A new study conducted by a team of UK and US scientists has revealed the carcinogenic potential of certain carbon nanotubes. In a paper published in Nature Nanotechnology on 20 May, the researchers describe asbestos-like features in long, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), when they are inhaled in sufficient quantities.

The UK Parliament has voted to allow the creation of embryos containing both human and animal genetic material for research purposes. As apart of a two-date debate on amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, members of parliament voted 342 to 163 against an amendment to outlaw so-called hybrid or admixed embryos.

New research conducted by a group of EU-funded researchers is shedding new light on the way blood vessels grow, overturning years of medical thought. The findings have important implications for the development of novel drugs to treat diseases such as cancer, many of which target the tumour's ability to grow its own blood vessels.

Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have identified a molecule which plays a key role in both the regulation of body fat and the release of insulin from the pancreas. Two papers presenting the results are published online by the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Since the 18th century, several arsenic compounds have been used as medicines, including arsenic trioxide (ATO) which is commonly prescribed in the treatment of certain types of cancer. Although they prove to be effective, no one knows how these compounds work.

With the launch of its first call for proposals, the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) got underway on 30 April. Joining forces, the European Commission and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) hope to bring Europe back to the forefront of medical innovation.

The European Commission published a pan-European survey on electronic services in healthcare (eHealth) that shows 87% of European doctors (General Practitioners) use a computer, 48% with a broadband connection. European doctors increasingly store and send patients' data such as lab reports electronically.