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Is he fit?
Hormones can affect how faces look - and how we react to them.
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Happy faces - sheep style
Can animals draw information from faces in the way we can? The evidence seems to suggest that, to some degree, they can.
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
How do we know?
Much is known about how organisms - including humans - develop. How has this knowledge been obtained?
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Sexual dimorphism
Are males always bigger than females? Sometimes, nothing could be further from the truth…
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Gaydar?
Humans are adept at rapidly drawing information about other people from the way they look. But is it possible to assess sexual orientation?
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Rubber arm
That arm is mine…
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
In limbo: dealing with extreme body dysmorphia
Should doctors comply with requests to amputate healthy limbs?
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Genes that affect how we look
A surge of new reports has begun to identify the genetic factors responsible for our physical appearance.
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
From Sonic hedgehog to sasquatch
Sonic hedgehog is a fundamentally important gene in human development. So why does it have such an odd name?
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Blue eyes and red hair
The genetic basis of blue eyes and the classic Celtic look - red hair and pale skin - has been discovered.
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Environmental effects
Our physical appearance can be altered while we are still in the womb by ‘teratogens’.
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
What is my fate?
In effect, embryogenesis boils down to the fate of cells - making sure a nose cell turns into a nose cell where a nose should be.
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Ageing and society
Why, when once they were admired for their wisdom and resilience, are older people now more likely to be stereotyped as having lost their marbles?
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Body mod
Body modification is an extremely ancient and widespread practice, with varying significances from culture to culture.
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Looking the wrong way
Inferring ‘types’ from external appearance has led science down some unfortunate roads.
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Number-ology
Each of us is unique. Technology is now providing new ways to capture and record that uniqueness.
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Albinism
Having no skin pigment at all makes you stand out from the crowd, but can also lead to stigmatisation.
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Walking into trouble
Abnormal gaits can be diagnostic of serious underlying conditions, affecting the locomotory systems or the brain systems that control them.
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Whose beauty?
Facial symmetry and averageness seem to apply across cultures. But what about body size?
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Fat chance
How far should we go in tackling the ‘obesity epidemic’?
In
‘How We Look’, June 2008
Nature’s medicine
The natural world has been the source of many of our medicines.
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
Fighting pain
Pain has been the target of medications for centuries, yet it remains difficult to treat.
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
The age of chance
Drug development is a rational, scientific endeavour. But many drugs have been identified by sheer fluke.
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
Drug delivery
As well as making a drug, a pharmaceutical company has to turn it into a usable product.
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
Priming the pipeline
Drug companies are looking to a range of new technologies to boost drug development.
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
Bioproduction
Are living organisms a suitable way to make new pharmaceuticals?
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
Drugs of the future
Small-chemical drugs will be the principal pharmaceutical tools for the foreseeable future, though with monoclonal antibodies and proteins making an increasing impact.
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
A watching brief
Once a drug is being used, is that the end of safety testing?
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
How safe is safe?
What level of risk are we prepared to tolerate with medicines?
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
Drug rebels
Aspirin works as well today as it did when launched. But drugs used to treat infections (and cancer) lose their potency, because of resistance.
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
Right to risk it?
Should terminally ill patients have access to experimental medicines?
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
Placebo effect
Even if given a dummy medicine, some people get better, thanks to the miraculous placebo effect. Could it ever be used deliberately as a form of medicine?
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
Smart pills
Pills are supposed to be for the sick. But some are being used by perfectly healthy people. Are we heading for a future of 'cosmetic pharmacology'?
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
Prevention: still better than cure?
Drugs can prevent disease as well as cure it. Should we be loading up on pharmaceuticals to stay healthy?
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
A cure for all ills?
Are we looking for simple answers to complex questions in the shape of a pill?
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008
Alternatives to drugs
Is a drug the only way to treat an illness?
In
‘Drug Development’, January 2008