Science: The month ahead

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) which funnels British money into big international projects such as Cern, the pan-European research facility in Switzerland, decides this month whether the UK should throw its hat into the dark-matter ring. More than four-fifths of the universe’s mass remains unseen, inferred only by its gravitational effects. China, Japan, France, Italy and Canada are already backing experiments to detect WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles), which are thought to make up dark matter. Confirmation, which could come this decade, would be as big a deal as the discovery of the Higgs boson; dedicated STFC funding would allow British astronomers to join the party.

The British Neuroscience Association hosts a meeting in Manchester on 5th July on bioengineering and neuronal remodelling. Lev Novikov, from Sweden’s Umeå University, is among those focusing on spinal cord repair, and whether the limited capacity for nerve regrowth can be harnessed more fully using stem cells; Elizabeth Bradbury, from King’s College London, will discuss her exciting research on an enzyme that has been shown to help spinally injured animals recover limited mobility (www.bna.org.uk).

The European Union has launched a concerted effort to tackle the seemingly unstoppable march of the superbugs. Backed by €224m—half of it from drug giants like Sanofi and AstraZeneca, which have largely failed to produce any significant new antibiotics in the past few decades—the Innovative Medicines Initiative will fast-track experimental drugs that can quash such nasties as E coli, C difficile and MRSA. The deadline for submissions falls on 9th July but researchers are rumoured to be wary, perhaps because they are required to waive patenting rights or perhaps through embarrassment at the project’s modish nickname: NewDrugs4BadBugs.