The European Space Agency is throwing its full support behind an initiative spearheaded by the Portuguese National Health Institute for the development of a Health Early-Warning System (HEWS). HEWS will enable the timely detection and tracking of emerging threats to public health and safety via satellite.

Fluorescent molecules - i.e. substances which can be stimulated to emit light - are extremely valuable tools in biological research and medical diagnosis. Fluorescence can be used for instance to analyze the regulation and expression of genes, to locate proteins in cells and tissues, to follow metabolic pathways and to study the location and migration of cells.

Scientists from Helmholtz Zentrum München have developed a breakthrough methodology for understanding metabolism related variations from experimental genomics data. Using proposed bioinformatics strategy they were able to demonstrate that in most cases identified disease-specific metabolism variations are not independent, e.g. deregulated genes from different pathways are linked to each other via one or two step of consecutive metabolic reactions.

Fostering the development and implementation of national eHealth policies and strategies has been a key goal of the European Union (EU) eHealth Action Plan of 2004. To review progress made and analyse the results so far obtained by EU Member States, the European Commission just before Christmas signed a contract with Bonn-based eHealth specialist empirica.

As we age, our memories start to decline: we forget names, struggle to recall recent conversations and all too often appointments and tasks slip our minds. Now researchers in the EU-funded HERMES ('Cognitive care and guidance for active aging') project are using information and communication technology (ICT) to develop a user-friendly system that will both support older people when their memories fail and offer memory-boosting exercises.

Article of the Month!

eHealthNews.EU Portal, the first European eHealth news portal, has announced the Top 20 news articles of the 2008 year, according to the most commonly viewed pages:

Scientists from the EU-funded RECEPTRONICS project are turning to nature, and combining what they learn with the latest in nanotechnology, to find new ways of diagnosing cancer. The project, funded by the EU with EUR 1.99 million under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), brings together experts from four European countries in the fields of biochemistry, bioengineering, nanotechnology and information technology.