Lindau: Winning the war

At this summer’s 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, 37 laureates spent a week with 600 young scientists from almost 80 countries to share their ideas, experiences and knowledge. Discussions revolved around global health, the latest findings in cancer and Aids research, challenges in immunology, and future approaches to medical research. All of the lectures can be viewed on Lindau’s Mediatheque website.

We’ve already heard about the future directions of HIVageing research and the side-effects of pharmaceuticals. This week Lorna explores the war on cancer.

Winning the war

In 1971, the then president of the United States, Richard Nixon, declared ‘war’ on cancer. Since then, billions of dollars have been poured into cancer research worldwide, but a cure for the disease is still a long way off. In this Nature Video, reporter Lorna Stewart marks the scientific milestones of the past four decades. She explores cancer genetics with Nobel laureate Michael Bishop, vaccines with fellow laureate Harald zur Hausen, and two young researchers tell Lorna about some of cancer research’s greatest success stories.

Nature Outlook also produced a supplement based on the Lindau meetings.

Lindau: May cause drowsiness

At this summer’s 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, 37 laureates spent a week with 600 young scientists from almost 80 countries to share their ideas, experiences and knowledge. Discussions revolved around global health, the latest findings in cancer and Aids research, challenges in immunology, and future approaches to medical research. All of the lectures can be viewed on Lindau’s Mediatheque website.

We’ve already heard about the future directions of HIV and ageing research. This week Lorna explores the side effects of pharmaceuticals.

May cause drowsiness

The benefits of modern pharmaceuticals are often accompanied by side effects, and although some are minor, like headaches or drowsiness, others can be much more serious. In this Nature Video, reporter Lorna Stewart asks scientists if we will ever eliminate side effects. Lorna is surprised when Nobel laureate Martin Evans claims there are no side effects, and fellow laureate Oliver Smithies explains how complicated it can be to eliminate the unwanted effects of taking medicine. However, exciting research is on the horizon, as two young researchers explain.

Nature Outlook also produced a supplement based on the Lindau meetings.

Lindau: The long goodbye

At this summer’s 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, 37 laureates spent a week with 600 young scientists from almost 80 countries to share their ideas, experiences and knowledge. Discussions revolved around global health, the latest findings in cancer and Aids research, challenges in immunology, and future approaches to medical research. All of the lectures can be viewed on Lindau’s Mediatheque website.

Reporter Lorna Stewart was there for Nature Video to capture the unique spirit of the Meeting. In a series of four films, she asks both laureates and young researchers some of the most profound questions in medicine. The first film, HIV in hiding, highlights the research of Françoise Barré-Sinoussi who was awarded the Nobel prize for the discovery of HIV.

This is the second film: The long goodbye.

Growing old is inevitable and across the world average life expectancy is increasing. With the prevalence of age-related diseases following suit and a limited pot of resources, where should scientists be targeting research? In this Nature Video, superstar statistician Hans Rosling sets the record straight about the cause of the world’s ageing population and Nobel laureate Oliver Smithies, now 89, gives his opinion on medical research priorities. But when Lorna talks to young researchers, they disagree with the laureates on where scientists should be focusing their efforts.

Nature Outlook also produced a supplement based on the Lindau meetings.

 

Lindau: HIV in Hiding

At this summer’s 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, 37 laureates spent a week with 600 young scientists from almost 80 countries to share their ideas, experiences and knowledge. Discussions revolved around global health, the latest findings in cancer and Aids research, challenges in immunology, and future approaches to medical research. All of the lectures can be viewed on Lindau’s Mediatheque website.

Reporter Lorna Stewart was there for Nature Video to capture the unique spirit of the Meeting. In a series of four films, she asks both laureates and young researchers some of the most profound questions in medicine. The first film, HIV in hiding, highlights the research of Françoise Barré-Sinoussi who was awarded the Nobel prize for the discovery of HIV.

HIV in hiding
In 2008, Timothy Ray Brown became the first person to be cured of HIV — or so many claim. Brown is known as ‘the Berlin patient’ and six years on, the virus has still not been detected in his blood. In this Nature Video, Lorna wants to know the implications of his remarkable treatment. But her dreams of an imminent cure quickly fade as Nobel laureate Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, who discovered HIV, brings Lorna back to Earth with a bump.

Nature Outlook also produced a supplement based on the Lindau meetings.

 

Lindau: A picture of health

Nature Video presents four films from the 2014 Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau.

Reporter Lorna Stewart travels to the German island of Lindau to meet 600 of science’s brightest young minds and 37 rock stars – Nobel laureates.

In a series of four films, Stewart asks some of the most profound questions in medicine. In one film, superstar statistician Hans Rosling helps Stewart get to grips with the realities of an ageing global population. In other films, Stewart delves into the past 40 years of cancer research, wonders if we’ll ever eliminate side effects when we take medication, and receives a reality check on the battle against HIV.

Get a taste in this trailer.

You can view all the Nature Lindau films here and Nature Outlook also produced a supplement based on the Lindau meetings.

Spotlight on Women in Science with Professor Frances Ashcroft

Frances-Ashcroft

{credit}Robert Taylor{/credit}

Naturejobs is celebrating Women in Science. Every day this week we’re interviewing an inspirational woman in science.

There is an incredible on-going effort to reduce the barriers that women in STEM subjects face, but with these interviews, Naturejobs hopes to show that when you put your mind to it, and follow your passions, anything is achievable.

We’re starting the series with Frances Ashcroft, a professor of physiology, and fellow of Trinity College of the University of Oxford. She’s got an infectious attitude to both life and science, which you can hear in her voice in the podcast.

Frances Ashcroft has always been interested in science, ever since she was a little girl growing up in Dorset, UK. “I was just fascinated by the natural world: by the flowers, the birds and all the things that I saw around me. And I just asked lots of questions about them.”

This curiosity never faded, and after studying biology at A-levels, she went on the University of Cambridge to study natural sciences, focussing on zoology and the physiology of animals. This eventually led to her fascination in human physiology. “I simply loved being at Cambridge, because it was one of those places where it was OK to ask questions.  And questions are what I’ve always been interested in…. And the marvellous thing about Cambridge was that people were able to answer those questions, or to provoke more.”

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