You would be forgiven for thinking that the topic of ontology is more the domain of philosophers or linguists – and not necessarily the concern of someone working in the life sciences. After all, the first definition you get if you Google the word ontology is “the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being”. But dive deeper into the term, and you’ll discover that it’s about classifications of things and their relationships to each other – and that can most certainly be of interest to scientists. Now more than ever, life science researchers have reason to be interested in ontologie ..read more

When disease outbreaks occur, health experts are not only faced with the challenge of getting good information out to people – they also must battle misinformation. Rumors fly, people share bits and pieces of articles that they only skimmed, and social media posts full of bad science go viral. Sometimes, when the outbreak begins in a certain locality or hits a particular demographic really hard, they must also contend with the problem of stigmatization – which is now happening with the monkeypox outbreak. The dangers of stigma and misinformation Recently declared a public emergency by the Wor ..read more

To stay competitive in R&D, it is critical to keep abreast of all the latest findings and innovations. Preprints are offering a new way to remain ahead of the curve, allowing a look into new research prior to the peer-review process. Preprints are early versions of scholarly papers that are made available on public preprint servers in advance of publication. Because they have not gone through peer review, they must be approached with some caution. But as long as this is understood, they can be a highly valuable resource for the latest research, including, for example, randomized controlle ..read more

As the world continues to navigate Covid and its many strains, it would be an understatement to say that everyone is on high alert for other types of outbreaks. Monkeypox is now top of mind, as the disease – first identified in humans in 1970 and mostly found in rainforest areas in Central and West Africa – is now seeing its largest-ever outbreaks outside of the African continent. Monkeypox now a public health emergency As of July 23, STAT reported that the number of cases had grown to 16,000, covering 75 nations across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. This has pro ..read more

Whether you are an academic seeking a potential next-level cancer treatment, a pharma company charting out the competitive landscape, or a researcher wanting to stay on top of the latest bioactivity and pharmacological data relevant to your specialty, the Reaxys User Day 2022 proved a cornucopia of tips and tricks for chemists on how to streamline their workflow. Now, in case you missed the big day, these presentations are now online. Watch and learn. On 6 April 2022, the first Reaxys User Day brought together a global array of experienced chemistry researchers to share how they are gaining f ..read more

When patients go to see a doctor, nurse or some other kind of healthcare professional (HCP), they are expecting to benefit from that person’s experience and education in their field. HCPs accrue a great deal of knowledge over time, but of course they can’t know everything. An important part of being an effective healthcare provider is knowing where to look. But often HCPs hit a roadblock when seeking good, reliable information on pharmaceutical drugs. Healthcare professionals are under pressure HCPs only have so much time with a patient, and they may be working in a fast-paced setting like a ..read more

Pharmaceutical drugs can work wonders for patients, whether it’s treating rare diseases or easing everyday maladies. But drugs can also be complex. What works for one patient may not for another, and side effects could be possible. Also, the longer that a drug is on the market, the more its manufacturer might learn and document about its effects. All of this information is important, and in order to prescribe drugs wisely, doctors need access to it. Unfortunately, vital drug information is not always easy to find. As is observed in the case study Making medical information easily accessible t ..read more

In April, Elsevier hosted the first Reaxys User Day to learn from expert users and share best practices. Attendees were also updated on how the expert-curated chemistry database has dramatically upped its ability to streamline R&D. We spoke with senior director Ivan Krstic about how Reaxys is turning data into actionable insights to better understand the competitive landscape, design novel compounds, and generally accelerate synthetic chemistry. “Today is about sharing the amazing strides we’ve made,” says Ivan. Making the most of Reaxys On 6 April, Reaxys User Day 2022 brought together e ..read more

Life sciences companies are increasingly committing themselves to Net Zero goals, laying out plans for reaching zero emissions by 2050 or earlier. This is a vitally important step for industry. But national, state and city governments also have a critical role in reducing emissions created by various sectors under their jurisdiction. Governments addressing climate action Most of the world’s nations signed on to the Paris Agreement, an international climate treaty in which each country submits its plan on how to reduce emissions to reach shared climate goals. The UN also continues to provide g ..read more

Pharma is seldom top of mind when thinking about the most polluting industries, but pharmaceutical industry operations are in fact responsible for a significant portion of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions – even rivaling industries that are far more associated with contributing to the problem.  “The total global emissions of the pharma sector amounts to about 52 megatonnes of CO2e in 2015, more than the 46.4 megatonnes of CO2e generated by the automotive sector in the same year,” reported Lotfi Belkhir in The Conversation in 2019. Although public awareness of this reality may be low ..read more