Author Archives: Science Media Centre
UCL/Lancet commission on healthy cities
The Lancet and University College London collaborated on a commission to address issues of improving health for city dwellers. The commission outlined how better urban planning is essential to achieve this end, which is matter of increasing urgency given that 3 in 5 of all people globally will live in a city by 2030. The SMC provided a forum to launch the commission’s report. read more
expert reaction to suggestion of flu vaccination for all school-age children
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, a governmental advisory panel of independent experts, mooted a universal flu vaccination programme for schoolchildren. read more
expert reaction to preliminary unpublished results on multiple sclerosis and cannabis
The preliminary results of CUPID (Cannabinoid Use in Progressive Inflammatory brain Disease) were presented at the annual meeting of the Association of British Neurologists, suggesting cannabis did not slow progression of MS as hoped. read more
expert reaction to shift work and cancer
Working night shifts more than twice a week was found to be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer by a study published Occupational and Environmental Medicine. read more
SKA site announced – experts respond
After many months of waiting, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Organisation finally announced that the massive telescope array will be shared between Australia-NZ and South Africa. The comment below was sent in addition to comments from the Australian SMC. read more
experts comment on planned “decontamination” of GM crop trials
In reaction to the planned destruction of a GM wheat field trial at Rothamsted Research, quotes from the scientific establishment were sent out, following the launch of the trial at the SMC and the publication of an open letter from the researchers imploring the protesters to engage. read more
expert reaction to IVF and breast cancer
In a large population-based study out of Western Australia, researchers have found that IVF is not associated with an overall increased risk of breast cancer. However, the analysis demonstrates an underlying, age-related connection in that for younger, but not older, patients there was an association between having IVF and an increased risk of breast cancer. read more
caesarean and risk of obesity
Research into caesarean operations suggesting an increased risk of obesity was published in Archives of Disease in Childhood. read more
expert reaction to skin stem cells for heart cells
An early trial succeeded for the first time in taking skin cells from heart failure patients and reprogramming them to transform into healthy, new heart muscle cells that are capable of integrating with existing heart tissue. read more
expert reaction to the Draft Energy Bill
The government announced the Draft Energy Bill, aiming to plug a looming energy gap with £110 billion of investment in nuclear and renewable energy over a decade, but avoiding a commitment to banish coal and gas by the 2030s. read more
expert reaction to NICE’s draft guidelines on treating infertility
NICE released a review of their fertility guidelines for public consultation. The guidelines make recommendations about the management of the whole spectrum of fertility treatment, from simple therapies such as ovulation induction, the management of male factors and of course IVF. read more
drought – part 1
We’ve had the wettest April on record yet parts of the UK remain officially in drought. A panel of speakers came to the SMC to answer journalists’ questions from what weather conditions are needed before we’re no longer in drought, to the impact of a changing climate on the current situation. read more
expert reaction to Written Ministerial Statement on animal research
coffee intake and risk of death
Research examining coffee intake and risk of death was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. read more
expert reaction to study of blast injuries, the brain and resulting psychiatric problems
A paper in Science Translational Medicine outlined how military veterans suffering blast-related brain injury may be at increased risk for developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, a degenerative brain disease found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma. read more
expert reaction to recent stories of violent crimes involving perpetrators with mental illness
Following a number of stories of horrific attacks in which the perpetrator has a mental illness, and with the danger that these stories could feed into the myth that mental illness is equivalent to violence, the SMC sent out quotes from mental health professionals.
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expert reaction to decision not to launch the 1km balloon as part of the SPICE geoengineering research project
The team behind the SPICE (Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering) project made the decision to cancel the test experiment planned for 2012. Matt Watson, lead scientist on the project, spoke out about the decision through the SMC. read more
expert reaction to study of the genetics of schizophrenia
A study mapping the genes and biological pathways involved in schizophrenia, suggesting that there is much more consistency in the genes and biological pathways involved in schizophrenia across populations than previously appreciated, was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. read more
expert reaction to researchers’ protest over EPSRC funding
Protestors from a new lobby group, Science for the Future, staged a mock funeral outside Parliament and Downing Street for the ‘death of British science’. The protest was a response to the funding policy of the government agency the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. read more
Edzard Ernst raises concern over unreported effects of alternative medicine
Edzard Ernst, Professor of Complementary Medicine at University of Exeter Peninsula Medical School, raised the alarm about unreported adverse effects of alternative medicine, following an analysis of randomised controlled trials of alternative therapies. read more