The power of music to evoke strong emotions is known to anyone who hears it – but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Using sound manipulation tools that could elicit emotional responses, the EU-funded CREAM project has yielded insights into the brain. The work is also already inspiring novel clinical applications, from diagnosing speech problems to assessing brain surgery patients.
A rare infectious disease that can cause permanent blindness may soon have an approved treatment for the first time. A formulation of the molecule polihexanide, optimised by the EU-funded ODAK project, has been shown to cure 87 % of patients. The drug will soon be available to patients across Europe through an early access programme.
Physicists have long wondered if the laws of quantum mechanics also apply to the ‘classical’ world. The EU-funded CAVITYQPD project has shown quantum entanglement between macroscale objects. Harnessing the quantum behaviour of everyday objects could propel citizens from the digital to the quantum age, facilitating our lives with vastly more sophisticated technologies.
The many microscopic organisms, or microbiome, that live in our gut play a big part in keeping us healthy, yet a breakdown in communication between them and the rest of the body can badly affect our health. The EU-funded META-BIOME project set out to understand the causes of this miscommunication. To understand this could allow for new treatments against many diseases, benefiting all citizens.
The EU-funded POTENT project has been developing a new type of drug delivery system for glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. It can considerably improve treatment outcomes for patients and increase their life expectancy. Clinical trials could start in 2 to 4 years, a step closer to making the system available for the patients that could most benefit from it.
Reacting efficiently to natural disasters calls for extensive training, effective technologies and well-oiled strategies. The EU-funded DRIVER+ project provides just the means to these ends, due to its unique test bed and portfolio of solutions. Trials in four European countries already show much promise and will help contribute to ensuring citizens' safety.
Technology developed in an EU-funded project for high-energy physics experiments also has the potential to greatly enhance the sensitivity of PET scanners for medical imaging.
Although being stuck in a brain scanner while being exposed to a horror film may not be everyone's idea of fun, monitoring volunteers' grey cells throughout this process can tell scientists a lot. EU-funded research using this and other memorable techniques has generated new knowledge on the way we process and transmit social information.
Until recently, there was no treatment specific to alpha-mannosidosis, one of the many rare diseases that jointly affect some 30 million citizens in Europe alone. Today, there is as EU-funded research developed enzyme-replacement therapy to stop the illness in its tracks, and this medicine is on the market.
An EU-funded project carried out an 'advance care planning' trial on patients with late-stage cancer in a bid to improve their welfare and boost their involvement in care-giving decision-making.
