Science and Health Blog - Mirror.co.uk

Freaky animal experiments: How far should scientists go?

2009-11-10T12:41:53Z

Scientists are on the brink of creating freaky animals with human brains, faces arms and legs for medical research.

They say the "science fiction" of producing animals with human cells which might even speak is just around the corner.

But they want to know: How far should we go?

The Academy of Medical Sciences is launching an 18 month inquiry and consultation into the growing science of putting human DNA and cells into animals for medical research.

Huge advances have been made in recent years in the amount of human DNA or cells that can be transferred into animals.

Now scientists say they could soon replace significant parts of monkey or mouse's brain with human neurons.

They could be growing human limbs on animals to study congenital defects.
But they want to know where the "yuck factor" to the freaky experiments lies - and what the public will stand for.

Professor Martin Bobrow, of Cambridge Univiersity, told us at a briefing at the Science media Centre there were already rumours of scientists abroad replacing 25% of a macaque monkey brain with human brain cells..

"The technology for doing these things is already there or thereabouts. If ever we are going to formulate an open debate on whether these things should or should not be done, the time is now."

Scientists have been quietly transferring human DNA and cells to animals for the last 40 years.

They have already created a "Down's Syndrome mouse" to study the condition.
But Professor Bobrow admitted: "If you went into Oxford Street and asked about medical advances based on human and animal genes being mixed up most people would not know anything about it."

He said putting human material into animals was "the other half of the equation" to embryo experiments which used parts of animals in human embryos and was so hotly debated in the UK before the passing of the embryology bill.

The inquiry isn't into the principles of using animals for medical research but where the ethical boundaries lie in mixing up human and animal DNA, professor Bobrow said.
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The human to animal experiments raise ethical questions which have so far been ignored.

"We need to get a bedrock understanding of recognising the differences and similarities between species and trying to recognise what is specifically human.

"If you created a monkey which said 'Good morning' that might upset people but if a parrot did that nobody would bat an eyelid."

"If an animal could speak, or think or make human sperm that could cause concern."

In the experiments, human DNA is either added to the animals or animal DNA is replaced by human DNA. Or human cells are inserted into animals or animal embryos.

Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, genetics expert at the Medical Research Council added: "Someone might want to model limb development like hands in an animal to see what goes wrong. There are good reasons for doing it but it might upset some people. If you could genetically engineer animals to speak people might get upset.

"This is science fiction but it is not so very far away from what is possible. These things may seem yucky but they may be worth doing if they advance treatments. "

Dr Sebastien Farnaud, Science Director for non-animal medical research charity the Dr Hadwen Trust, says: "Apart from the obvious ethical concerns, there are unambiguous reasons why inserting human DNA in different species should not be done.

"As shown in the genetically modified animal models of cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy, fundamental differences between species lead to different symptoms or no symptoms at all.

"This is because a single gene is not solely responsible for the way a disease manifests itself. This also applies to the transfer of a human gene into a different species. These epigenic factors, factors that are not contained within the gene itself but that contribute to its expression, make such hybrid animal models irrelevant to the human case."

Jamie Hewlett's paintings from Bangladesh at Oxfam climate change show

2009-10-16T16:26:53Z

Paintings by Jamie Hewlett, co-founder of Gorillaz, have gone on show at an Oxfam exhibition on climate change.

The exhibition includes nine watercolours following a visit he made to Cha Atra in Bangladesh. It includes this one of Zahid Hossain, 5, "looking up wondering when the rains will come."

He also taught children how to draw on his trip.

On the trip Hewlett met people trying to raise their homes above the higher flood levels, parents who had lost children to the floods and children who swim to school with their books on their heads, determined not to allow the floods prevent them from getting an education.

Jamie said: "Char Atra is such an idyllic place and it's horrific to think of it being simply washed away, devastating the community. I wanted my paintings to be optimistic as well as realistic and I wanted to show what a beautiful place it is. I hope by concentrating on the people and their every day lives that I have given people here in Britain something they can relate to.

"This exhibition shows how climate change is already affecting people around the world but also how we can all do something now to stop this from getting completely out of control."

Under Water Colour is open to the public from October 17 - 31 at Dray Walk Gallery, which is part of the Truman Brewery, in Dray Walk, just off Brick Lane in London. It is open from 10-6pm and admission is free.

Limited edition prints of Jamie's paintings can be purchased to support Oxfam's River Basin programme, which operates in Char Atra and more widely in Bangladesh and Nepal. They are available priced £100 at the gallery during the first weekend of the exhibition or at www.oxfam.org.uk/jamiehewlett

First Government public warning on climate change

2009-10-09T09:16:23Z

The first government public warning on man-made climate change will be broadcast tonight on British television.

The public service advert is the first to warn officially climate change is happening and confirm it is man-made.

It will be aired in the Coronation Street break at 8.45 pm.

The ad features a dad reading a bedtime story to his daughter.

The dad tells his daughter of "a very strange world" with "horrible consequences" for today's children.

At the end she asks: "Is there a happy ending?"

The more direct approach follows research for the Department of Energy and Climate change which reveals that only one in five think they will see the effects of climate change in their children's lifetime.

And more than 50% don't think it will affect them. It also shows people are confused about what is causing climate change.

But will people take kindly to this more forceful approach to getting the message across?

And is telling a frightening bedtime stroy to a child before the 9pm threshold the best way to promote warnings on climate change?

I understand there's quite a bit of interest in the public reaction to this ad and whether it will do any good.

India suffers weakest monsoon for 40 years

2009-10-02T15:01:44Z

India has suffered its weakest monsoon for nearly 40 years.

Rainfall is 23 per cent below average making it the worst since 1972.

Ishan Tankura, a photographer from Delhi, has made a film about the lateness of this year's monsoon for Greenpeace.

The 90 second video is one of three Greenpeace are making in the run-up to the Copenhagen talks in December.

India is the world's second biggest producer of rice, wheat and sugar and millions of farmers in rural India rely on the monsoon to grow their crops.

Prince Charles launches global rainforest SOS campaign

2009-09-30T14:59:55Z

Prince Charles and Sting have joined forces to launch a campaign to save the rainforests.

They want millions to sign up and send messages to key leaders demanding action now to stop rainforests being chopped down.

Messages will be given to key leaders at a Rainforest summit, called by Prince Charles in November.

Sting has recorded a video with his song Police song Message in a Bottle, which was released 30 years ago.

The Rainforest sos campaign is the next step in the Prince's Rainforests Project bid to raise awareness of the plight of the tropical rainforests before December's UN climate change meeting in Copenhagen.

The first part of the campaign was launched in May when Prince Charles, William and Harry along with celebrities like Harrison Ford and Robin Williams appeared in videos with computer animated frogs.

That video had 4.2 million views but now the Project wants people to sign up online or text a message which will be presented at a rainforest summit called by Prince Charles in November.

The campaign is being supported by AOL, Yahoo, Google, MySpace, Facebook, The John Lewis partnership, BT, Tesco, Sainsbury's Virgin and Sky.

Celebritis such as david Attenborough, Stephen Fry, Daniel Craig Joanna Lumley and Billy Connelly have backed the campaign and recorded messages.
Stephen Fry said: "A huge percentage of all life on this planet comes from the rainforest.
'Science speaks with one voice about the threat to our ecosystem, the threat to our climate , the threat to our population, the threat to the biodiversity of the planet we have inherited, and we know better now and it bears with us to do something about it.
"It may not seem that one person can change things but a lot of people can."

Joanna Lumley, another supporter said: "I have chosen to support The Prince's Rainforests Project because when trees disappear it's the final curtain for life on earth.
"I have chosen to support the Prince's Rainforest Project because without trees I don't think life on earth has a snowball's chance in hell."

To send a message people can go to http://www.rainforestsos.org or www.rainforestSOS.org and sign up
Or text SOS and your full name to 60777 (only available in UK).

In the last 50 years a third of the world's rainforests have been destroyed.

Cutting down the forests is estimated to contrubute more to carbon emissions than all the transport in the world.

Tony Juniper, special advisor to the Prince's Rainforest Project told me: "What really underlines the urgency of this is the climate change challenge. That's Prince Charles has been inspired to do this.

Prince Charles is known as a credible leader on these issues so if he calls meetings or invites people to discussions it is taken very seriously. That ability is unique. He has no axe to grind politically and he is seen as someone who is sincere, knowledgable and determined on this issue.

These countries are not cutting down their forest for fun.
They are doing it to earn money to pay for healthcare, for education to create jobs and economic growth.

The remedy to this is to pay countries to keep their forests, not as an act of charity or overseas aid but as an act of planetary protection."

The aim is to slow the destruction of the rainforests by a quarter by 2015.

"We need to act now because time is running short," Tony said.

Children sought for swine flu vaccine trial

2009-09-29T10:42:21Z

Paediatricians are looking for 1,000 children to take part in a swine flu vaccine trial.

The doctors want to compare two H1N1 vaccines to see which one will work best in youngsters.

The tests will be taking place at five sites in England - Southampton, Oxford, Bristol, Exeter and London.

The children need to be aged over 6 months and under 13 years old.

Dr Saul Faust, specialist in infectious diseases at Southampton General Hospital and senior lecturer in child health at the University of Southampton, said: "Children are one of the age groups most vulnerable to swine flu infection, so it is vital that we obtain information on their response to these vaccines.

"This study will help in decisions about which vaccine will be best for protecting children."

Parents interested in enrolling their child in this study should visit the www.swineflutrial.org website for further information.

New smart CCTV cameras will be watching you

2009-09-24T16:54:05Z

There are four million CCTV cameras in the UK but most of them are useless for fighting crime.

Cameras watch us on buses trains and at airports but their effect on reducing crime has been negligible.

That's because they simply record huge amounts of film and virtually none of it is ever viewed.

It just gets put on a disc and stored and never looked at again unless the police want to check it while investigating a crime.

But a new generation of CCTV cameras is being tested which will not only film you but assess and analyse everything you are doing.

They make an assessment of your age, gender, the colour of your clothes and other factors to assess whether you are at risk.

Changing your seat on a bus, standing on the stairs or loitering too close to the driver could trigger the computer to think you are a threat.

Pictures will be beamed back to a central control room where a computer will filter out the pictures and highlight the ones where there is the biggest crime risk.

Instead of watching a bank of screens security analysts will just need to watch three or four which the computer has highlighted for them to watch in "real time."

If the security officer thinks there is a threat they could appear on a screen in a bus or train and tell you: "We've got our eye on you."

Or the CCTV film could be relayed to the nearest police patrol car and a police officer would appear on the screen with the same message.

These smart CCTV cameras are already being tested and are set to become the latest weapons in fighting crime on public transport within the next five years.

The software for the cameras is being developed at the new £25 million Centre for Secure Information Technologies at Belfast University.

Dr Paul Miller, Research Director of Intelligent Surveillance Systems, said there had been a "lost decade" of massive investment in CCTV cameras.

"Current CCTV cameras operate in a very passive way. They simply collect enormous amounts of data but very little is watched in real time.

"The system will instantly give every live feed a score, based on factors such as time of day, crime statistics for the location, a threat assessment of the people shown and so on. The score will determine where each feed is placed in the queue for the controller's attention," said Dr Miller.

"We aim to develop a system which will make crime-free buses, trains, stations and airports a reality."

A camera at a bus stop would analyse everyone in the queue and make a judgement whether it was a risky group. Factors such as whether the stop was in a high crime area and whether it was late at night would be included.

The passengers would be assessed again on the bus with help from simple metal detectors on the doors and driver microphones picking up any shouting or disturbance

Dr Miller rejected the idea that the cameras were an invasion of privacy and said they would encourage people back onto the buses.

"It reduces the amount of surveillance because it only looks at what is appropiate. It is protecting privacy in many ways, " he said.

Stonehenge? No it's Fridgehenge.

2009-09-22T12:46:15Z

Today is the autumnal equinox and the Organic Milk Co-operative has unveiled its own monument in homage.

Fridgehenge was revealed today at 5.53am on Tuesday 22 September at Encie Farm, Somerset, just off the A303 near the Stonehenge site in Wiltshire.

According to the Co-operative: "Fridgehenge is a monument to organic farming and is intended to symbolise the natural goodness of milk that's been produced on farms that don't use artificial chemicals and pesticides."

Fridgehenge is made up of over 30 recycled fridges, each with cow print design.

Gill Crane, Communications Manager at OMSCo, said: "We are very proud of 'Fridgehenge' and hope it helps to inspire more people to drink organic milk and reap the benefits of consuming milk produced on farms with soils rich in natural nutrients.

" After the equinox we'll move to darker days when the dairy farmers will be working just as our ancient ancestors did to produce milk to feed our families."

Unlike Stonehenge, Fridgehenge will be taken down in a week's time.

Egg-like mounds left by northern British glacier

2009-09-16T15:40:39Z

Glaciers which coverered northern Britain left behind egg-like structures across the landscape.

Scientists have mapped the movement of glaciers which shaped the dramatic hills and dales of the North.

The egg-like features called Drumlins can be seen strewn along the A66, across the Solway and Lake District lowlands, the Northern Pennines and through the Tyne gap and southern Scotland.

Scientists have created a model which shows for the first time how the British and Irish ice sheet reversed its flow and retreated back into the upland regions where it started.

The glaciers dominated the north between 21,000 and 16,000 years ago.
The new reconstruction of the movement of the ice sheet, compiled by Durham University research team, reveals it flowed toward the Irish Sea eventually becoming so thick over the Solway Lowlands that it reversed its flow back up the valleys. re-shaping the land it had already created as it grew.

The wonderful rolling terrain walkers can see from the Pennine Way and drivers from the M6 motorway are all part of this glacial landscape.

Dr David Evans, of the Department of Geography, said: "The stereotypical image of Ice-Age Britain is of ice rolling in from the Arctic but this is not an accurate description of what happened.

"Britain was cold enough for ice to form in the uplands, growing and coelescing to produce an elongate, triangular shaped dome over north west England and south west Scotland around 19,500 years ago.

"Our research shows the lowland ice became so thick it began to move in unexpected ways - the ice moved back uphill from where it originally came."

A close look at many of the distinctive dry stone walls in the region of the North Pennine chain often reveals "erratic" stones which have been transported hundreds of miles by the glacier.

The new Prozac?

2009-09-16T11:04:54Z

A new drug could overtake Prozac as the most commonly- prescribed antidepressant, say experts.

New research shows that agomelatine - the first antidepressant in over a decade - is more effective than Prozac in treating depression.

And it is not associated with some of the common side-effects of antidepressant drugs such as weight gain, sleep difficulties and sexual problems.

A study found the £30-a-month drug, also known as Valdoxan, helped 77.7 per cent of people with severe depression compared with 68.8 per cent on Prozac.

The data was presented at the European Congress of Neuropsychopharmacology in Istanbul.

Professor Stuart Montgomery, from the Imperial College of Medicine in London, said: "The data has shown surprisingly good results.

"Prozac was a major advance in its day but we always knew it had limitations.

"I would think that more people will end up taking this than Prozac."

The study was carried out on 515 patients with an average age of 42, who were followed for eight weeks.

Lead researcher Professor Tony Hale, head of division of psychiatry at the University of Kent, said: "These results, showing better efficacy over Prozac, one of the most commonly prescribed antidepressants in the UK, add to the growing wealth of evidence supporting agomelatine as a new and important alternative for the treatment of depression."

The drug has already been licensed and is going through the approval process with the Government's drugs rationing watchdog.

It is expected to become widely available in Britain in the New Year.

Amazing 360-degree panoramic image of the whole night sky

2009-09-15T15:28:15Z

This magnificent 800 million pixel picture shows a 360 degree panorama of the entire sky as seen from the European Southern Observatory sites in Chile.

The amazing picture, which has just been released online, allows stargazers to explore and experience the Universe as it is seen with the unaided eye from the darkest and best viewing locations in the world.

It is made up of 1200 photographs. The panoramic image, covering the entire celestial sphere, reveals the cosmic landscape which surrounds our tiny blue planet.

It is the first of three images to be released of ESO's Gigagalaxy Zoom project.
and came about as a collaboration between ESO, the French writer and astrophotographer Serge Brunier, and his fellow Frenchman Frederic Tapissier.

Brunier spent several weeks between August 2008 and February 2009 capturing the sky, mostly from ESO observatories at La Silla and Paranal in Chile. In order to cover the full Milky Way, Brunier also made a week-long trip to La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, to photograph the northern skies.

"I wanted to show a sky that everyone can relate to -- with its
constellations, its thousands of stars, with names familiar since
childhood, its myths shared by all civilizations since Homo became
Sapiens," says Brunier.

"The image was therefore made as man sees it, with a regular digital camera under the dark skies in the Atacama Desert and on La Palma."

"The vision of the IYA2009 is to help people rediscover their place in
the Universe through the day- and night-time sky, and this is exactly
what the GigaGalaxy Zoom project is all about," says project
coordinator Henri Boffin.

The second dramatic GigaGalaxy Zoom image will be revealed next week,
on 21 September 2009.

*During his quest, Brunier used a Nikon D3 digital camera. The
apparent motion of the sky caused by Earth's rotation was corrected
for using a small, precise equatorial mount moving in the opposite
direction, which made a whole circle in 23 hours 56 minutes around the
Earth's axis of rotation. Each photo required a six-minute exposure,
for a total exposure time of more than 120 hours.

Which? says put your money where your mouth is

2009-09-14T15:46:41Z

Research by consumer group Which? shows the credit crunch is deterring many people from going to the dentist.

Among those who haven't visited a dentist in the past two years, cost was cited as the main reason why.

But according to Which?, a trip to the dentist is not always expensive if you're an NHS patient.

And research shows that around four out of 10 people who do pluck up the courage to see their dentist qualify for free or subsidised treatment.

The consumer group has now created an online search tool to help patients find their nearest NHS dentist.

The site will also help keep track of areas where people are having problems accessing NHS practitioners.

Branson backs anti-tobacco measures

2009-09-14T15:16:26Z

Sir Richard Branson is backing calls to ban cigarette vending machines and tobacco displays to prevent young people from smoking.

The Virgin boss, an ex-smoker, says stronger measures are needed to take the "glitz and glamour" out of tobacco.

And more needs to be done to stop children getting sucked into a "lethal addiction".

Branson is backing a campaign by Cancer Research UK to help protect children from tobacco marketing.

His backing precedes a new Health Bill moving through Parliament next month when MPs will vote on new tobacco control measures.

These include removing tobacco from public view in shops, introducing plain packaging and banning cigarette vending machines.

In a letter being sent to newspaper editors around the country this week, Branson writes: "Let's stop today's kids becoming tomorrow's smokers.

"Getting rid of cigarette vending machines will help save lives.

"And plain packaging will help take the glitz and glamour out of tobacco, resulting in fewer children being tempted into this lethal addiction.

"I believe that our children deserve a healthy future."

He is urging people to write to their MPs to ask them to support the Bill.

Research shows that more than eight out of 10 smokers start before they are 19.

And everyday around 450 children will take up the habit.

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, said: "Protecting young people from tobacco marketing and stopping another generation from becoming smokers is one of the most effective things we can do to reduce deaths from cancer.

"Tobacco marketing continues to trap too many young people in an addiction that will kill half of those who smoke long term.

"We urge all governments to act quickly to put tobacco out of sight and out of mind."

Dancing scientist helps create Charles Darwin ballet

2009-09-11T12:03:29Z

A Cambridge University professor has collaborated with the world-famous Rambert dance company to create a ballet based on the workk of Charles Darwin.

Professor Nicola Clayton, an accomplished dancer, was the scientific adviser on the ballet called "The Comedy of Change."

She is a leading expert on bird cognition and has published ground-breaking research on the cleverness of the Corvid bird family - crows, ravens and jays.

"Darwin and dance? For me the connection is clear, thanks to the birds," she says.

She explains: "I have always been fascinated by the showy displays of clever birds and their extravagant dances but this opportunity has inspired me to think in new ways. As the Scientifc Advisor of Rambert Dance Company's Creative Team, my role has been to distill Darwinian ideas about evolution into key principles that inform and inspire movement, energy and musicality."

The concept of sexual selection is one of Darwin's most celebrated theories and is the reason behind the birds' amazing dance skills. Using different examples from around the globe, she also highlights the important role of dance in the natural world.

This is most prominent in some species of birds where males perform dazzling dance shows in order to attract a female to mate.

She tells of the scientific inspiration behind the dance in the latest issue of Current Biology and also in this video.

Mirror says goodbye to Mark

2009-09-10T15:18:35Z

This is Mark's last blog and the end of his British Science Association media Fellowship with us. It's been a pleasure having him with us.
It can't be easy going into a completely new job and being expected to contribute - especially in the ever changing world of news. There's a big difference between academic style of writing and journalism.
I certainly wouldn't like to be thrown in front of an audience of students and be expected to teach them. I know I'd be rubbish.
Mark has spent six weeks out of his normal comfort zone but has been remarkably calm and patient and helpful.
His advice on what is new and what is not - especially in his field of psychology, has been invaluable!.

Mark writes..

My last day at the British Science Festival, and indeed my final day at the Daily Mirror, saw me start with a briefing on swine flu. Professor John Beddington, the Government's Chief Scientific Advisor, highlighted that a second wave of swine flu would be likely to hit the UK during October. This is of course when all schools and universities resume across the country. Fortunately though the number of probable fatalities from the epidemic remains low, and there's no real evidence that the virus has mutated into a more virulent and deadly form. This press briefing also saw the launch of a new swine flu glossary for journalists; the very glossary I'd been working on at the Science Media Centre!

The other main briefing I saw today was from a bunch of fellow psychologists talking about their research into human attraction; my own field of expertise. Although I knew all of the presenters, and had heard them present this material before, it was very interesting to see which aspects of it the journalists picked up on and thought was newsworthy.

After this the main thing I have to look forward to is the formal end of festival dinner. Should be a fairly swanky affair as it's a three course meal with complimentary wine and I even have to wear a suit for the occasion. I'm a little dubious about the unofficial 'from dusk to dawn' after party though; not sure I'll be in a fit state to get my train back to Nottingham tomorrow morning!

I guess all that's left is to thank Mike for being an absolutely excellent host at the Daily Mirror and for teaching me so much about how science reporting works. That's all for now, unless I can Mike to wangle me a permanent job at Mirror...