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question 7: what's so unique about humans?

Asked "what is a human being?" a biologist will answer "99% ape and 1% unknown". Only one single percent of our genetic material differentiates us from our nearest relative in the animal world, the chimpanzee. The latest research shows that this vital little one percent has to do with the brain...  Read more

question 14: when will there be thinking robots?

In the movies, smart robots at our beck and call are a commonplace. So why is it taking so long to get there in reality? When will it be just as natural to have a pet robot as to have a pet animal? And what can we learn about biological life when we design artificial life?  Read more

question 27: why do we look for the meaning of life?

There are no simple answers to questions about the meaning of life. We are – but we know not why. The issue has always fascinated us, and the answers you get depend entirely on who you ask. Why are we so eager to find meaning? Why is it so hard for us just to take life for what it is?  Read more

question 29: can we grow human spare parts in the lab?

Damaged body organs replaced with new, healthy ones grown from the patient's own stem cells? Can this be the health care of the future – cultivating new organs in laboratories? What are the limits to the possibilities of stem-cell research?  Read more

question 31: can stem cells cure Parkinson's disease?

What did the late Pope John Paul II have in common with former world boxing champion Mohammed Ali and actor Michel J Fox? Answer: Parkinson's disease. New stem cell research is giving the sufferers hope – but when will they get a treatment that works?  Read more

question 51: is it riskier to have an older father?

It is a fact that women cannot bear children after the menopause. However, new research shows that men's sex cells also have a best-by date. And the number of mutations in the genetic material is actually larger in men than in women. What do these findings mean?  Read more