news 2014

An extensive Home Office investigation has not substantiated the main allegations made by the anti-vivisection organisation that infiltrated Imperial. The Animals in Science Regulation Unit Inspectorate report, which dates from January 2014 and is published today , describes its investigation into Imperial College London following an infiltration of its animal research facilities, which was made public in April 2013.

Researchers have identified a molecular mechanism that could explain why the common cold can bring on life-threatening asthma attacks. Published today in Science Translational Medicine , the findings indicate this may be a potential target for new drugs that could be more effective than existing treatments.

Increased road construction is reducing bird biodiversity in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, according to a new study. Reporting in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B , scientists examined the links between density of road networks in Pará, which is a Brazilian state found in the North of the Amazon rainforest, and the richness of forest bird species.

Previously undiscovered secrets of how human cells interact with a bacterium which causes a serious human disease have been revealed in new research by microbiologists at The University of Nottingham. The scientists at the University's Centre for Biomolecular Sciences have shed new light on how two proteins found on many human cells are targeted by the human pathogen Neisseria meningitidis which can cause life-threatening meningitis and septicaemia.

Study finds that natural flood defences such as salt marshes can reduce the height of damaging waves in storm surge conditions by close to 20%. Even in extreme conditions, salt marshes are a vital defence for our coastlines Iris Möller The effectiveness of salt marshes - wetlands which are flooded and drained by tides - in protecting coastal areas in times of severe weather has been quantified in a study by researchers from the University of Cambridge.

People tend to perceive their dominant hand as staying relatively the same size even when it's magnified, lending support to the idea that we use our hand as a constant perceptual "ruler" to measure the world around us. The findings are published in Psychological Science , a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

01 Oct 2014 Treating cancers with immunotherapy and radiotherapy at the same time could stop them from becoming resistant to treatment, according to a study published in Cancer Research today. The researchers, based at The University of Manchester and funded by MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, and Cancer Research UK, found that combining the two treatments helped the immune system hunt down and destroy cancer cells that weren't killed by the initial radiotherapy in mice with breast, skin and bowel cancers.

Evidence of the environmental impact of heather burning is published today in the first authoritative study on the subject, to help relieve tensions on both sides of the grouse moor management debate. The EMBER (Effects of Moorland Burning on the Ecohydrology of River basins) project has shown that heather burning on moorland, which is practised predominantly to support red grouse populations for gun sports, has significant negative impacts on peat hydrology, peat chemistry and physical properties, river water chemistry and river ecology.

A new technique will help surgeons to detect where the margins of cancerous breast tumours are during surgery, reducing the need for secondary operations in breast cancer patients. Scientists have developed a highly accurate prototype technique which can produce a detailed 'molecular fingerprint' of breast tissues removed during surgery.

  Screening families of patients with bowel cancer for a genetic condition would help cut their risk of developing bowel, womb, and ovarian cancers, new University research has found. In a major study, Dr Ian Frayling School of Medicine and researchers from the University of Exeter's Medical School assessed the effectiveness of introducing a UK-wide screening programme for a genetic condition known as Lynch Syndrome.

World-leading researchers from the University of Sheffield have identified a molecule which can be targeted to reduce the loosening of hip implants by preventing toxic metal entering into bone cells. Hip implants rely on the normal functioning of bone cells to achieve fixation of the implant with the bone.

Imperial chemists have gained fresh insights into how a disease-causing enzyme makes changes to proteins and how it can be stopped. The scientists hope their findings will help them to design drugs that could target the enzyme, known as N -myristoyltransferase (NMT), and potentially lead to new treatments for cancer and inflammatory conditions.

26 Sep 2014 Immune cells may be responsible for drug resistance in melanoma patients, according to research published in Cancer Discovery. Cancer Research UK scientists at The University of Manchester found that chemical signals produced by a type of immune cell, called macrophages, also act as a survival signal for melanoma cells.

A chemical in the brain plays a vital role in controlling the involuntary movements and vocal tics associated with Tourette Syndrome (TS), a new study has shown. The research by psychologists at The University of Nottingham, published in the latest edition of the journal Current Biology , could offer a potential new target for the development of more effective treatments to suppress these unwanted symptoms.

A team of psychologists and psychiatrists are beginning research on a brainwave 'fingerprint' which could identify young people at risk of developing serious mental illness. Researchers from the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh are looking to recruit 100 volunteers aged between 16 and 35 for a new £1m project which will measure their brain activity and examine changes in their mental state for a period of up to two years.

Press release issued: 25 September 2014 High levels of calcium in blood, a condition known as hypercalcaemia, can be used by GPs as an early indication of certain types of cancer, according to a study by researchers from the universities of Bristol and Exeter. Hypercalcaemia is the most common metabolic disorder associated with cancer, occurring in 10 to 20 per cent of people with cancer.

Members of the British Muslim community who are most at risk of radicalisation are more likely to have depression and be socially isolated, a pioneering research study led by Queen Mary University of London has found. The research found those most resistant to radicalisation were more likely to be migrants not born in the UK, have poor physical health and have a higher number of friends and family.

Brain scans reveal 'grey matter' differences in media multitaskers Simultaneously using mobile phones, laptops and other media devices could be changing the structure of our brains, according to new University of Sussex research. A study published today (24 September) in PLOS ONE reveals that people who frequently use several media devices at the same time have lower grey-matter density in one particular region of the brain compared to those who use just one device occasionally.

This is a very hopeful sign that we can find and analyse more cloudless, smaller, planets in the future Nikku Madhusudhan Astronomers have discovered clear skies and steamy water vapour on a gaseous planet outside our solar system. The planet, known as HAT-P-11b, is about the size of Neptune, making it the smallest-ever planet for which water vapour has been detected.

Children who are maltreated may be at an increased risk of obesity and inflammatory disorders because of low levels of leptin — a hormone involved in regulating appetite, according to new research from King's College London. The findings, published today in Translational Psychiatry , suggest leptin deficiency may contribute to physical health problems associated with early life stress, and provide a possible target in disease prevention.