October 2008

Pathology is a bit of a Cinderella of the medical profession.  If you were at a party and someone told you they were a pathologist, how would you imagine that they’d spent their working day?  Investigating the cause of suspicious deaths for the police perhaps? That’s certainly a side of pathology that has a high media profile and is often featured in films or television crime series. But in fact it’s far more likely that they were busy in a hospital clinic or laboratory helping living people.

Pathologists study the causes of disease and the ways in which disease processes affect our bodies, or those of the animals and plants on which we all depend. Recognising the patterns that disease takes allows us to understand what’s at the root of a problem, enabling accurate diagnosis. And following up this understanding of what has gone wrong helps us devise treatments and put preventative measures in place. Pathology is a key scientific skill and source of essential evidence for a number of Agency staff and independent scientists on the scientific advisory committees that guide and challenge us.

Sorry to pour cold water on the news splashed across the papers today, but I don't think the new purple tomato is going to protect us all from cancer.  The research conducted by a team of researchers at the John Innes Centre and published in Nature Biotechnology looks interesting, but let’s not get carried away with newspaper hyperbole.  First, the biotechnology industry has been promising products that will bring real benefits to consumers for a long time, but they have yet to materialise, at least in the UK.  Second, any new product will need to go through a comprehensive approvals process to assure independent scientists and regulators that it is as safe as any conventional counterpart.  And third, even if we do have a new tomato stuffed full of lots of antioxidants, can we confidently predict that these will protect us from cancer?

The Daily Telegraph asked yesterday 'Should we all be eating more fat?'

The answer is ‘No’.  Look at the evidence on the effects of the Western diet on cardiovascular disease.  As a population we need to reduce intakes of saturated fat, so I really do wonder what the point is of this type of article.

In many ways, the epidemic of BSE in cattle (and it's human form, vCJD) was the defining reason why people in the UK lost faith in the Government's handling of food safety in the 1990s – and why the FSA was subsequently established.  So any proposal to change the testing regime for BSE in slaughterhouses, as discussed by the FSA Board last week, has a special resonance for us.  

The issue discussed was whether to support a move to increase the age at which UK cattle are BSE tested from 30 months to 48 months. 

Now, we all know that chocolate, in moderation, can be an enjoyable treat.

This week is Chocolate Week – a time to celebrate all things chocolate. It’s ironic, then, that during this week we’ve identified a number of 'novelty' chocolate products that are being withdrawn from the market. Why? They contain melamine. More products affected by the deliberate adulteration of milk in China that I blogged about a few weeks ago.

The British Academy have recently published a report highlighting that UK research in the humanities and social sciences is world class, but that these disciplines are not ‘punching their weight’ in contributing to public policy making as well as they could. This was an issue I blogged on back in August this year. The report goes on to make recommendations to policy makers, academics and various intermediaries on the role they can play in ensuring that the impact of such research is maximised.  It also encourages a greater focus on longer term research which it argues is essential in planning for future challenges.