and risk of dementia
A study published in JAMA Neurology has reported that patients who used a specific type of drug (proton pump inhibitors) for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases had an increased risk of dementia. read more
expert reaction to study looking at fish consumption during pregnancy and child obesity and growth
Publishing in JAMA Pediatrics, a group of researchers investigated the association between mother’s consumption of fish while pregnant and growth in infancy and obesity in their children, and reported that high intake of fish (defined as more than three times a week) was associated with increased risk of rapid growth in infancy and also childhood obesity in some but not all age groups. read more
expert reaction to study investigating possible effect of anticancer drug on Alzheimer’s disease protein build up
The aggregation of certain proteins is linked to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and a group of scientist publishing in the journal Science Advances have reported their use of an anticancer drug to prevent this build up in a worm model organism. read more
expert comments on Guillain-Barré Syndrome and the Zika virus outbreak in central and South America
The Zika outbreak in Central and South America has been linked to microcephaly, a small head with limited brain development, in babies as well as Guillain-Barré Syndrome, an autoimmune disorder which brings about muscle weakness. read more
expert reaction to study investigating low dose iron treatments and DNA damage in human cells
Publishing in the journal PLOS One a group of scientists have reported that low dose iron medical treatments could modify the cells that they looked at and brought about DNA damage. read more
expert reaction to announcement on gravitational waves
It has been announced that, for the first time, scientists have detected gravitational waves which would confirm the theory of general relativity. read more
expert reaction to global scientific community commitment to sharing data on Zika
There has been a commitment from global health bodies including academic journals, research funders and institutes “to sharing data and results relevant to the current Zika crisis and future public health emergencies as rapidly and openly as possible”. read more