Researchers in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester have developed a new synthesis method, which has led them to the discovery of fluorescent silicon nanoparticles and may ultimately help track the uptake of drugs by the body’s cells.

A team of scientists have developed an innovative robot rat which can seek out and identify objects using its whiskers. The SCRATCHbot robot will be demonstrated this week (1 July 2009) at an international workshop looking at how robots can help us examine the workings of the brain.

Neuherberg, 30 June 2009. Researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technische Universität München are using a combination of light and ultrasound to visualize fluorescent proteins that are seated several centimeters deep into living tissue. In the past, even modern technologies have failed to produce high-resolution fluorescence images from this depth because of the strong scattering of light. In the Nature Photonics journal, the Munich researchers describe how they can reveal genetic expression within live fly larvae and fish by “listening to light”. In the future this technology may facilitate the examination of tumors or coronary vessels in humans.

For the first time, scientists have shown that chromosomal abnormalities are present in more than 90% of IVF embryos, even those produced by young, fertile couples. The Belgian researchers say that the surprising finding mean that current techniques used in preimplantation genetic screening, where embryos are screened genetically in order to select the best embryo for transfer, do nothing to improve pregnancy and live birth rates and indeed can lead to potentially viable embryos being discarded.

Survivors of childhood cancer run particular risks when pregnant and should be closely monitored, say Dutch researchers. Although such women may have conceived spontaneously and considered themselves to be perfectly healthy, their deliveries should always take place in a hospital, they say.

For the first time, researchers have been able to identify genetic predictors of the potential success or failure of IVF treatment in blood. The Irish scientists say that this research would help understand why IVF works for some patients but not for others.

The largest study to date of endometriosis in pregnant women has found that the condition is a major risk factor for premature birth, a Swedish scientist told the conference today. The researchers found that women with endometriosis also had a higher risk of other pregnancy complications, as well as being more likely to give birth through Caesarean section

In an article in Science, Noam Zelcer from the LACDR describes a previously unknown mechanism for regulating the amount of LDL cholesterol. This offers opportunities for supplementing and improving the effect of so-called statins: medicines that remove 'bad' cholesterol from the bloodstream.

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have discovered a new brain mechanism involved in alcohol addiction involving the stomach hormone ghrelin. When ghrelin’s actions in the brain are blocked, alcohol’s effects on the reward system are reduced. It is an important discovery that could lead to new therapies for addictions such as alcohol dependence.

A study by Queen’s University Belfast has confirmed that some Northern Ireland teenagers are experimenting with cocaine.