Once deemed defenceless against the antibiotics developed 50 years ago, bacteria have altered their genetic machinery over time, shaking our confidence in antibiotics’ ability to control infectious diseases and save human lives. With random, little tweaks on the genetic makeup, scientists can now rapidly spot signs of resistance in bacteria – evidence that certain pathogens could soon demolish the defence wall of antibiotics.
This year 2022 the fourth Navarre edition of Europa+Cerca takes place. The programme, promoted in Navarre by the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) represented by the University of Navarra and AIN, in collaboration with the Directorate General for Foreign Action and the Delegation of the Government of Navarra in Brussels, consists of face-to-face training and the organization of a trip to Brussels. The previous training will be on September 6th, and the trip to Brussels will be from September 13th to 15th, 2022. In this link you can access the registration form, which must be filled out beforeJune 30th.
On June 14th, HERA, the European Commission's Health Preparedness and Response Authority, concluded a contract with the company Bavarian Nordic to purchase 109 090 doses of their 3rd generation vaccines in response to the current monkeypox outbreaks. As the number of cases continues to grow, this agreement will make vaccines rapidly available to all EU Member States, Norway and Iceland.
Bones can be repaired and sometimes replaced with metal prostheses. So what’s stopping us reinforcing our skeletons? “Practically it is possible to coat a bone with metal, but a living bone will not survive. It needs the touch of its natural surroundings,” says Alisa Buchman. Bones need a healthy supply of blood, so they can absorb all the nutrients and oxygen they need, while expelling unwanted products like carbon dioxide, metabolic waste and acids.
The European Commission and the vaccine developer Moderna have reached an agreement to ensure that the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines is adapted to the needs of Member States. On the basis of this agreement, the company will postpone the delivery of some doses initially planned for quarter 2 of 2022, to later in the year. The agreement will also allow the delivery of vaccines adapted to future variants after approval by the European Medicines Agency, so that Member States can respond to any epidemiological developments later this year.
An artificial intelligence (AI) tool helps doctors predict the cancer risk in lung nodules seen on CT, according to a new study published in the journal Radiology. AI can go through very large datasets to come up with unique patterns that can’t be seen through the naked eye and end up being predictive of malignancy. The model appears to work equally well on diagnostic CT and low-dose screening CT.
A new computer-aided diagnostic tool developed by KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science & Technologym, Saudi Arabia) scientists could help overcome some of the challenges of monitoring lung health following viral infection. This new method known as Deep-Lung Parenchyma-Enhancing (DLPE) - overlays artificial intelligence algorithms on top of standard chest imaging data to reveal otherwise indiscernible visual features indicative of lung dysfunction.
The European Commission has approved an up to €10 billion Spanish scheme (“National Guarantee Scheme”) to support self-employed and companies across sectors in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis Framework, adopted by the Commission on 23 March 2022.
Combining a variety of techniques, EU-backed researchers have found what a sodium-proton exchanger called NHA2 looks like and how it works. Scientists have found that when these proteins do not work properly, they may lead to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart failure and hypertension. This discovery could lead to new drugs against high blood pressure and diabetes.
EU-backed researchers have used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to simultaneously track two different genes in two colours. The novel method could one day be used to monitor important processes deep in the body.
This will ensure Member States have access to the vaccines when they need them – including future variant adapted vaccines if authorised, so that they can respond to any epidemiological developments later this year and continue to support partner countries globally. This agreement with BioNTech-Pfizer will adapt the originally agreed contractual delivery schedules.
EMA has started a review of the cancer medicine Rubraca (rucaparib camsylate) when it is used to treat cancer of the ovary, fallopian tubes or peritoneum with a BRCA mutation in patients whose cancer has come back after platinum-based chemotherapy and who can no longer have these medicines. The review follows preliminary results indicating that overall survival was shorter in these patients than in those receiving chemotherapy.
