If a person hides their own hand and focuses on a rubber hand instead, they may perceive it as part of their own body under certain conditions. What sounds like a gimmick could one day be used to help patients who suffer from chronic pain: Researchers at the Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the LWL University Hospital in Bochum, Germany, have shown that pain caused by heat is experienced as less severe thanks to the rubber hand illusion. They published their findings in the journal PAIN Reports from April 2025.

Conducted by CNRS researchers¹, an unprecedented study on the combined use of sunscreen and an insect repellent that is among the best selling in France during summer concludes that UV² protection decreases after application of the mixture. With the spread of tiger mosquitoes in many countries, it has become increasingly common for people to combine these two products during outdoor activities³ to protect themselves from both the sun and these pests. This is the first paper that studies the effects of such a mixture. It has just appeared in Parasites and Vectors.

New active ingredients such as antibodies are usually tested individually in laboratory animals. Researchers at UZH have now developed a technology that can be used to test around 25 antibodies simultaneously in a single mouse. This should not only speed up the research and development pipeline for new drugs, but also hugely reduce the number of laboratory animals required.

Closer collaboration between child health services and specialist care has resulted in faster support for young children with autism. A study from the University of Gothenburg shows that, on average, children are diagnosed one year earlier. 

The smart MAIJU jumpsuit offers a novel approach to at-home monitoring of infants’ early motor development. The wearable device developed collaboratively by the University of Helsinki and the New Children’s Hospital at Helsinki University Hospital combines expertise in medicine, measuring technology and AI, enabling objective and accurate assessment of children’s motor skills without the presence of researchers.

Researchers at Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) have led a study that evaluates, for the first time, the difference between sexes in advanced liver disease in a rat model. The study has been published in the journal Laboratory Animals and has been conducted at the facilities of the Centre for Comparative Medicine and Bioimage of Catalonia (CMCiB), which is part of the European network of 3R centres and supports researchers in achieving refinement in animal models, following the values of responsible research to improve people's health.