Several high-profile papers on COVID-19 research have come under fire from people in the scientific community in recent weeks. Two articles addressing the safety of certain drugs when taken by COVID-19 patients were retracted, and researchers are calling for the…
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Meet the women tackling lockdown anxiety with magic mushrooms and microdosing
‘It’s been a total godsend to me during this time, I actually don’t think I could have coped without it,’ says Marina*. Lockdown has seen many of us turn to crutches – alcohol, cigarettes or junk food – but for…
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Food taxes and subsidies could reduce New Zealand’s health inequities
A consumer tax on the saturated fat, salt, and sugar content of food, accompanied by a 20 percent subsidy on fruit and vegetables, would bring major benefits for the health sector, researchers from Otago, Auckland and Melbourne Universities say. The…
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What coronavirus success of Taiwan and Iceland has in common
Taiwan and Iceland have won praise for their effective responses to the coronavirus pandemic. They are among a group of countries which adopted a cooperative strategy early on in the pandemic, bringing together multiple organizations to tackle the challenges in…
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Genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics shed light on autoimmune thyroid disease
Scientists at deCODE genetics, a subsidiary of Amgen, and their collaborators from the Icelandic healthcare system, University of Iceland and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, have published a study in Nature comparing over 30,000 patients with autoimmune thyroid disease from…
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Drug used in breast and ovarian cancer could lead to safer, more effective treatment for neuroblastoma
A type of drug known as a PARP inhibitor, already used to treat breast and ovarian cancer, may be useful in treating children with high-risk neuroblastoma—a common childhood tumor with a low survival rate. Neuroblastoma is a cancer in children…
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A furry social robot can reduce pain and increase happiness
Could furry social robots help bolster moods and reduce pain when human to human contact isn’t an option, for example, during a pandemic? According to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers published in Scientific Reports,…
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One in four UK adults at risk of hunger and potential malnutrition following lockdown
One in four adults in the UK are experiencing food insecurity, which is likely to have left them susceptible to hunger and potential malnutrition, during the COVID-19 pandemic. That is the main finding of a survey published today by Feeding…
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Uniqlo site crashes and Japan stores see overnight queues for AIRism face masks
Clothing company Uniqlo has been flooded with orders for their new AIRism face masks, with queues in their Japan stores snaking round streets and their website crashing due to the demand. Uniqlo are famous for their well-made basic items in…
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Light-activated ‘CRISPR’ triggers precision gene editing and super-fast DNA repair
In a series of experiments using human cancer cell lines, scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have successfully used light as a trigger to make precise cuts in genomic material rapidly, using a molecular scalpel known as CRISPR, and…
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