Michael Peel
mikepeeljourno.bsky.social
Michael Peel
@mikepeeljourno.bsky.social
@FinancialTimes.com science editor. Ex-Nigeria, UAE, Thailand, Belgium & Japan. Latest book: What Everyone Knows About Britain* (*Except the British) - https://linktr.ee/whateveryoneknowsaboutbritain. Author of The Fabulists and A Swamp Full of Dollars.
NEW: Malaria cases surged in Myanmar after the 2021 military coup and the subsequent civil war. Experts fear the rise could be the shape of things to come elsewhere, after big international health funding cuts.

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www.ft.com/content/6d5e...
Myanmar malaria surge rings global alarm bells
The deadly disease is threatening to return as international funding cuts undermine eradication efforts
www.ft.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Look forward to moderating at the @financialtimes.com Live Global Pharma & Biotech Summit in London. We'll explore breakthroughs reshaping healthcare from AI in drug discovery to the future of biotech investment.

Speakers include CEOs from Roche, Eli Lily, Takeda and more. Register: bit.ly/4nF9eja
November 6, 2025 at 8:36 AM
NEW: Children faced more risk of rare heart problems after Covid-19 infection than they did after taking the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine, a big three-year study of under-18s in England has found.

Important evidence for debates over vaccine safety, particularly in the US.
www.ft.com/content/231d...
Covid jab less likely than virus to cause rare heart issue in children
Largest study of its kind shows health risks of refusing vaccination
www.ft.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:16 AM
NEW: Walking 5,000 steps a day may help slow the onset of early-stage Alzheimer's disease, according to research that blends brain scans, activity records and cognitive tests.

Even as few as 3,001 steps - less than 3km - could have a big benefit in slowing decline.

www.ft.com/content/91fc...
5,000 steps a day may help slow Alzheimer’s-linked decline, study shows
Research using data from Harvard Aging Brain Study showed more active patients saw slower cognitive deterioration
www.ft.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:14 PM
The smartwatch on your wrist can help detect several structural heart problems when combined with artificial intelligence, according to preliminary research just out.

If confirmed this could widen the use of wearables as a health early warning system, researchers say.

www.ft.com/content/4766...
Scientists use smartwatch data and AI to detect heart damage
Researchers say advance could make early screening for structural heart disease possible on a large scale
www.ft.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:52 AM
It is encouraging but still missing is a keystone speech about how the world and the UK’s place in it have changed politically, economically and demographically, meaning that many assumptions middle-aged and older voters grew up with no longer apply.

More on this here!

linktr.ee/whateveryone...
October 31, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Two days left on this bargain to pick up a digital copy of What Everyone Knows About Britain* (*Except the British)!

linktr.ee/whateveryone...

“Honest, persuasive & good-humoured”–Jonathan Coe

"Incisive, informative & deeply enjoyable"–Rosie Holt

"Extremely entertaining"–Simon Kuper
October 29, 2025 at 8:05 AM
NEW: The US plan to exit the World Health Organization next year would leave the Gates Foundation as the UN body's top donor.

New research says that skews the WHO's agenda. The WHO says not - but the situation reveals a funding crisis in the global fight against disease.

www.ft.com/content/d2c6...
Gates Foundation skews global health agenda after US retreat, study says
World Health Organization’s priorities tilted by reliance on charitable foundation, according to research
www.ft.com
October 29, 2025 at 7:58 AM
My superb colleague @stephenkb.bsky.social shows how UK governments have for years failed to explain how the world has changed.

ft.com/content/f1b5...

I explore this in What Everyone Knows About Britain* (*Except the British) - available digitally for 99p until Oct 30.

linktr.ee/whateveryone...
October 28, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Buy the digital version of my book What Everyone Knows About Britain* (*Except the British) for just 99p until October 30!

linktr.ee/whateveryone...

“Honest, persuasive & good-humoured”–Jonathan Coe

"Incisive, informative & deeply enjoyable"–Rosie Holt

"Extremely entertaining"–Simon Kuper
October 27, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Reposted by Michael Peel
NEW: Companies selling products that claim to boost health and longevity see a historic opportunity under the Trump administration.

Senior officials have ties to those industries - and health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is a fan of “wellness” supplements and therapies.

www.ft.com/content/ed42...
US ‘wellness’ industry scents opportunity to go mainstream
Supplement manufacturers position themselves to exploit the Trump administration’s openness to fringe science
www.ft.com
October 25, 2025 at 7:24 AM
NEW: Companies selling products that claim to boost health and longevity see a historic opportunity under the Trump administration.

Senior officials have ties to those industries - and health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is a fan of “wellness” supplements and therapies.

www.ft.com/content/ed42...
US ‘wellness’ industry scents opportunity to go mainstream
Supplement manufacturers position themselves to exploit the Trump administration’s openness to fringe science
www.ft.com
October 25, 2025 at 7:24 AM
NEW: Pigs genetically engineered to resist classical swine fever, by the Edinburgh institute that unveiled Dolly the cloned sheep almost 30 years ago.

It’s part of push for gene editing to guard livestock health (and of course there’s a bigger debate about farmed meat).

www.ft.com/content/dd38...
Scientists unveil pigs gene-edited to resist swine fever
‘Genetic scissors’ technology could boost efforts to protect millions of animals from disease
www.ft.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:56 AM
NEW: Upfront costs for top overseas scientists to come to work in the UK can be more than 20 times those charged by other countries, Royal Society says.

Government insists this doesn’t contradicts its ambition to lure top researchers, at a time of turmoil in US science.

www.ft.com/content/7144...
Scientists charged too much to come to work in UK, says Royal Society
Combined upfront cost of the five-year Global Talent Visa and the Immigration Health Surcharge stands at £5,941
www.ft.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:24 AM
NEW: The extraordinary story of an eye implant to help people blinded by age-related retinal damage read again.

One person improved by almost 12 lines of a standard eye test chart.

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www.ft.com/content/c2e8...
Scientists invent eye implant to help blind patients see again
Device improves vision of people suffering from advanced macular degeneration
www.ft.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:55 PM
NEW: Striking research on the first big evidence of a life-saving revolution in how we deal with food allergies.

Exposing infants to peanut early helps cut the risks of them developing potentially deadly adverse reactions to many foods, US scientists found.

www.ft.com/content/bf0c...
www.ft.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:36 AM
The nutrient spermidine is at the heart of a growing battle about health products touted as having anti-ageing effects.

Its promoters cite evidence that it helps extend lifespan in animals - but sceptics point to the lack of research in humans.

Read more in the story below from this week.
NEW: How one supplement sums up the uneasy science of selling youth

The potential anti-ageing effects of molecule spermidine have attracted longevity researchers and the wellness industry

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www.ft.com/content/7282...
How one supplement sums up the uneasy science of selling youth
The potential anti-ageing effects of molecule spermidine have attracted longevity researchers and the wellness industry
www.ft.com
October 18, 2025 at 1:10 PM
The nutrient spermidine is at the heart of a growing battle about health products touted as having anti-ageing effects.

Its promoters cite evidence that it helps extend lifespan in animals - but sceptics point to the lack of research in humans.

www.ft.com/content/7282...
How one supplement sums up the uneasy science of selling youth
The potential anti-ageing effects of molecule spermidine have attracted longevity researchers and the wellness industry
www.ft.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:11 PM
NEW: How one supplement sums up the uneasy science of selling youth

The potential anti-ageing effects of molecule spermidine have attracted longevity researchers and the wellness industry

Register here to read some FT articles free:

www.ft.com/register

www.ft.com/content/7282...
How one supplement sums up the uneasy science of selling youth
The potential anti-ageing effects of molecule spermidine have attracted longevity researchers and the wellness industry
www.ft.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:03 PM
NEW: Early cancer clues found in multiple blood protein changes

Advances in monitoring could flag risks of diseases years before diagnosis

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www.ft.com/register

www.ft.com/content/e3fc...
Early cancer clues found in multiple blood protein changes
Advances in monitoring could flag risks of diseases years before diagnosis
www.ft.com
October 9, 2025 at 10:29 PM
NEW: Chemistry Nobel Prize awarded for advances tackling carbon and ‘forever chemicals’

Three scientists win award for molecular structures compared to Hermione Granger's charmed handbag in Harry Potter

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www.ft.com/content/1608...
Chemistry Nobel Prize awarded for advances tackling carbon and ‘forever chemicals’
Three scientists win award for molecular constructions known as metal-organic frameworks
www.ft.com
October 8, 2025 at 2:11 PM
NEW: Nobel Physics Prize awarded for quantum work powering next-gen computers

Three US-based scientists honoured for showing how strange submicroscopic effects can be harnessed in electronic devices

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www.ft.com/content/007c...
Nobel Physics Prize awarded for quantum work powering next-gen computers
Three US-based scientists honoured for showing how strange submicroscopic effects can be harnessed in electronic devices
www.ft.com
October 7, 2025 at 11:55 AM
NEW: Nobel Prize in medicine awarded for immune system breakthroughs

Three scientists honoured for research on what prevents immune cells from attacking the body

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www.ft.com/content/b442...
Nobel Prize in medicine awarded for immune system breakthroughs
Three scientists honoured for research on what prevents immune cells from attacking the body
www.ft.com
October 6, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Reposted by Michael Peel
Astronomers may have found a new class of cosmic object that could change our understanding of how stars, galaxies and black holes are formed.

An #FTEdit 🧵on everything you need to know 👇
October 1, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Huge thanks to @mja-uk.bsky.social for last night's awards for my brilliant columnist colleague @anjahuja.bsky.social and the @financialtimes.com project on the race against time to defeat mosquito-borne diseases. Congratulations to @ian-bott.bsky.social, @sdbernard.bsky.social and Charlie Bibby!
September 18, 2025 at 8:39 AM