Adya Verma

From 23 March 2026, newborn babies in Scotland will be routinely tested for spinal muscular atrophy, a first in the UK. The programme is being introduced as a two-year pilot study. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare genetic condition that affects motor neurons, the nerve cells responsible for all muscle movements. As these cells slowly deteriorate, muscles weaken, thereby affecting movement, breathing and swallowing. In its most severe form, it can be fatal in early childhood.

In 1960, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first oral contraceptive pill for women. It reshaped careers, relationships, and the very fabric of modern society. Six decades later, male contraception still essentially consists of either condoms or a vasectomy. One is disposable, the other is surgery. Innovation, apparently, stalled in the 1920s with latex condoms. The usual excuse is biology. Women release one egg per month whereas men produce millions of sperm every day.

1. Introduction Click to copy section linkSection link copied! The spontaneous self-assembly of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes into membraneless coacervate droplets has long been theorized as a mechanism by which early cells came into existence.