Author Archives: Science Media Centre

expert reaction to US study looking at safety and effectiveness of new sperm sex selection technique in couples undergoing ICSI IVF cycles

A study published in PLOS ONE looks at the safety and efficacy of a novel sperm sex selection technique.   … read more

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expert reaction to review of global literature on social media use, body image and eating disorders in young people

A scoping review published in PLOS Global Public Health investigates the association between social media, body image and eating disorders … read more

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expert reaction to study looking at the association between hormonal contraceptive use and breast cancer incidence

A study published in PLOS Medicine looks at combined and progestagen-only hormonal contraceptives and breast cancer risk. This Roundup accompanied … read more

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Hormonal contraceptives and breast cancer incidence

While there is substantial evidence suggesting an association between the use of combined oral contraceptives, containing both oestrogen and progestogen, … read more

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expert reaction to study looking at alcohol-related deaths and hospitalisations in Scotland since the minimum unit pricing for alcohol policy was introduced

An observational study published in the Lancet looks at alcohol-related deaths and hospitalisations in Scotland since the minimum unit pricing … read more

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expert reaction to systematic review of studies which look at viewing self harm material online and associated psychological impacts

A systematic review published in Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry looks at the impact of viewing self-harm images on … read more

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What has happened to alcohol-related deaths and hospitalisations in Scotland since minimum unit pricing was brought in?

Minimum unit pricing for alcohol was brought in in Scotland by the Scottish government in May 2018 – a minimum … read more

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IPCC AR6 – Synthesis Report

The Synthesis Report is the final part of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6).  It is fully based on the … read more

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expert reaction to the AR6 synthesis report, as published by the IPCC

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have published it’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). This Roundup accompanied an SMC Briefing.   … read more

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expert reaction to research on giving peanut products to babies

Research published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology looks at the window of opportunity to prevent peanut allergies. … read more

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Peanut allergies and babies

Peanut allergy has seen a five-fold increase in recent decades. It now affects around one in 50 children in the … read more

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expert reaction to study of elite football players and risk of dementia

A study published in The Lancet Public Health looks at neurodegenerative disease among male elite football players in Sweden.   … read more

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expert reaction to Meta’s language model for predicting protein structure

A study looking at the application of Meta’s Large Language Models to predict protein structure has been published in Science. … read more

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expert reaction to study looking at an immune cell (monocyte) function in patients hospitalised with COVID who have lung-related long COVID symptoms

A study published in the European Respiratory Journal looks at monocyte function and long COVID lung symptoms in hospitalised COVID … read more

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expert reaction to analysis of global life expectancy data

An analysis of life expectancy in the UK from 1952 to 2021 has been published in the Journal of the Royal … read more

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expert reaction to study attempting to generate functional mouse egg cells from male mouse stem cells

A study published in Nature looks at generating functional oocytes from male mice in vitro.   Prof Rod Mitchell, Professor … read more

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expert reaction to study of high sucralose diet and immune response in mice

A study published in Nature looks at the dietary sweetener sucralose and immune response in mice.   Prof Neil Mabbott, … read more

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expert reaction to the Spring Budget

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, presented his Spring Budget 2023 to Parliament today. Comments specifically on the plans … read more

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expert reaction to OpenAI announcing GPT-4

OpenAI has revealed ChatGPT successor, GPT-4.   Prof Dimitrios Makris, Professor in Computer Vision and Machine Learning, Kingston University, said: … read more

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expert reaction to study looking at Mediterranean diet and women’s cardiovascular disease and death risk

A study published in Heart looks at a Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular disease in women.   Prof George Davey Smith … read more

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