It’s more than a century since Alois Alzheimer first noticed and reported sticky plaques in the post-mortem brain of a patient with what is now known to have been Alzheimer’s disease, yet there is still disagreement on whether the plaques actually cause the disease (New Scientist, 2016). The role of plaque in the disease has … Continue reading Drug that stops brain plaques may show if they cause Alzheimer’s

A research team at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering and the Electronics-Inspired Interdisciplinary Research Institute at Toyohashi University of Technology in Japan has developed 5μm diameter needle-electrodes on 1 mm × 1 mm block modules (Scienmag, 2016). The neuron networks in the human brain are extremely complex. Microfabricated silicon needle-electrode devices are … Continue reading Scientists develop the world’s smallest extracellular needle-electrodes

MedaPhor have announced the acquisition of Inventive Medical Limited (IML), a UK company which is the global supplier of cardio ultrasound simulation products under the HeartWorks brand, for a total consideration of £3m payable in shares (MedaPhor, 2016). IML’s HeartWorks simulators and online training materials have been developed by leading cardiac anaesthesiologists at University College … Continue reading MedaPhor acquires Inventive Medical, as it announces sales growth

A cancer study that would represent the first use of CRISPR in people passed a key safety review on June 21st (Science, 2016). The proposed clinical trial, in which researchers would use CRISPR to engineer immune cells to fight cancer, won approval from the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) at the US National Institutes of … Continue reading First proposed human test of CRISPR passes initial safety review

Doctors are a step closer to creating babies with DNA from three people after research on healthy embryos found the procedure was likely to produce normal pregnancies (The Guardian, 2016). Studies on embryos made with extra DNA showed that the majority were indistinguishable from standard IVF embryos, although further tests hinted that the procedure still … Continue reading Doctors move closer to creating babies with DNA from three people

Cardiff-based urology product manufacturer Great Bear Healthcare has launched a new product, GB Soft Skin, for removing medical adhesives (Great Bear Healthcare, 2016). The GB Soft Skin Medical Adhesive Remover Spray is a non-sting medical adhesive remover spray for quick and painless removal of medical adhesives, which are used to help attach medical devices such … Continue reading Great Bear Healthcare launches new product for removing medical adhesives

A wearable device that records the sounds of knees cracking could reveal clues about the condition of the joint (Scientific American, 2016). The device has been developed by Omer Inan, an electrical engineer at Georgia Tech, who said “I actually feel like there’s some real information in them that can be exploited for the purposes … Continue reading Wearable device could help with rehab in acute knee injury

Researchers at Imperial College London have given twelve people psilocybin, the active component in magic mushrooms, to combat depression (Nature, 2016, BBC, 2016). At the start of the trial, nine of the participants had at least severe depression and three were moderately depressed. All had been clinically depressed for a significant amount of time, on … Continue reading Magic mushrooms could be used to treat depression