Blog posts on health

Despite digitalisation being a mainstay in many areas of life, the healthcare sector is lagging behind. Jörg Goldhahn explains what the medical field can learn from banks and travel companies.

How productive are we when we work from home? It’s an increasingly common question. But Gudela Grote believes it’s the wrong question, because it says more about our conceptions of human nature than about effective ways of working.

Scientists have a duty to initiate a dialogue with the public on cellular engineering, says Daniel Müller. The discussion must be held now – before complex engineered cellular systems are ready for widespread use in humans.

The latest CRISPR-based genome editing systems function more like molecular taxis rather than a pair of molecular scissors. This makes them much safer for patients who will soon benefit from gene therapies, as Eric Aird explains.

A presumed consent system for organ donation, which is to be put to the vote in Switzerland, would likely increase the organ donation rate, writes bioethicist Agata Ferretti. In her view, however, there is an even better solution: the obligation to decide.

Politicians and the media struggle with predictions. This is more a problem resulting from a poor understanding of uncertainties than from the reliability of models, argues Reto Knutti.

Erika Meins explains the science behind why returning to the office is good for our performance as well as our well-being.   

Johannes Bohacek explains why it’s misleading to think we can completely replace animal testing with alternative methods, and why we should lower rather than raise the hurdles to research.

It’s a good thing if animal testing is widely discussed in society, says Detlef Günther, but it’s important that these discussions are fair and fact-based.

José Antonio Pérez Escobar studied who was best able to cope with the pandemic. People who are able to deal with negative emotions were particularly successful. This skill can be learned, he says.