EU-funded researchers have sequenced the genome of the community of microbes that lives in our guts. The study sheds new light on the influence of these microbes on our health and could lead to the development of new treatments and diagnostic tests for a variety of diseases.

Physicians will significantly expand the range of activities they conduct on mobile devices by 2012, according to Manhattan Research's "Future of Physician Media" report. Currently physicians primarily use mobile devices to access clinical content and perform quick tasks.

The Research Partnership in Cognitive Aging, a public-private effort to promote the study of brain function with age, will award up to $28 million over five years to 17 research grants to examine the neural and behavioral profiles of healthy cognitive aging and explore interventions that may prevent, reduce or reverse cognitive decline in older people.

Scientists across the world now have access to a powerful new tool not just to present their research, but also to have it discovered by a global audience. No longer do researchers or smaller labs have to worry about their hard work going unnoticed by other scientists, or have to feel restricted to print journals to communicate their ideas.

EU-funded scientists have discovered that the presence of low levels of a type of antibody in the immune system increases the chance of having a stroke, one of the leading causes of death worldwide.

The Internet has considerably more influence over consumer health decisions and actions than traditional channels like print, TV and radio, according to pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company Manhattan Research's latest report, "Health Influence Mapping: Benchmarking the Influence of Various Sources on Consumer Health Actions."

As mobile devices become more advanced, European physicians are turning to them for a number of uses in their professional practice, according to a recent study by Manhattan Research. About half of online European physicians check email on their mobile devices while nearly four in ten search on a mobile web browser.