My father, Robert Smith, who has died aged 92, was a pharmacologist and professor at St Mary’s medical school in London (now part of Imperial College) whose work helped shape thinking on people’s differing responses to drugs – genetically, biochemically and clinically.

Bob became well known in particular for his role in the discovery of “debrisoquine polymorphism”. An enthusiastic...

All the protocols that health experts like me look for have been followed. But outbreaks on cruise ships are notoriously hard to control

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

Hantavirus: the disease you wish you’d never heard of, as visions of the Covid pandemic flash through your head. I’ve seen lots of breathless coverage and some bizarre takes...

Social media is awash with clips of people paying to be ‘bathed’ in sound. But what’s the science behind the practice?

Read more in the Antiviral series

I, for one, am partial to a bath: what’s not to love about a dim room, candles and nary an electronic device in sight?

But a wellness trend that has emerged in recent years makes soaking in tepid water seem quaint: increasingly, people are...

The company behind Canvas says it has “reached an agreement” with the hackers who disrupted thousands of colleges and universities.

The lawsuit comes amid increased scrutiny over platform features like auto-play that deliver endless content to users.

The Food and Drug Administration commissioned the research, received the answer, and is not releasing it

Last week, the New York Times and Washington Post reported yet another troubling case of data suppression at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Studies of millions of vaccine recipients were completed by career scientists, peer-reviewed, and accepted by working pharmacovigilance...

Cockrow Bridge in Surrey will open in the coming weeks to provide wildlife, including lizards and insects, with the ability to move between fragmented habitats

When James Herd moved near to Wisley Common 17 years ago, the heathland nature reserve was teeming with wildlife. “I’d take the dog around the common in spring and summer, and every few hundred metres I’d hear the rustle of a...

Decades-long campaign powered by patient perspectives results in switch from PCOS – a name that caused confusion and undue suffering – to PMOS

• What is PCOS, what are the symptoms and treatment, and why is it being renamed PMOS?• ‘I still want to scream’: the loneliness and confusion of living with PMOS

After more than a decade of global consultation, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) – a...

Last month President Trump signed an executive order designed to fast track both research and access to psychedelic drugs as treatments for mental health illnesses. The most prominent in the order was ibogaine, a drug derived from the root bark of a West African shrub, that has shown some promise in relieving the long term effects of traumatic brain injury. Madeleine Finlay talks to journalist...

After a series of deaths on the beaches of Brittany, one bereaved family set out to prove the foul-smelling bloom was to blame

When her phone rang at around 5pm on 8 September 2016, Rosy Auffray was still at work. It was one of her daughters, distressed, calling to tell her that their father, Jean-René, had not come back from his daily run. Only the family dog had returned, alone and...

Research from UCL suggests visiting art galleries or museums, singing and painting can help improve health outcomes

Singing, painting or visiting a gallery or museum helps people age more slowly, according to the latest study to link taking an active interest in art and culture with improved health.

The findings are the first to show that both participating in arts activities and attending...

The answers to today’s pronunciation puzzles

Earlier today I set you these two word puzzles. Here they are again with solutions.

1: Pronounced the same, spelt differently.

(Second option) (Switch back and forth)

(Suitable) (Commandeer)

(Satisfied) (Components)

(Conference attendee) (Assign)

(Price reduction) (Disregard)

(Way in) (Enrapture)

(Incorrect) (Disabled)

(60 seconds) (Tiny)

(In...