Scientists are convinced that nanotechnology will enable us to monitor and control our own bodies in entirely new ways in the future. What will we be able to do ten years from now? Fifty years from now?  Read more

As scientists successively reveal the genetic makeup of plants, they are also creating sharper tools for altering parts of the genetic code. What implications does this have? Advances are taking us further and further from what is 'natural'. Can we keep up?  Read more

Wetlands are much more important than we used to think. They deserve a much better reputation! In the west, more than half of some kinds of wetland were destroyed in the 20th century, and countless species have died out. Who really cares about the swamps?  Read more

The finest source of inspiration for the pharmaceuticals industry is neither costly chemistry laboratories nor scientific journals. It's actually Nature herself, in particular the wealth of species in the tropics, that gives scientists ideas for medicines and treatments.  Read more

If a well-functioning wetland is important for a region, can you calculate its value? If a virgin forest is insurance for the future, how does it appear in the country's GDP? If our planet is to survive, economists and biologists will have to collaborate in developing a whole new kind of balance sheet.  Read more

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

A simple saliva test at home in the morning and you can decide for yourself whether you need antibiotics. An implanted sensor that keeps a check on your blood sugar and fats. One day we'll be amazed at how little we used to know about what goes on inside us.  Read more

We are human beings. We breathe, we grow, laugh and cry. Biologically we are animals, as Linnaeus realized back in his time. But unlike all other animal species, we can reflect on why we are here. So what exactly is a human being?  Read more

Sweden is at the forefront of stem cell research. The results are successful, but the ethics of embryonic stem cell research in particular are surrounded by controversy. Can we defend the use of surplus embryos in research that may lead to finding the cure for serious illnesses?  Read more

If oil belonged to the 20th century, it looks as if wood could be the raw material of the 21st century – as indeed it was in earlier times. Good news for a country that's more than half covered by forest. To get back to nature and replace plastics with paper and other wood-based materials we need a whole new kind of engineering. No wonder that protein engineering is a hot research field in a country like Sweden.  Read more

The elephant is the largest land animal, as we all learned in school. But who tops the size league if we include all land organisms, not only animals? Biologists are not entirely sure, but it could be a deciduous tree, the unassuming poplar.  Read more

Is there any point in trying to preserve all the Earth's biological species? Or are some more valuable than others? How can we decide? Modern molecular biology is a big help.  Read more