Features
The Rise of Epidemiology—How coronavirus shook up medical research
Pandemics have shaken civilizations throughout history. Although these bouts of infections have had devastating effects on society, our survival has also allowed humanity to evolve and reshape its socio-economic and technological focuses. Medical research has most often managed to overcome the pandemics through significant progress. It might seem incredible but substantial medical achievements have been…
The Rise of the Robots—Technology in epidemiology and pharmaceutical research
The Covid-19 pandemic has been one of the most quantified health crises in history. The wealth of available information is a powerful tool for the response, but this is deeply dependent on making sense of mountains of data, and quickly. Artificial intelligence (AI) is potentially invaluable for this: it can sift through and interpret vast…
Telemedicine—The future of healthcare?
With each passing day in this new, unexpected world that we find ourselves in, it seems increasingly clear that healthcare technologies will never be the same as they were before the COVID-19 pandemic. Cutting-edge tools are already enabling clinicians to streamline and expedite care delivery in a range of settings to help doctors more quickly…
Who is taking care of our healthcare workers? An international perspective.
On the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers are facing not only a greater risk of infection, but also heightened risk for developing mental health problems. Studies from around the world show that interventions are needed to assist our doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers as they treat an overwhelming number of highly infectious…
Post-COVID NHS: in need of some stitches
It was once said that the NHS is the closest thing we have to a religion in Britain, and coronavirus has only strengthened this notion further. While public support has grown like never before, our health service will inevitably face problems as we navigate ourselves out of this crisis. As we move past the peak,…
Fighting global health challenges with yeast – a talk by Professor Tom Ellis
Yeast: what is it good for? Well, quite a lot of things. In a talk recently given to the Oxford Synthetic Biology Society, Tom Ellis, professor of synthetic genome engineering at Imperial College London, explained how simple baker’s yeast can be utilised in the fight against global health challenges. Baker’s yeast, or Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is…
Trapped in a glass home – A shrimp’s life in lockdown
Below fathom five, at depths you cannot fathom, both of them have found their forever home. Now their kids are leaving to find their own houses of glass, but they have to be careful—because they, just like their parents, will then become trapped for the rest of their lives. They will look out at the…
The sleeping dragon – could lizards hold the secrets of human sleep?
Sleep is a phenomenon that ties us irrefutably to our relatives in the rest of the animal kingdom. The requirement to sleep is not only present in the most complex of organisms, such as Homo sapiens, but also in more primitive species, such as the jellyfish Cassiopoiea and the nematode C. Elegans. Even in light…
The Controversial World of Animals in Research
Animal experimentation is one of the greatest ethical dilemmas facing modern science. While animal research leads to life-saving treatments, to anti-vivisectionists (people who oppose the use of animals in scientific research) the practice is cruel and barbaric, regardless of its potential benefit to human health. But what are the issues with animal research, and what…
Obesity and Sweet Tooth Syndrome – Who is the blame?
Obesity is clinically defined when someone’s Body Mass Index (BMI) exceeds 30. It is a metabolic disorder where by energy intake from food and drinks exceeds energy consumption from metabolism and physical activities. There are many health-related risks associated with obesity, especially for children. This includes increased susceptibility for type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and…