News

Systems biology brings hope of speeding up drug development

Almost every day brings news of an apparent breakthrough against cancer, infectious diseases, or metabolic conditions like diabetes, but these rarely translate into effective therapies or drugs, and even if they do clinical development usually takes well over a decade. One reason is that medical...

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Europe rallies behind nanotechnology to wean world from fossil fuels

Nanotechnologies can be used to develop sustainable energy systems while reducing the harmful effects of fossil fuels as they are gradually phased out over the next century. This optimistic scenario is coming closer to reality as new technologies such as biomimetics and Dye Sensitised solar Cells...

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ESF study helps stop drugs slipping through safety net

Recent advances in genetic screening will lead to safer pharmaceutical drugs, with reduced adverse side effects, if the methods are incorporated in clinical development. A rallying call to bring key scientists into this growing field of pharmacogenics, the application of genetics to drug...

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Nature inspires new highly specific drugs and organic products

The best place to seek novel compounds for pharmaceutical drugs, alternative energy sources, and a host of industrial applications, is within natural systems that have evolved over millions of years. Scientists now realise that the precise molecular arrangements within natural pathways in organisms...

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Future for clean energy lies in “Big Bang” of evolution

Amid mounting agreement that future clean, “carbon-neutral”, energy will rely on efficient conversion of the sun’s light energy into fuels and electric power, attention is focusing on one of the most ancient groups of organism, the cyanobacteria. Dramatic progress has been made over the last decade...

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Europe, Japan join forces to map out the future of intelligent robots

The field of robotics could be poised for a breakthrough, leading to a new generation of intelligent machines capable of taking on multiple tasks and moving out of the factory into the home and general workplace. The great success of robots so far has been in automating repetitive tasks in process...

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Humanities and social sciences bridging the gap between theory and practice

Two international conference series in humanities, social and environmental sciences have been launched by the European Science Foundation in partnership with Bielefeld University and the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF)

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ESF, FMSH/Entre-Sciences’ conferences to address critical environmental topics

The European Science Foundation (ESF) and the French Foundation of the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH) (within the Entre-Sciences programme) have agreed to jointly develop a new conference series in environmental sciences; an effort to actively foster exchanges between scientists working in...

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Europe gets together to harness quantum physics

The long cherished goal of applying the strange properties of quantum mechanics to the macroscopic world we inhabit has been brought closer by a series of recent developments. The exciting progress was made in the important field of quantum optics and discussed recently at a high level conference...

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New treatments for viral and other diseases by blocking genes

The elusive goal of developing effective treatments for viral diseases such as AIDS and influenza has been brought closer by dramatic progress in the ability to interfere with viral genetic machinery. The stage was set for a coordinated European effort to accelerate research and stimulate...

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