Blood, the extraordinary fluid that runs through our veins. It nourishes us and sustains us. If our skin is broken, blood clots and protects the wound. It regenerates our bodies. It is our lifeforce. Despite all of this and decades of research, we still know so little about blood, and we're only just beginning to learn how to exploit its full potential. Our past and ancient mythology are filled with example ...

Almost exactly a year ago, we told you how a meningitis B vaccine was on its way for babies in the UK. And now, we can happily announce that a deal has been struck and all infants under the age of two months will have access to the vaccine from later this year. There has been something of a delay, which was mainly caused by the cost of the drug, called Bexsero. As we told you last year, Bexsero was created ...

Dogs have been called "man's best friend" for the longest time, and they have even been know to save human lives. And it looks like they could save even more lives in the future, according to a team of researchers from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in the US. Frankie is a German Shepherd dog who had previously shown the team that he could be trained to sniff out thyroid cancer from ...

It's a debate that has been going on for what feels like forever - is coffee good or bad for you? Unfortunately, the answers isn't as clear cut as you might have thought; there has yet to be any conclusive evidence to support one side more than the other. However, a new study from an international team of researchers in South Korea may have just given coffee supporters some more ammo to support their cause. ...

For years, parents have been following advice stating that children under the age of five shouldn't eat peanut-based products for fear of an allergic reaction. Giving young children peanuts could also indeed be a choking risk, but what about foods like smooth peanut butter or delicious peanut butter cups? A new study from the King's College London now suggests that our children could actually benefit from a ...

Less than two months after the death of his wife of colon cancer, Dr Billy Boyle and his company have invented a breath test that can detect lung cancer. Former advisor to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, as well as CEO of the charity Africa Governance Initiative, Kate Gross was diagnosed with colon cancer in October 2012. She passed away on Christmas Day last year, but not before inspiring her scientist husban ...

Back in July, we told you about the UK's progression towards three-person IVF. The procedure in question involves creating a baby using DNA from three people, a man and two women. The buzz surrounding this contentious topic isn't something to be taken lightly, but the technique also isn't a way of paving the road for so-called "designer babies". The procedure would only be available to families with a histo ...

High blood pressure, or hypertension, affects roughly 16 million people in the UK - around one in three adults. Hypertension can usually be managed with medication, but around 5% of people with such high blood pressure that it isn't affected by drugs. While high blood pressure might not sound like that big of a deal, it can cause strain on the blood vessels around the body. This strain can cause the blood v ...

According to experts, if both a man and women visited the emergency room complaining of chest pains, the male would be twice as likely to be diagnosed with a heart attack than the female. But this isn't because twice as many men suffer from heart attacks than women. All of the tell-tale signs of cardiac arrest that you hear about - they don't necessarily apply to everyone. So someone could be admitted with ...

Scientists from England and Germany think they have found the key to learning and retaining new information in babies and toddlers - napping! We already know that very young children need to have daytime sleeps to aid them in crucial physical and mental developments. Despite how much we know, there is still a lot more to be learnt about how else infants' sleeping habits can affect them physically and mental ...