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COVID vaccines: our current shots could soon be updated to target new variants – an immunology expert explains
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock More than two years into the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, continues to challenge us. Its ability to rapidly mutate has seen the evolution of increasingly infectious variants that are getting better at hiding from our immune response. Vaccines are a huge achievement of modern-day science andContinue Reading
The US Supreme Court: what is its role and its powers?
The US Supreme Court is in the news around the world. The reason: a series of decisions which are already having – and will continue to have – a massive impact on the lives of ordinary Americans. The Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling gathered the most coverage, hardlyContinue Reading
Genetic Screening Now Lets Parents Pick the Healthiest Embryos
Those using IVF can see which embryo is least likely to develop cancer and other diseases. But can protecting your child slip into playing God?Continue Reading
Edinburgh Fringe 2022: Our pick of the 20 must-see comedy shows
T he 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe promises to be unique. After two years away, there is a bottleneck of performers bursting to perform. The official Fringe brochure is published this Thursday but it could take until September to read it all. From newbies breaking through to stars roadtesting their newContinue Reading
More parts of China battle Covid and threats of lockdown as cases spike again
Covid-related restrictions tightened in parts of China as local cases climbed, while lighter measures such as virus testing linger on in Shanghai, pictured here on July 3, 2022. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images BEIJING — Just days after China relaxed some Covid controls, virus cases in different partsContinue Reading
Pakistan: how an economic crisis has sent prices rocketing
Pakistan’s current economic struggles exemplify the little fires everywhere set alight across the global economy by a war during a pandemic. Like others in countries dependent on imported commodities — for example Ghana and Sri Lanka — Pakistanis are seeing food and fuel prices soar. Foreign exchange reserves – usedContinue Reading
Ukraine: survey shows British people, and especially Tory voters, feel very differently about some refugees than others
As of late May, in the three months since Russia invaded Ukraine, 6.8 million refugees had fled the war into other countries. The majority, some 3.6 million people, headed to Poland, while another million went to Romania. European Union nations and others began offering visa waivers and other schemes toContinue Reading
Eggs and sperm can now be stored for up to 55 years – here’s what that means for donors and people seeking fertility treatment
The new storage limits may give people more flexibility when it comes to their fertility treatment. Ekaterina Georgievskaia/ Shutterstock The UK government has just extended the period that gametes (eggs and sperm) and embryos can be stored from ten years to 55 years. While this change will probably be welcomedContinue Reading
Male dogs are more likely to develop contagious nose cancer from sniffing other dogs’ genitals
Normally we don’t think of cancer as an infectious disease – but what if we told you there is a contagious cancer, thousands of years old? This cancer is not, however, caused by transmission of a virus. These are cancer cells that can be physically passed on between dogs. InContinue Reading
Colombia: Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez have achieved a historic victory for the left – so who are they?
It was, said Francia Márquez Mina, a victory for “the nobodies”. Speaking in Bogota on June 19 after the results of the Colombian presidential election were announced, the newly elected vice-president struck a jubilant note after becoming the first black woman to be elected to the office – on aContinue Reading