Dealing with lower covid-19 levels will require improved understanding of what diagnostic tests are best used for. It will also need more accurate tests, but as testing demand will fall, delivering that needs incentive-based support.

Viruses continuously and naturally evolve. To track coronavirus variants, we need to think like Darwin. 

Variants can affect the sensitivity of tests for SARS-CoV2. To make sure that current tests will still work we need to play hide-and-seek with an evolving virus

Even with the advent of vaccines, strategies for rapid and affordable testing for COVID-19 are still paramount. The lack of evidence that the current vaccines can completely stop people from being infected and the emergence of virus variants make widespread testing crucial. But what do we mean as a “rapid” test and how do they compare to “standard” ones?

Genetically-tailored diets are in vogue. But do they work?

Myasthenia Gravis is a rare autoimmune disease which leads to a fatigability of various muscles. Scientists know about the progress and symptoms, but not the actual cause of this disease. Now fourteen pairs of identical twins joined the EU funded medical project “Fight-MG”, to help find the cause and for a better treatment of the patients.

Support from a network of leading researchers across Europe specialised in a rare auto-immune disease with unmet medical needs could help test several novel treatments

Scientists within the European research project AIPgene have developed a new gene therapy for Acute Intermittent Porphyria (AIP). 

New virus serotypes are safely used as ‘DNA transporters’ to successfully deliver genes to deficient cells. 

An early stage clinical trial on patients with the rare metabolic disorder, Pophyria, has shown no side effects—further trials, if successful, could lead to the first gene therapy of its kind.

Metabolites found in our blood are linked to ageing and can signpost the risk of developing age-related diseases. This may help avoid such risks and reduce the rate at which we age biologically.

Combining research on twins with new technology shows both nature and nurture play a role in biological ageing.

A promising new approach to gene therapy for neurodegenerative diseases makes use of an unexpected virus as the agent of delivery. 

First tests of new approach based on gene therapy could improve treatments of diseases affecting the brain 

Intervertebral disc degeneration can result in back pain. Now a team of scientists is debunking the myth that excessive physical work is the main culprit, and is looking at other causes. 

Lower back pain is poorly understood. But genetic factors rather than spinal disc degeneration may provide a more robust understanding of its causes.

The human DNA has been decoded already in the Human Genome Project. Now scientists from Martinsried near Munich are taking the next step to decode all proteins of a human being.

How many types of proteins are there in a cell? How many of each type are there and where are they at any given time? New methods may shed light on these fundamental biological questions.