In the first MRI-based study to investigate pre-natal alcohol exposure, researchers found significant changes in the brain structure of fetuses exposed to alcohol compared to healthy controls. Results of the study are being presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). “Fetal alcohol syndrome is a worldwide problem in […]

Act now to ensure animal welfare is at the heart of plans to introduce genome editing into farmed animal breeding, says independent ethics body. The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is calling on the Government to put animal welfare at the heart of plans to approve new breeding technologies in farming and food production, in a […]

Around a third of first year university students have or develop moderate to severe anxiety and/or depression, suggests the first study of its kind, published in the open access journal BMJ Open. Increasing use of prescription (but not prescribed) and illicit drug use among those without mental health issues at the start of their course is […]

People with allergic conditions such as hay fever, rhinitis, and atopic eczema, may have a lower risk of COVID-19 infection, especially if they also have asthma, finds a large, population-based study of UK adults, published online in the respiratory journal Thorax. And contrary to the findings of recent studies, older age, male sex, and other underlying […]

A human stroke drug, fast-tracked by the Food and Drug Administration and soon entering Phase 3 clinical trials, shows intriguing signs that it might also be a safe and powerful defense against Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. A new study published Tuesday in the Journal of Experimental Medicine showed the drug, 3K3A-APC, protected mice from injury to the […]

Combining machine learning with computationally derived descriptors has allowed scientists to find new examples of a special class of catalyst using only a few experimental data points. The team led by Franziska Schoenebeck from RWTH Aachen University in Germany developed a workflow that identified 21 phosphine ligands that may form dinuclear palladium(I) complexes with a […]

‘For too long, the lived experiences and voices of disabled people have not been at the heart of research and policymaking,’ said Eilionóir Flynn, one of Europe’s top researchers in the field of disability rights. Europeans with disabilities are still at a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion than those without disabilities. For Professor […]

When forecasting how storms may change in the future, it helps to know something about their past. Judging from historical records dating back to the 1850s, hurricanes in the North Atlantic have become more frequent over the last 150 years. However, scientists have questioned whether this upward trend is a reflection of reality, or simply […]

As fossil fuel usage is phased out to meet climate policy goals, an emerging challenge is discovering alternative synthesis routes for valuable chemicals manufactured using petrochemicals. With this in mind, researchers in China have genetically engineered Escherichia coli to generate the well-known painkiller paracetamol, starting from glucose or glycerol rather than benzene derivatives. While the […]

What to do with the non-biodegradable plastics used in food packaging and agriculture? Researchers are turning their attention to microorganisms, enzymes, earthworms and insects to break down plastics. Plastics are everywhere, and farms are no exception. Plastic sheets are spread on the ground as a form of mulch to suppress weeds. Plastic is also used […]