Brain gain: Europe’s big advances in neuroscience

EU researchers are coming up with new ways to tackle the range of illnesses tied to the human body’s most complex organ. By  Horizon Staff In the southern French city of Marseille, health researchers have developed a way to operate more effectively on epilepsy patients. In Milan in northern Italy, scientists have come up with … Read more

Fighting brain tumours with the help of viruses and molecules

By harnessing unusual allies, pioneering cancer treatments could reduce the need for invasive surgery and save lives. By  Tereza Pultarova Dr Marta Alonso, a Spanish biomedical researcher, developed an interest in paediatric brain tumours during a traineeship in the US state of Texas. Alonso had a chance encounter in 2007 at the MD Anderson Cancer … Read more

The quest to bring osteoarthritis to its knees

Millions of people in Europe and elsewhere suffer degeneration of joint cartilage in the knee, driving EU research into better treatments. By  Michael Allen Beyond making a tray of sushi rolls delectable, the potential uses of seaweed are growing fast amid discoveries that it may do everything from improve diets to ease bowel disease. Now seaweed … Read more

High hopes: the quest to turn cannabis into a potent medicine

Marijuana shows promise in treating illnesses ranging from depression and addiction to arthritis and epilepsy. By  Vittoria D’Alessio Callie Seaman was 16 when she started smoking cannabis to control her epilepsy. The seizures that had started two years earlier were affecting her ability to function and, while she’d excelled at school until her diagnosis, her … Read more

The good, bad and essential: microbes that affect food and health

EU researchers are examining how bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms could boost the health of both plants and animals. By  Gareth Willmer When Professor Tom Gilbert and his colleagues were researching how different diets affect chickens in 2019, something strange happened: one batch of chicks grew much more slowly than in two previous trials. And … Read more