At low temperatures the human body has a hard time. As the cold sets in, blood vessels constrict to maintain heat and some body parts – like fingers and toes – begin to suffer. Metabolism ramps up to fight…
The evidence that smoking causes lung cancer is definitive. It took a few decades, but cigarette packs now carry prominent health warnings to alert us to this risk. When it comes to dietary patterns, convincing…
We live in an exciting era where new technologies are allowing us to amass huge quantities of data about cancer. And vast databases containing the genetic profiles of tumours and other information have…
Scientists have recently raised alarm over the possibility that some inks used for tattoos contain cancer-causing chemicals. To make matters worse, some pigments come as small particles called nanoparticles…
Late last week, the world’s leading experts on cancer, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans. The agency’s report, Air Pollution…
Clinical trials provide the unbiased evidence essential for improving treatments in all areas of medicine. For children with cancer the development of safe treatments that work has relied on high quality…
The history of biology is peppered with invaluable contributions by physics and physicists. Even if we leave aside the argument that it’s all just physics anyway, theoretical and practical biology leans…
If your great-grandparents lived through a famine, their experience could well have altered their genetic code. And three generations later you could well be showing signs of that change. The idea that…
It’s Nobel season and who could forget IVF pioneer Sir Robert Edwards who won the accolade for medicine in 2010? More than ever before, reproductive medicine is throwing up new treatments and answers to…
Humanity is standing on the cusp of a huge technological leap. Commercial space flight could place something that has been the preserve of a chosen few (around 500 people) who’ve completed years of gruelling…
If you or someone close to you has lived with prostate cancer, you’ve probably come across dozens of emerging treatments in your hours of Googling. One such treatment, focal therapy, has been dubbed the…
Each year around 14,400 Australians are diagnosed with bowel (colon and rectal) cancer. It’s the second most common newly diagnosed cancer after lung cancer and claims around 3,980 lives a year. The good…
A recent Norwegian study on psychedelic drugs and psychological well-being not only highlighted fewer mental health issues among users of these drugs but also underscored the reinvigoration of scientific…