By Philippa RoxbyHealth reporter
3 days agoAbout sharingThe synthetic embryo shows comparable brain and heart formation, scientists sayScientists in Cambridge have created synthetic mouse embryos in a lab, without using eggs or sperm, which show evidence of a brain and beating heart.
The mouse embryos, developed using stem cells, only lasted for eight days.
But the research team say it could improve understanding of the earliest stages of organ development - and why some pregnancies fail.
Other scientists caution that while the technique is promising there are
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2 days agoCommentsAbout sharing
Covid infection levels have continued to fall across the UK in mid-August, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
One in 45 people tested positive, with Covid rates lowest in school-age children.
The ONS says it will "closely monitor" the numbers as children return to the classroom.
Booster jabs are being offered to the most vulnerable from early September, to help protection during winter.
By Jim ReedHealth reporter
2 days agoAbout sharingModerna said it is suing Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for patent infringement linked to the development of the first Covid-19 vaccines.
The US biotech company is alleging that mRNA technology it developed before the pandemic was copied.
The lawsuit, which is seeking unspecified financial damages, was filed in the US and Germany.
Pfizer said it was "surprised" by the action and would "vigorously defend" itself against the allegations.
In a statement, Moderna said Pfizer/BioNTech copied two key elements of
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By Charanpreet KhairaBBC Wales News
6 hours agoAbout sharingDrug abuse: 'It grips you straight away', says recovering addict
There has been a sharp increase in the rate of deaths from drug misuse in Wales, according to new figures.
There were 210 deaths recorded in 2021, compared with 149 in 2020 - an increase of 41% - Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed.
The
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16 hours agoAbout sharing
More than 100,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine have been acquired in order to combat the spread of the virus, the government has said.
Last month the NHS stepped up its monkeypox vaccination programme in England as infections rose.
Vaccines minister Maggie Throup said the majority of vaccines were being made available in London, with about 75% of confirmed cases in the capital.
But she urged people to wait to be invited to receive their jabs.
While anyone can get monkeypox, the majority of those with the virus are gay, bisexual and other men who
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6 minutes agoAbout sharingArchie Battersbee suffered brain damage in an incident at home on 7 April and has not regained consciousness
The mother of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee has said the legal battle to postpone the withdrawal of her son's life support was at "the end".
On Wednesday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) refused an application from the boy's parents to delay any changes to his treatment.
Life-sustaining treatment for Archie has been in place since April and was due to be withdrawn earlier.
The ECHR said it "would not interfere" with the UK courts'
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By Hugh Pym and Chloe HaywardBBC News
5 hours agoAbout sharingMedical students and junior doctors were protesting outside Department of Health and Social Care last week
Hospital leaders are concerned by the government's decision not to offer junior doctors in England the same pay rise as other NHS staff.
Junior doctors are entitled to a 2% annual pay rise as
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By James GallagherHealth and science correspondent
6 hours agoAbout sharingPig organs have been partially revived an hour after the animals were killed, in a breakthrough with the potential to transform medicine, say US researchers.
The technique could increase the number of organs available for transplant and buy doctors more time to save a life if applied to people.
The study also challenges assumptions about what happens in the moments between life and death.
Experts said the findings were "truly remarkable" and "incredibly significant".
When
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3 days agoAbout sharing
Stranger Things star Jamie Campbell Bower has been praised for speaking publicly about his struggles with addiction.
The 33-year-old actor announced he was celebrating seven-and-a-half years of sobriety in a Twitter post.
His message received thousands of likes and replies from his 950,000 followers.
Addiction charity Turning Point said a high-profile figure speaking openly made it a "little less scary" for others thinking about seeking help.
Jamie posted a two-part tweet telling fans about his problems with addiction and his time in
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2 days agoAbout sharing
Scientists say they should soon be able to effectively cure inherited, life-threatening heart muscle conditions to save more young people from sudden cardiac death.
The British Heart Foundation has pledged £30m to the gene researchers who believe they can correct faulty DNA responsible for the damage.
Cardiomyopathies can kill without warning.
Many members of the same family are often at risk due to their genetics.
Cardiomyopathies often hit the headlines when they result in sudden cardiac death or heart emergencies in young, elite
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By Michelle RobertsDigital health editor
2 days agoCommentsAbout sharingCovid infections are on the way down in the UK, dropping by more than half a million in a week, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.
An estimated 3.2 million people had the virus in the week up to 20 July, compared to 3.8 million the week before.
Hospital cases are also
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By Malu CursinoBBC News
1 day agoAbout sharingBrazil and Spain have reported their first monkeypox deaths.
A 41-year-old man in Brazil became the first fatality from the virus outside Africa. Spain announced two deaths soon afterwards - the first in Europe.
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency.
But infections are usually mild and the risk to the general population is low.
On Friday Brazil's health ministry said the victim there had suffered from lymphoma and a weakened immune
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By Jim Reed & James FitzGeraldBBC News
1 day agoAbout sharingThree former health secretaries have called on the government to urgently pay compensation to victims of the contaminated blood scandal.
The chairman of the public inquiry into the scandal, Sir Brian Langstaff, has recommended that each victim should receive a provisional sum of £100,000.
One woman who developed hepatitis C from infected blood told the BBC the news was "incredibly significant".
The government has said it will urgently
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By James GallagherHealth and science correspondent
1 day agoAbout sharingA man who has lived with HIV since the 1980s seems to have been cured in only the fourth such case, say doctors.
He was given a bone marrow transplant to treat blood cancer leukaemia from a donor who was naturally resistant to the virus.
The 66-year-old, who does not want to be identified, has stopped taking HIV medication.
He said he was "beyond grateful" the virus could no longer be found in his body.
The man is known as the "City of Hope" patient after the hospital where he
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9 hours agoAbout sharingTwo thirds of the global population under the age of 50 now carry HSV-1, according to the World Health Organisation
The spread of cold sores could be traced back to kissing in the Bronze Age, a study found.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge said the HSV-1 strain of the herpes virus arose during vast migrations of people from Eurasia to Europe about 5,000 years ago.
The virus currently infects about 3.7 billion people worldwide.
Researchers have been studying DNA samples from thousands of years ago to understand how viruses adapt.
The
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