It’s Alive – Artificial DNA

Scientists have turned the basic structure of DNA on its head: taking it from 4 bases to 12. This 12 base system has already been implemented in developing new forms of personalised medicine but now the researchers want to see if this more complex DNA can be self-sustaining. Fifty-six years ago,...

Test to Identify Relatives at Risk

The key to treating cancer successfully is catching it as early as possible. This is particularly true in the case of bowel cancer, where around eight out of ten people will survive if their cancer is caught at an early stage, but sadly only about one in ten cancers are actually caught this early. ...

Truly Juicy Couture

Charging your mobile phone could be done just by waving your arms and legs about a bit, according to scientists in the US.  Zhong Lin Wang and colleagues have used millions of nanowires made from zinc oxide to generate electric currents from simple body movements, such as walking or even the fl...

Structural studies shed light on TB treatments

Tuberculosis, or TB, is a growing problem around the world, and it's on the rise in Western countries as well as in the developing world – it's thought that someone somewhere is being infected with TB every single second. Now researchers in the US have made a discovery that could help scientists to ...

Why are Aussie snakes so toxic?

Why is it that Aussie snakes have such a bad reputation?

South Africa Escapades

Much of the Naked Scientists team is down in South Africa this week. We had a chance to catch up with Meera to find out what they're up to.

Bodysnatching and the Medical History of London

Richard Barnett takes us on a tour of some of the places, characters and events of medical London.

Galenus of Pergamon and Roman Medicine

Vivian Nutton explains how medical discoveries and investigations were conducted over 1,800 years ago in the Classical World.

Do manuscripts drift like DNA?

Chris Howe explains how methods used to analyse mutations in DNA across generations can be applied to ancient manuscripts.

Making Modern Medical History

Tilli Tansey takes us through the process of making medical history from the last century; including the breakthroughs of chemotherapy, haemophilia treatments and acquiring your very own home freezer.

Why Galileo lost his sight

Opthalmologist, Peter Watson, has taken a fresh look at portraits of Galileo which point to a swelling around his eye that may have been partly responsible for his deteriorating eyesight.