Updated EC legislation on the protection of animals used in research raises questions
The European Science Foundation (ESF) has urged European institutions to reconsider key points in the proposed revision of the directive on the use of animals in research. The revised directive, which was put forward by the Commission at the end of 2008, is scheduled for discussion in the European Parliament in the coming weeks.
Read more ...
Pleasant music can enhance visual awareness in stroke patients, study shows
Researchers in Spain and the UK have demonstrated that stroke patients who have lost part of their spatial awareness experience enhanced visual awareness when listening to music that they like. The study's findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underline the importance of an individual's emotional state in modulating awareness.
Read more ...
Scientists pinpoint gene involved in tumour suppression
A team of EU-funded scientists has discovered a gene that plays an important role in blocking the formation of cancerous tumours. The findings could lead to the development of new cancer treatments as well as diagnostic tools to determine the most effective treatments. EU support for the study came from the CANCERDIP (The use of methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) in cancer for better clinical management) project, which is financed under the Health theme of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).
Read more ...
Project Launched by VTT Develops Computer Models for Predicting Dietary Effects on Health
VTT is launching an extensive EU project called ETHERPATHS, studying the effects of dietary effects mediated by gut microbiota on lipid metabolism. The aim is to accelerate the development of health-promoting foods. The project develops computer assisted models with which food companies and research institutions, for instance, will be able to predict the effects of foods in the body.
Read more ...
The Five Myths of Generic Competition
The Healthcare and Science business of Thomson Reuters has released the white paper, "The Five Myths of Generic Competition," highlighting what originator pharmaceutical and biotech companies can do to improve their forecasting of the likely timing, source and intensity of competition from generic drugs.
Read more ...
Research paves way for life-threatening bacterial infection test
EU-funded researchers have demonstrated how a recently identified protein causes a simple bacterial infection to turn into a potentially fatal condition called rheumatic heart disease. The researchers are now using their newfound knowledge to develop a test system that will be able to identify the bacteria when the infection is still in its early stages.
Read more ...
New drug resistance threatens to deal blow to malaria control efforts worldwide
The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed its concern over the emergence along the Thai-Cambodia border of malaria parasites that are resistant to a previously highly effective drug. WHO fears that the Plasmodium parasites' growing resistance to the drug artemisinin "could seriously undermine the success of global malaria control efforts".
Read more ...