MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London
Science for Health
Mill Hill Essay archive
2012 Mill Hill Essays
- The sense of smell - A milestone to understanding the brain - Ed Bracey
- The olfactory system underlies our sense of smell. A description of the neuroscience behind the functioning of this system.
- Vitamin D: a natural wonder drug we’re all avoiding? - Anna K Coussens
- Vitamin D has been much in the news recently. It affects many different processes in our bodies, and is important to avoid vitamin D deficiency.
- Vitamin D – historical note - Frank Norman
- The race to understand what vitamin D is.
- Immune signatures in disease and visions for their future use - Anne O’Garra
- A broad overview of the workings of the immune system, focusing on work in tuberculosis, and a glimpse into the future use of immune signatures for detecting and monitoring infectious and inflammatory diseases.
- A key for every lock in the universe - the Blind Locksmith ? - Benedict Seddon
- The immune system is a remarkable and remarkably complex set of tools that our bodies have developed for fighting off infection. We explain the functioning of the part of the immune system that produces antibodies.
- The mechanics of nanomedicine - Tania Saxl
- Nanotechnology is closely associated with engineering and materials science, but is starting to become useful in biology and medicine too.
- To screen, or not to screen? Have we anything to fear from genetic screening? - Abida Gani
- The winner of the 2011 NIMR Human Biology Essay Competition looks at genetic testing for disease.
- Griff Pugh, exercise physiology and the Olympics - Frank Norman
- Historical note about Griff Pugh, NIMR physiologist.
- Book review: Origins: How the nine months before birth shape the rest of our lives - Michael Sargent
- A short review of the book Origins: How the nine months before birth shape the rest of our lives, by Annie Murphy Paul. One of the selection of science books, reviewed by members of NIMR staff.
- Book review: Bad science - Joachim Payne
- A short review of the book Bad science, by Ben Goldacre. One of the selection of science books, reviewed by members of NIMR staff.
- Book review: By the sea - Frank Norman
- A short review of the book By the sea, by Henry Gee. One of the selection of science books, reviewed by members of NIMR staff.
- Book review: The Emperor of all maladies - Emma Cookson
- A short review of the book The Emperor of all maladies, by Siddhartha Mukherjee. One of the selection of science books, reviewed by members of NIMR staff.
- Book review: Max Perutz and the secret of life - Frank Norman
- A short review of the book Max Perutz and the secret of life, by Georgina Ferry. One of the selection of science books, reviewed by members of NIMR staff.
- Book review: The 10,000 year explosion: how civilisation accelerated human evolution - Michael Sargent
- A short review of the book The 10,000 year explosion: how civilisation accelerated human evolution, by Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending. One of the selection of science books, reviewed by members of NIMR staff
- Book review: Biopunk: kitchen-counter scientists hack the software of life - Frank Norman
- A short review of the book Biopunk: kitchen-counter scientists hack the software of life, by Marcus Wohlsen. One of the selection of science books, reviewed by members of NIMR staff
2010 Mill Hill Essays
- The 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic: don’t panic but you are all going to die - Peter Coombs
- The 2009 outbreak of pandemic influenza and the measures to contain the pandemic and characterise the virus.
- A dangerous occupation - Zhores Medvedev
- Early life and education in Soviet Russia during the second world war and immediate post-war years, and the influence of Trofim Lysenko on Soviet science.
- Bringing it all back home: next-generation sequencing technology and you - Mike Gilchrist
- Gene sequencing has helped to transform biomedical science. Details of how high-throughput sequencing works and what we can learn from its results.
- Immortality and obscurity - Harriet Groom
- An essay-review of Rebecca Skloot’s best-selling book about Henrietta Lacks, which won the 2010 Wellcome Trust Book Prize. The essay explains why HeLa cells are both remarkable and very useful to science.
- Conquistadores and cot death - Marianne Neary
- An interesting link between research into cot death and adaptation to life at high altitude. This essay was shortlisted for the Max Perutz Science Writing Award 2010.
- Is immunotherapy the ultimate solution for Alzheimer’s disease? - Marina Lynch
- What Alzheimer’s disease is and how immunological therapies are showing great promise as treatments for Alzheimer’s.
- Lithium, manic depression and beyond - Qiling Xu
- Lithium's pharmacological effects, its use in bipolar affective disorder and its effects on major developmental signalling pathways.
- Translation: beating scientific swords into medical ploughshares - John Galloway
- Translational research helps to bridge the gap between basic biomedical science and clinical benefits for patients.
- What makes bone marrow such a versatile resource for curing human diseases? - Thomas Elliott
- Why bone marrow is an important therapeutic tool.This essay won the 2010 NIMR Human Biology Essay Competition for local schools.
- Book review: Life Ascending - Michael Sargent
- A short review of the book Life Ascending, by Nick Lane. One of the selection of ten science books, reviewed by members of NIMR staff
- Book review: Living with Enza - Michael Sargent
- Short review of Living with Enza: The Forgotten Story of Britain and the Great Flu Pandemic of 1918, by Mark Honigsbaum
- Book review: The Age of Wonder - Frank Norman
- Short review of The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science, by Richard Holmes.
- Book review: Mismatch: Why Our World No Longer Fits Our Bodies - Michael Sargent
- Short review of Mismatch: Why Our World No Longer Fits Our Bodies, by Peter Gluckman & Mark Hanson.
- Book review: 50 Genetics Ideas You Really Need to Know - Frank Norman
- Short review of 50 Genetics Ideas You Really Need to Know, by Mark Henderson.
- Book review: The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks - Vicky Millins
- Short review of The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot.
- Book review: Invisible Frontiers - Paul Driscoll
- Short review of Invisible Frontiers: The Race to Synthesize a Human Gene, by Stephen S. Hall.
- Book review: The Billion Dollar Molecule - Paul Driscoll
- Short review of The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company’s Quest for the Perfect Drug, by Barry Werth.
- Book review: God’s Philosophers - Jose Saldanha and Alessandro Pandini
- Short review of God’s Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science, by James Hannam.
- Book review: Heart of a Dog - Frank Norman
- Short review of Heart of a Dog, by Mikhail Bulgakov.
2009 Mill Hill Essays
- Ageing - why, how and what happens next? - Michael G. Sargent
- The mechanisms of ageing and the reasons why we don’t stay young forever.
- Sir Peter Medawar’s years as director of NIMR: a vignette - Leslie Brent
- An appreciation of Peter Medawar, the brilliant, Nobel-prize-winning scientist, philosopher and gifted populariser of science.
- Living and dying with the tubercle bacillus - Douglas Young and Sebastien Gagneux
- Understanding the past history of tuberculosis can help to tackle the disease today.
- Stem cells: sorting out the hope from the hype - Alex P. Gould and François Guillemot
- How stem cells work and what their therapeutic uses are.
- Nanographia - Peter Rosenthal
- Modern biology uses a range of imaging techniques to study cells and the molecules within cells.
- How I became a physical biochemist - a Jack of all trades and master of none - John Eccleston
- A vivid picture of life in biochemical laboratories in the 1960s.
- Why do we need ‘programmed cell death’ (apoptosis)? - Muhammad Ashraf
- Why apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is such an important biological process. Written by a student at Queen Elizabeth’s School, joint winner of the 2009 NIMR Human Biology Essay competition.
- Can the biomedical community eradicate a disease like measles? - Alastair McFarlane
- Is it feasible to eradicate infectious diseases such as measles? Written by a student at Queen Elizabeth’s School, joint winner of the 2009 NIMR Human Biology Essay competition.
2008 Mill Hill Essays
- LA Story - James Briscoe
- A monstrous head in a library in Los Angeles has a surprising link to current research.
- Fighting for family health in the developing world - Michael G. Sargent
- What interventions will achieve the Millennium development goals of halving maternal and child mortality? Lessons from India and Ethiopia.
- Something in the air or a simple twist of fate? - Stephen R. Martin and Maria J. Schilstra
- Statistics can reveal when disease clusters need to be investigated further.
- Laboratory robotics and high-throughput research - Oliver de Peyer
- New robotic and microfulidics techniques can speed up laboratory work.
- Am I normal, Doctor? The boundaries of disease and wellness - Ross Breckenridge
- What effect will genetic tests have on clinical medicine, and our concepts of normality and disease?
- Are saviour siblings a humane and proper use of reproductive technology? - Tim Harrison
- The ethics of saviour siblings. Written by a student at Highgate School, winner of the 2008 NIMR Human Biology Essay competition.
2005 Mill Hill Essays
- Health in Africa - Sam Kinyanjui and Francis Ndungu
- A multi-pronged approach will be necessary to resolve African health issues.
- A lottery ticket and a packet of cigarettes, please - Martin Webb
- What happens to make a cell become cancerous.
- Systems Biology - Richard Goldstein
- Systems biology aims to produce accurate models of living cells and organisms and all of their functions.
- Heart disease genetics - Leon D'Cruz
- The genetics behind cardiovascular disease.
- Sharing the benefits of biomedical science - Michael Sargent
- How modern not-for-profit companies are starting to make an impact on diseases of the developing world
2004 Mill Hill Essays
- There’s more to heredity than genes - Lisa Melton
- The complexities of epigenetic mechanisms for controlling life processes.
- Why flies are relevant to medical research - Jean-Paul Vincent and Iris Salecker
- The fruit fly has been used very effectively in genetic research for many years.
- The social life of disease-causing bacteria - Michael Sargent
- Most bacteria exist in organised communities with distinctive capabilities.
- Nootropia: A smart new world? - Sam Cooke
- The possibilities and drawbacks of using drugs to enhance our minds.
- Understanding the allergy and asthma epidemic - Stephen Jolles and Jenny Hughes
- The causes of and remedies for allergy and asthma.
- Past and present interplay of chemistry and biology at NIMR - John Corrie
- Chemistry is important for understanding the mechanisms of biological processes.
2003 Mill Hill Essays
- Citizenship and the medical sciences - Michael Sargent
- An understanding of scientific issues is important across all areas of public policy.
- Alexandre Yersin and his adventures in Vietnam - William Burns
- The early life and adventures in Vietnam of Alexandre Yersin, the Swiss-French microbiologist who gave his name to the plague-causing bacterium.
- Genes, learning, behaviour and the outside world - Jamshed Tata
- Matt Ridley's book Nature via Nurture, on the question of whether genetic or environmental influences are most important in our development.
- Glivec, CML, Abl and targeted molecular therapy for cancer - Qiling Xu
- Glivec is drug for the management of chronic myeloid leukaemia and one of the first drugs to be based on a molecular understanding of disease biology.
- RNAi: the gentle art of shredding genes - Jocelyn Downey
- RNA interference controls cellular activities and is also finding many uses in the laboratory that may lead to new therapies.
2002 Mill Hill Essays
- Drugs and addiction, ecstasy and cannabis - Nigel Birdsall
- What addiction is and how some commonly used drugs produce their effects.
- Out on a Limb - James Briscoe
- A recent change in the theory of how limbs grow.
- Rosalind Franklin – The dark lady of DNA - Katrin Rittinger and Annalisa Pastore
- Rosalind Franklin made a significant contribution 50 years ago to the discovery of the structure of DNA.
- Tuberculosis in man, cattle and badgers - Jo Colston
- Current attempts to unravel the links between tuberculosis in badgers, cattle and humans.
- Human infertility - tragedy or godsend? - Paul Burgoyne
- The benefits of assisted reproductive technology in overcoming infertility.
- The malaria revolution: from mosquitoes to molecules - Tony Holder
- New genetic information on mosquitoes and the malaria parasite holds promise for conquering this disease.
- The obesity epidemic; fat, fact and fiction! - Randip Bains
- The reasons behind the current epidemic of obesity.
2001 Mill Hill Essays
- Don’t shoot the scientist! - Dimitris Kioussis
- A review of the novel "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith and its description of transgenic research.
- Stem cell therapy and research - Robin Lovell-Badge
- What stem cells are, how they can be produced and what therapeutic possibilities they hold.
- Superbugs – the problem of antimicrobial resistance - Roger Buxton
- How antibiotics work, how bacteria can become resistant to them, and the importance of conserving their use.
- The genes that control ageing - Tom Kirkwood
- The reasons for ageing and how scientists are beginning to understand the ageing process.
- Where do genes come from? The case of the “green” parasites - Don Williamson
- The story of endosymbiosis and the surprising implications that discoveries in this field have for human health.
2000 Mill Hill Essays
- From microbes to cancer - Don Williamson and Lee Johnston
- Microbiological research at NIMR, from antibiotics to yeast cell cycle.
- Of frogs and men - Tim Mohun and Jim Smith
- Developmental biology at NIMR grew out of work on amphibian metamorphosis.
- The immune system in health and disease - Victor Tybulewicz
- An overview of immunology.
- Unravelling the workings of the brain - Geoff Raisman
- A brief history of research at NIMR into the nervous system.
- Distemper and influenza at Mill Hill - Rick Carver and John Skehel
- Research on influenza has been a continuing interest at NIMR for many years.
- The red road - Tony Holder
- A description of the changes in malaria research since the 1950s.
1999 Mill Hill Essays
- So you want to be normal - Iain Robinson
- How research into growth hormone can challenge our ideas of normality, with particular reference to our height.
- Meningitis: fresh hopes for its eradication - Gerry Klaus
- The multiple causes of the disease and the novelty and importance of the current vaccination programme.
- Health-care and the advent of the Information Society - Frank Norman
- The patient who arrives at the doctor's surgery armed with pages of printout from the Internet may become a problem.
- Warts and all - John Doorbar
- The virus that causes the common wart is closely related to the virus which is the cause of cervical cancer. This can help to detect the cancer early before it develops.
- MS - Kamalini Trentham
- Research into multiple sclerosis and new treatments.
- Infectious Salmon Anaemia - Barry Ely
- A serious infectious viral disease of farmed salmon which could threaten the entire fish farming industry.
- How and why our right and left sides differ - Jonathan Cooke
- Although our bodies are more or less outwardly symmetrical, internally they are not. Why are most people right-handed?
1998 Mill Hill Essays
- Descending the magic mountain: how early clinical trials transformed the treatment of tuberculosis - Jo Colston
- In 1948 the MRC announced the results of clinical trials to test the effectiveness of streptomycin as a cure for tuberculosis. Controlled trials are now the standard in clinical medicine.
- The ethical conduct of scientific research - Rod King
- Ethical issues are important in all areas of scientific research, medical practice and for those in positions of responsibility, and demand continuous vigilance.
- In search of an enigma: the “Spanish Lady” - Rod Daniels
- The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed more people than had died on both sides in the whole of the first World War. Virologists are studying the virus which did so much damage back then.
- The ghost in the machine - Ed Hulme
- How do you link the extraordinarily complex organisation of brain cells with consciousness, the perception of self?
- MMR vaccination and suggested links with Crohn’s disease - Philip Minor
- A hard and critical look at the evidence for and against a link between Crohn’s disease, autism, and vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella.
- Insulin and diabetes - Guy Dodson
- How complex biophysical methods can give practical help in the design of new insulin molecules to improve treatment of the condition.
1997 Mill Hill Essays
- Cloning - Rosa Beddington
- Cloning has been in use for centuries but the tools for cloning have changed and the results are spectacular.
- The recent excitement over genetically modified foods - Derek Burke
- The processes for approval of genetically modified foods, the thinking behind them, and the way in which public reaction has influenced them.
- Alzheimer’s disease and the hope of a therapy - Nigel Birdsall
- The current state of research into the disease and the efforts being made to find a cure.
- Xenotransplantation: panacea or poisoned chalice? - Jonathan Stoye
- The promise of transplantation from other species as well as the many problems and pitfalls still to be overcome.
- Seasonal depression and light therapy - Mike Ferenczi
- How bright lights can bring lasting relief to those who suffer most from the winter gloom.
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