Publisher Health

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have designed a new bioink which allows small human-sized airways to be 3D-bioprinted with the help of patient cells for the first time. The 3D-printed constructs are biocompatible and support new blood vessel growth into the transplanted material. This is an important first step towards 3D-printing organs. The new study has been published in Advanced Materials.
Chronic lung diseases are the third leading cause of death worldwide with an EU cost of more than €380 billion annually. For many chronic diseases there is no cure and the only end-stage option for patients is lung transplantation. However, there are not enough donor lungs to meet clinical demand.
Therefore, researchers are looking at ways to increase the amount of lungs available for transplantation. One approach is fabricating lungs in the lab by combining cells with a bioengineered scaffold.
“We started small by fabricating small tubes, because this is a feature found in both airways and in the vasculature of the lung. By using our new bioink with stem cells isolated from patient airways, we were able to bioprint small airways which had multiple layers of cells and remained open over time,” explains Darcy Wagner, Associate Professor and senior author of the study.
The researchers first designed a new bioink (a printable material with cells) for 3D-bioprinting human tissue. The bioink was made by combining two materials: a material derived from seaweed, alginate, and extracellular matrix derived from lung tissue.
This new bioink supports the bioprinted material over several stages of its development towards tissue. They then used the bioink to 3D-bioprint small human airways containing two types of cells found in human airways. However, this bioink can be adapted for any tissue or organ type.
“These next generation bioinks also support the maturation of the airway stem cells into multiple cell types found in adult human airways, which means that less cell types need to be printed, simplifying the nozzle numbers needed to print tissue made of multiple cell types,” says Darcy Wagner.
Wagner notes that the resolution needs to be improved to 3D-bioprint more distal lung tissue and the air sacks, known as alveoli, that are vital for gas exchange.
“We hope that further technological improvements of available 3D printers and further bioink advances will allow for bioprinting at a higher resolution in order to engineer larger tissues which could be used for transplantation in the future. We still have a long way to go,” she says.
The team used a mouse model closely resembling the immunosuppression used in patients undergoing organ transplantation. When transplanted, they found that 3D-printed constructs made from the new bioink were well-tolerated and supported new blood vessels.
“The development of this new bioink is a significant step forward, but it is important to further validate the functionality of the small airways over time and to explore the feasibility of this approach in large animal models,” concludes Martina De Santis, the first author of the study.
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One of the most vital functions performed by the cells in our body is DNA repair, a task so crucial to our well-being that failing to execute it can lead to consequences as dreadful as cancer. The process of DNA repair involves a complex interplay between several gene pathways and proteins. One such pathway is the “Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway,” whose genes participate in DNA repair. FANCM, a component of this pathway, is tasked with the elimination of harmful DNA “inter-strand cross-links,” and interacts with another component called MHF in order to function. The importance of the FANCM-MHF complex is well-documented: its loss can result in chromosomal instabilities that can lead to diseases such as FA itself and cancer. However, little is known about its structure and the basis of its stability.
Against this backdrop, Associate Professor Tatsuya Nishino and his colleague Dr. Sho Ito from Tokyo University of Science decided to explore the crystalline structure of this intriguing complex using X-ray diffraction techniques. “DNA damage and chromosome segregation are mechanisms necessary for the maintenance and inheritance of genes possessed by all organisms. MHF (also known as CENP-SX) is an enigmatic complex that plays a role in DNA repair and chromosome segregation. We wanted to find out how it performs these two different functions in the hope that it might give us insights into novel phenomena,” explains Prof. Nishino. Their findings are published in Acta Crystallographica Section F: Structural Biology Communications.
The scientists prepared a recombinant version of the FANCM-MHF complex, consisting of FANCM from chickens and MHF1 and MHF2. They were able to purify three different types of protein crystals — tetrahedral, needle-shaped, and rod-shaped — from similar crystallization conditions. Surprisingly, upon determining the structure with X-ray crystallography, they found that two of the crystal forms (tetrahedral and needle-shaped) contained only the MHF complex without FANCM.
Intrigued by this discovery, the scientists used biochemical techniques to examine what caused the FANCM-MHF complex to disassemble. They attributed it to the presence of a compound called 2-methyl-2, 4-pentanediol (MPD), an organic solvent commonly used in crystallography, and exposure to an oxidizing environment.
But, how exactly does the dissociation happen? The scientists believe that this may have been caused partly by certain non-conserved amino acids in the chicken FANCM which causes the complex to aggregate with other FANCM-MHF complexes and disassemble. Additionally, they surmise that the small, flexible structure of MPD may have also allowed it to bind to and facilitate the release of FANCM, dismantling the complex.
The findings are extraordinary and can be used to improve the stability of the FANCM-MHF complex for future studies on its structure and function. Dr. Ito believes we have much to expect in the future from this complex. “A good understanding of this complex can help us treat cancer and genetic diseases, create artificial chromosomes, and even develop new biotechnological tools,” he speculates.
Thanks to Prof. Nishino and Dr. Ito’s efforts, we are already one step closer to that goal!
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An international team of scientists from the University of Turku, Finland and PennState University, USA have solved a long-standing mystery of how living organisms distinguish RNA and DNA building blocks during gene expression paving the way for the design of new antiviral drugs. The new insights were published in the journal Nature Communications.
All cellular organisms use two types of nucleic acids, RNA and DNA to store, propagate and utilize their genetic information. The synthesis of DNA is carried out by enzymes called DNA polymerases and is needed to accurately transfer the genetic information from generation to generation. Synthesis of RNA is carried out by enzymes called RNA polymerases and is needed to utilize the genetic information to ultimately produce proteins that in turn fulfil most structural and catalytic functions in all modern-day living organisms.
The ancient problem faced by RNA and DNA polymerases is that the DNA and RNA building blocks are very hard to distinguish. Those building blocks are identical except for a small part of the molecule, called the 2’OH group that is present in the RNA building blocks but is absent from the DNA building blocks.
DNA polymerases avoid using the RNA building blocks by featuring a cavity called the active site that is just big enough to bind the DNA building blocks but is too small to accommodate the slightly bigger RNA building blocks. As a result, only DNA building blocks bind to the active site cavity and get attached to the growing DNA polymer.
“RNA polymerases cannot use the same strategy because the smaller DNA building blocks will always fit into the same active site cavity as the RNA building blocks,” explains Senior Researcher Georgi Belogurov.
RNA Polymerase Active Site Cavity Deforms the DNA Building Blocks
To understand how RNA polymerases avoid using DNA building blocks, a research team from the University of Turku headed by Belogurov performed complex biochemical measurements using RNA polymerases that were altered by carefully engineered mutations. At the same time, the research team at Penn State University, USA, led by Professor Katsuhiko Murakami obtained a detailed three-dimensional structure of RNA polymerase with the DNA building block.

Our immune system is very successful when it comes to warding off viruses and bacteria. It also recognizes cancer cells as potential enemies and fights them. However, cancer cells have developed strategies to evade surveillance by the immune system and to prevent immune response.
In recent years, fighting cancer with the help of the immune system has entered into clinical practice and gained increasing importance as a therapeutical approach. Current therapies apply so-called immune checkpoint inhibitors. Immune checkpoints are located on the surface of cancer cells and slow down the immune response. Targeting these checkpoints can release this tumour-induced brake. Another strategy developed by cancer cells to escape the immune response is the production of the enzyme indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO1), which metabolizes tryptophan into kynurenine and thereby interferes with the immune response in two ways: On the one hand, the depletion of tryptophan negatively impacts the growth of T cells, a central component of the immune response, which seek out and block cancer cells. On the other hand, the produced kynurenin inhibits T cells in the immediate environment of the cancer cells.
New Inhibitors against IDO1 — The Quest is on
IDO1 is in the focus of pharmaceutical research because of its cancer-driving effect. However, the search for IDO1 inhibitors has so far been only moderately successful and the first clinically tested IDO1 inhibitor, epacadostat, showed hardly any effect in clinical trials. However, it has not yet been possible to prove whether the inhibitor really blocks IDO1 in the tumour and whether the used dose is sufficient.
In drug discovery, experimental test procedures, so-called assays, are employed to search for new disease modulators in large libraries of thousands of compounds. For this purpose, mostly biochemical assays are applied, where a biochemical reaction is impaired if a substance shows an inhibitory effect in the assay. However, this method has certain disadvantages and limitations, as the test takes place in a test tube and not in the natural, cellular environment of the enzyme. For instance, enzymes like IDO1 are less stable and more reactive outside the protective shell of the cell. In addition, cell-free assays cannot detect indirect inhibitors of the enzyme, that for example interfere with its production or with essential co-factors.
Novel Cell-Based Assay Discovers IDO1 Inhibitors with Different Mechanisms of Action
Scientists led by Herbert Waldmann and Slava Ziegler have now developed a cell-based assay for the discovery of new IDO1 inhibitors that overcomes the limitations of cell-free assays. Elisabeth Hennes, PhD student at the MPI and first author of the study, employed a sensor that measures the conversion of the IOD1 substrate tryptophan into the metabolic product kynurenine in cell culture and thereby detects IDO1 activity. Based on this test strategy, several highly potent inhibitors with different mechanisms of action were identified from a library of more than 150,000 chemical substances: These include substances that directly switch off IDO1 as well as indirect inhibitors that prevent the production of IDO1 itself or that of its important cofactor heme.
“Unfortunately, previous attempts to find a compound that effectively stops the cancer-promoting activity of IDO1 in tumours have met with little success. However, the development of new compounds that can switch off IDO1 via different mechanisms of action could be a promising approach for immunotherapies in the fight against cancer. We hope that our newly developed cell-based assay could contribute to this area of research,” says Slava Ziegler.
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A team of scientists led by Dietmar Krautwurst from the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich has now identified address codes in odorant receptor proteins for the first time. Similar to zip codes, the codes ensure that the sensor proteins are targeted from inside the cell to the cell surface, where they begin their work as odorant detectors. The new findings could contribute to the development of novel test systems with which the odorant profiles of foods can be analyzed in a high-throughput process and thus could be better controlled.
The genes of the approximately 400 human odorant receptor types have been identified for about 20 years. Nevertheless, for about 80 percent of these sensor proteins, it is still not known to which odorants they respond. Knowing this, however, is an important prerequisite for developing bio-based “artificial noses” for food controls.
Cellular test systems
But how can this problem be solved? Normally, scientists use cellular test systems to find out to which substances a receptor protein reacts. However, a particular problem with odorant receptors is that they often are stuck inside the test cells, and hardly reach the cell surface. Even for a suitable odorant it is then difficult to dock onto enough receptors to activate a cellular function. Thus, odorant assignment to individual receptor types is hampered.
However, why do odorant receptors so often become stuck in test cells, and what molecular mechanisms are involved in the transport of odorant receptors to the cell surface? To help answer these fundamental questions, the team of scientists examined and compared the protein sequences of 4,808 odorant receptors from eight different species using statistical and phylogenetic analysis methods. This enabled the team to identify highly conserved amino acid motifs. These are localized in the respective C-terminal end of the receptor proteins, which protrudes into the cell interior (cytoplasm).
Address codes identified
“The structure-function analyses we performed indicate that certain amino acid motifs and their combinations in different receptor types individually promote their cell surface expression and signaling. They function like address codes, or ‘zip codes’,” reports Dietmar Krautwurst, who led the study. “Such amino acid motifs were previously unknown for olfactory receptors,” the biologist continued. “We assume that the odorant receptor molecules interact with cellular proteins via these motifs, which guide the sensor proteins to their site of action on the cell surface via mechanisms that are still unknown.”

The snow may be melting, but it is leaving pollution behind in the form of micro- and nano-plastics according to a McGill study that was recently published in Environmental Pollution. The pollution is largely due to the relatively soluble plastics found in antifreeze products (polyethylene glycols) that can become airborne and picked up by the snow.
The researchers used a new technique that they have developed to analyze snow samples collected in April 2019 in Montreal for both micro- and nano-sized particles of various plastics. The McGill technique is orders of magnitude more sensitive than any of the other current methods used for tracing plastic in the environment. It allows scientists to detect ultra-trace quantities of many of the most common soluble and insoluble plastics in snow, water, rainfall, and even in soil samples once they have been separated — down to the level of a picogram (or one trillionth of a gram). It is based on using nano-structured mass spectrometry and, unlike other techniques currently in use, the new technique is both recyclable and based on sustainable practices.
“It is important to be able to detect even trace quantities of plastics in the environment,” says senior author, Parisa Ariya, from McGill’s Departments of Chemistry and Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. “Though these plastics may be harmless in themselves, they can pick up toxic organic matter and heavy metals from the environment, which can damage human cells and organs.”
The first author, Zi Wang, a PhD Candidate at McGill adds, “Our hope is that this new technique can be used by scientists in different domains gain key information about the quantity of micro- and nano-plastics in urban environments in order to better address their impacts on the ecosystem and on human health.”
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Many athletes, from football players to equestrians, rely on helmets to protect their heads from impacts or falls. However, a loose or improperly fitted helmet could leave them vulnerable to traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), a leading cause of death or disability in the U.S. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Sensors have developed a highly sensitive pressure sensor cap that, when worn under a helmet, could help reveal whether the headgear is a perfect fit.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.6 to 3.8 million sports- and recreation-related TBIs occur each year in the U.S. Field data suggest that loose or improperly fitted helmets can contribute to TBIs, but no devices currently exist that can provide information about how well a helmet conforms to an individual player’s head. To help observe and better understand helmet fit, Simin Masihi, Massood Atashbar and colleagues wanted to develop highly sensitive, fabric-based sensors that could map pressure in real-time.
The researchers made their sensors by placing a porous polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer between two fabric-based, conductive electrodes. They created uniform pores in the PDMS layer by mixing and heating PDMS, sodium bicarbonate (also known as baking soda) and nitric acid, which released bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. When the team applied pressure to the sensor, the porous material compressed, causing a capacitance change as the space between the two electrodes decreased. To demonstrate a wearable helmet fit system, the researchers added 16 pressure sensors to different locations on a cap. Three volunteers wore the cap under a football helmet, and the sensors correctly revealed that the person with the largest head measurements felt the most pressure around his head, particularly in the front. The fit cap could help athletes select the proper off-the-shelf helmet for their head and allow manufacturers to develop custom helmets to reduce the severity of sports-related head injuries, the researchers say.
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Scientists at UC San Francisco have detected 109 chemicals in a study of pregnant women, including 55 chemicals never before reported in people and 42 “mystery chemicals,” whose sources and uses are unknown.
The chemicals most likely come from consumer products or other industrial sources. They were found both in the blood of pregnant women, as well as their newborn children, suggesting they are traveling through the mother’s placenta.
The study will be published March 17, 2021, in Environmental Science & Technology.
“These chemicals have probably been in people for quite some time, but our technology is now helping us to identify more of them,” said Tracey J. Woodruff, PhD, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UCSF.
A former EPA scientist, Woodruff directs the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE) and the Environmental Research and Translation for Health (EaRTH) Center, both at UCSF.
“It is alarming that we keep seeing certain chemicals travel from pregnant women to their children, which means these chemicals can be with us for generations,” she said.

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingimage copyrightReutersSeveral European countries are experiencing a new surge in coronavirus infections, while a number have also suspended use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine over safety concerns. The European Medicines Agency is standing by its decision to approve the vaccine and has reiterated there is “no indication” the jab causes blood clots. It is investigating further and its results are due to be released on Thursday. Correspondents in six cities explain how Europeans are reacting to the new wave of infections and the stuttering rollout.Vaccinations 857,792 |14.81 doses per 100 people | Increase in cases compared with last week +2,484Denmark was the first country in Europe to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution, followed by Norway and Iceland. It is yet another blow to its vaccine plans, writes Adrienne Murray in Copenhagen.About 1 in 10 people here have now received at least one vaccine dose, a quarter of which were supplied by AstraZeneca.All adults were expected to be vaccinated by the end of June, but delivery delays have seen that target pushed back a number of times. Health authorities on Wednesday suggested the end of July.Danes have expressed disappointment about the rollout on Twitter. “It’s simply going too slow,” writes Lone Juul Lang. But most have supported the government’s handling of coronavirus and a survey in January revealed that almost nine out of 10 Danes want to be vaccinated.Since the new year, infections have fallen sharply and Denmark is slowly emerging from a second lockdown. But signs of fatigue are beginning to show. Anti-lockdown protests have recently been held in some Danish cities and there’s political pressure to do more.However, concerns about new variants of coronavirus, have made the government hesitant to open up faster.Vaccinations 7,552,120 | 11.19 doses per 100 people | Increase in cases compared with last week +25,912After an unpromising start, the AstraZeneca jab has come to hold a key place in France’s inoculation programme, but a new poll on public confidence is not reassuring, writes Hugh Schofield in Paris.It’s the worst anniversary that Emmanuel Macron can have imagined, says Nicolas Beytout, editor of France’s L’Opinion newspaper.Exactly a year ago the president announced the first lockdown and said France was “at war” with the virus. But now his strategy has been knocked dangerously off course by the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine.In recent weeks the AstraZeneca jab has overtaken Pfizer/BioNTech in the number of doses delivered. But if people turn away from AstraZeneca, waiting for new vaccines like Johnson and Johnson, then Mr Macron’s calculations go awry. The sweet moment when immunity starts biting is postponed, leading to lockdowns and public anger. According to an Elabe survey conducted just as the suspension was announced, only 20% of the French have confidence in AstraZeneca. For Pfizer/BioNTech, the figure is 52%.Vaccinations 9,853,966 | 11.76 doses per 100 people | Increase in cases compared to last week +23,889Coronavirus infections are spreading fast again in Germany and there’s already growing dissatisfaction over a slow vaccine rollout, writes Jenny Hill in Berlin.”We wonder now when we will ever be vaccinated?” says kindergarten worker Tanya. Just 8% of the German population has received a first jab in a country which, most experts agree, is firmly in the grip of a third wave. Germany has relied largely on Pfizer/BioNTech, but ministers need AstraZeneca if they’re to keep their promises and speed things up.So the decision to suspend the jab has caused dismay, anger and concern.Not least because, even in a country that is broadly open to vaccination, AstraZeneca has a bit of an image problem; in part, because the government initially blocked its use in older age groups.Ministers argue now, as then, that they’re acting to create public trust. Many here would say they’ve had the opposite effect – undermining faith not just in the vaccine but, in an election year, the government itself.Vaccinations 4,557,060 | 12.04 doses per 100 people | Increase in cases compared to last week +29,557In Poland, new infections are rising at an alarming rate as the country’s third wave continues to gather momentum, writes Adam Easton in Warsaw.In response to the health ministry’s latest tweet about the number of new cases, which rose by 45% compared with a week earlier, some wanted tougher restrictions.”In Germany, a hard lockdown, in Poland indignation that you can’t go to the pub in the evening,” writes @JMojzych, adding that there is a higher rate of infection here than in Germany.In terms of the vaccination rollout, Poland has just fallen out of the top 10 EU countries with the highest rate of administering jabs. A recent opinion poll found that 53.1% of respondents agreed the EU had failed to provide sufficient vaccines to member states.Unlike many EU countries, Poland is continuing to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine.But people questioning, or deferring their AstraZeneca jab has become “a noticeable phenomenon”, Prof Agniezka Mastalerz-Migas, from Wroclaw Medical University, told broadcaster TVN24 . Vaccinations 7,039,518 | 11.64 doses per 100 people | Increase in cases compared to last week +12,018The timing could hardly have been worse for Italy, writes Mark Lowen in Milan.On the day that most of Italy entered another lockdown and new vaccine sites opened to ramp up rollout, they were abruptly shut again with the AstraZeneca suspension – and those waiting for their longed-for panacea were turned away. It’s fodder for Italy’s Eurosceptics.”Another failure by Europe,” cried Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League. He adds that he hoped the Sputnik V vaccine would arrive soon – a comment not lost on those noting Mr Salvini’s pro-Russia sympathies.At a Pfizer vaccination centre in Milan, most seem unfazed.”If my mother had got AstraZeneca today, not Pfizer, it would be the same,” says Elena Grazena. “I trust the science.” Maria Polizzi tells me she is a little worried by the suspension. “Luckily AstraZeneca wasn’t the vaccine I got,” she says. “It’s right they’re suspending until they investigate.”Amid a third wave and frustration at a slow vaccine rollout, it’s as though this exhausted country has been kicked while it’s down.Vaccinations 1,079,144 | 11.98 doses per 100 people | Increase in cases compared to last week +1,876In Austria, there are mixed feelings about AstraZeneca, writes Bethany Bell in Vienna.On one of Vienna’s main shopping streets, I meet Angelika, who tells me she is relieved to have had her first jab of AstraZeneca last week.”I’m really happy and glad to have it because I’m a teacher,” she tells me. “I feel great. It was fine.” She says it is much better to be inoculated than to get a bad case of Covid-19.Austria halted one batch of the vaccine last week, while they investigate the death of a nurse who died several days after being inoculated.But vaccinations with AstraZeneca continue.Austria’s health minister Rudolf Anschober has called for a swift European solution, instead of individual national decisions.Everyone will have to make up their own minds, says Angelika. “I think we take a lot of other medicines where we don’t know what’s inside.”Another shopper, Manfred is more suspicious.”In general, I am pro-vaccination,” he tells me. But he says he won’t take AstraZeneca at the moment, “because of the serious adverse events. I’m a bit scared to get ill from the vaccine”.He says he might change his mind if the studies are okay.

Global vaccine rollout

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Source: Our World in Data, ONS, gov.uk dashboard

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingimage copyrightGetty ImagesA digital certificate to kick-start foreign travel should be given to citizens across the EU “without discrimination”, officials say.The aim is to enable anyone vaccinated against Covid-19, or who has tested negative or recently recovered from the virus to travel within the EU.The 27 member states will decide how to use the new digital certificate.Vaccine passports have faced opposition from some EU member states over concerns they might be discriminatory.Some argue that they would enable a minority to enjoy foreign travel without restrictions while others, such as young people who are not seen as a priority for inoculation, continue to face measures such as quarantine. European Commission officials have made clear they want to avoid discrimination.P&O Cruises says travellers will need vaccinationsBritish Airways plans app-based travel passEurope in vaccine race to save summerAnother issue raised has been that data on the efficacy of vaccines in preventing a person from carrying or passing on the virus is incomplete.Ahead of the EU’s announcement, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that it was working to “create an international trusted framework” for safe travel, but that vaccinations should not be a condition. What does the certificate mean for EU travel? Speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said the proposed digital green certificate would be “for all EU citizens, their families when they’re leaving the EU or living abroad”. “It’ll also be for the European Economic Area (EEA), because we want to work with Norway and Iceland,” he said, adding that Switzerland would also be involved. Mr Reynders said there was still a lot to do to put the digital certificate in place, but the aim was to get it up and running before the summer tourist season. The European Commission proposal sets out that any EU member state permitting vaccinated travellers to bypass restrictions such as quarantine must accept certificates from other states within the bloc under the same conditions. The vaccines should be approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). These currently include drugs developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, but not Russia’s Sputnik V or China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines. However, the proposal adds that the guidelines “should not prevent member states from deciding to accept vaccination certificates issued for other Covid-19 vaccines”.Vaccine pause hits Europe rollout as Covid cases riseIs the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine safe?Why is the EU having vaccine problems?Meanwhile, in the UK, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the government was looking at the idea of vaccine passports and had been “discussing what the best way to proceed is”.”We are having debates, discussions about travel… but I think what we also have to do is be driven by the data, we’ve got to see how coronavirus develops,” he told the BBC.More than a third of the UK population – nearly 25 million people – have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine in the UK, which is no longer a member of the European Union.The rollout across the EU has been slower, and has been hindered by delayed deliveries as well as the current suspension in several countries of the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine over fears of possible side effects. What do European countries make of the plan?The economies of countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy are unlikely to recover until the tourist industry is reopened, and they have been looking at ways to save the summer season while providing a safe environment for both travellers and local residents. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday welcomed the planned certificate, which he said would “significantly facilitate the movement of citizens and will help boost tourism and the economies that rely heavily on it”.Last month, Greece’s Deputy Prime Minister Akis Skertsos said that a common digital certificate was “not discriminatory”, and that non-vaccinated tourists could also visit Greece this summer – but the procedure for them would be slower as they would have to be tested and might have to self-isolate on arrival.A hotel manager in the Spanish resort of Benidorm, Ricardo Sánchez, told the BBC that the UK was its most important market, followed by Belgium, the Netherlands, and people arriving from Eastern Europe. “So many months working with so many restrictions and the restrictions are changing every 15 days,” he said, adding that would-be tourists were unsure what to do and were waiting for “good news” before booking reservations. Iceland has said it is opening its borders to visitors who have received the vaccine without the need for testing or quarantine later this week.