Vaccines make a crucial contribution to public health, saving hundreds of millions of people from deadly or debilitating diseases every year, but it’s also fair to say that getting your shots is not the most pleasant of experiences. It’s not just a question of short term discomfort, many people suffer from needle phobias that can … Continue reading Shots without jabs: The future of vaccination.
Tag: paul browne
How to build a lung
Tissue engineering, a field that combines cell biology, engineering, and materials science to manufacture tissues - and more recently even whole organs - to replace those lost to injury or illness, must be one of the most exciting areas in modern medicine. Since the earliest reports about a mouse with a human ear growing on … Continue reading How to build a lung
Animal Research Benefits Mom and Baby Alike
The contributions of animal research to human health are many. In response to blanket statement that animal research “does not work” I wanted to provide three examples of how animal research has directly benefited the health of women and their babies: in-vitro fertilization, oral contraceptives and neonatal intensive care. Do you or any of your … Continue reading Animal Research Benefits Mom and Baby Alike
Septic shock: Mice show way to a new treatment
When we think of the immune system we usually think of the adaptive immune system - the B-cells and T-cells that recognize and destroy specific pathogens – which isn’t surprising since this is the arm of the immune system that vaccines are designed to stimulate. However working alongside the adaptive immune system is the innate … Continue reading Septic shock: Mice show way to a new treatment
A shield against the nightmare: Ebola virus vaccine success
There must be few diseases that can conjure up images of horror the way Ebola virus can. Since it was first identified in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the mid-1970’s there have been several outbreaks that have left hundreds of people dead, but it is the potential for far worse outbreaks … Continue reading A shield against the nightmare: Ebola virus vaccine success
Laying the foundations of medical research
For the past couple of weeks a debate has been raging on the Opposing Views website between Speaking of Research’s Dario Ringach and the anti-vivisectionist Ray Greek. It has been a debate shaped by Dr. Greek's attempts to persuade readers to agree with his very narrow concept of what prediction means in biology and his … Continue reading Laying the foundations of medical research
A Noble cause: Protecting babies brains with Xenon
Back in October I wrote about how animal research has enabled the development of brain cooling as a treatment to reduce brain damage in babies who had suffered oxygen starvation during birth. This is a problem that affects tens of thousands of babies every year, and frequently results in death or long-term disability. Brain cooling … Continue reading A Noble cause: Protecting babies brains with Xenon
RNAi: Send in the Nanobots!
The publication of the preliminary results of a small clinical trial of a new therapy called RNA interference (RNAi) online in the scientific journal Nature is causing quite a stir in the scientific community this week. A team led by Professor Mark E. Davis at Caltech targeted the delivery of a nanoparticle only 70 nanometers … Continue reading RNAi: Send in the Nanobots!
Speaking of Research 