news 2016

A ground-breaking study by University of Manchester and Liverpool scientists and published in the journal eLife has identified a new link between inflammation and cell division. Two of the most important processes in the human body, their accurate control is a holy grail for scientists researching the prevention of infection, inflammatory disease and cancer.

A contagious form of cancer that can spread between dogs during mating has highlighted the extent to which dogs accompanied human travellers throughout our seafaring history. But the tumours also provide surprising insights into how cancers evolve by 'stealing' DNA from their host.

Scientists have probed the process that allows cells to swallow up particles, finding that some shapes are easier to swallow than others. Cells take in small particles and other objects such as bacteria in a process called engulfment. Single-celled organisms use engulfment to take in food, while in humans it forms the first line of immune system defence, as white blood cells engulf harmful bacteria and other foreign bodies.

Recognised welfare outcome assessments within farm assurance schemes have shown a reduction in feather loss and improvement in the welfare of UK cage-free laying hens, according to the findings of a study from the AssureWel project by the University of Bristol, RSPCA and the Soil Association. In the UK, cage-free egg-production systems account for 49 per cent of all eggs produced.

Germs could play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes by triggering the body's immune system to destroy the cells that produce insulin, new University research suggests. Scientists have previously shown that killer T-cells, a type of white blood cell that normally protects us from germs, play a major part in type 1 diabetes by destroying insulin producing cells, known as beta cells.

Researchers have modelled every atom in a key part of the process for switching on genes, revealing a whole new area for potential drug targets. Proteins are essential for processes that sustain life. They are created in cells through a process called gene expression, which uses instructions from stretches of DNA called genes to build proteins.

A study of butterflies suggests that when a species adapts, other parts of its genetic make-up  can be linked to that adaptation, limiting diversity in the population. While we cannot forecast the future, an emerging idea is that mutations that have no effect on survival today may be a source of beneficial variation in the future Simon Martin A study of tropical butterflies has added to growing evidence that natural selection reduces species' diversity by moulding parts of their genetic structure, including elements that have no immediate impact on their survival.

Genetic link found between binge-drinking teens and impulsivity - University of Sussex study Psychologists have discovered a new genetic link between impulsivity and teenage binge-drinking. Researchers at the University of Sussex, working as part of a team of researchers from across Europe, made the discovery which is published in the journal Frontiers in Genetics .

The ability to understand language could be much better preserved into old age than previously thought, according to researchers from the University of Cambridge, who found older adults struggle more with test conditions than language processing.

Scientists at the Universities of Bristol and Newcastle have uncovered the secret of the 'Mona Lisa of chemical reactions' - in a bacterium that lives at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. It is hoped the discovery could lead to the development of new antibiotics and other medical treatments. The Diels-Alder reaction, discovered by Nobel Prize-wining chemists Otto Diels and Kurt Alder, is one of the most powerful chemical reactions known, and is used extensively by synthetic chemists to produce many important molecules, including antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs and agrochemicals.

Scientists have unearthed crucial new genetic information about how breast cancer develops and the genetic changes which can be linked to survival, according to a study published in Nature today.

A unique and pioneering study of the ancient and modern DNA of the 'ship of the desert' — the single humped camel or dromedary — has shed new light on how its use by human societies has shaped its genetic diversity. For the first time, an international team of geneticists led by The University of Nottingham, the University of Veterinary Medicine (Vienna) and King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia, have shown how important long-distance and back-and-forth movements in ancient camel caravan routes were in shaping the species' genetic diversity.

For the first time, scientists have shown that MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant 'superbug' infections can be tracked across Europe. In a study published in the journal mBio, researchers at Imperial College London and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute worked with a European network representing doctors in 450 hospitals in 25 countries to successfully interpret and visualise the spread of drug-resistant MRSA.

Scientists have tracked the reaction of a protein responding to light, paving the way for a new understanding of life's essential reactions. Every process that sustains life is carried out by proteins, but understanding how these complex molecules do their jobs depends on learning the arrangement of their atoms - and how this structure changes - as they react.

The time-dependent role of the hippocampus in memory storage has been revealed through new research led by UCL and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The paper, published in PLOS ONE , investigated the dynamic nature of memory storage in the brain - studying the role of the hippocampus in the storage of contextual memories in rodents.

A new King's College London study reveals why some - but not all - people have depression that appears to be caused by blood inflammation. These insights could help researchers to develop novel treatment strategies for the many depressed patients who do not get better using current antidepressants. Recent research suggests that patients with depression have measurable changes in the blood that indicate activation of the inflammatory system - a biological response which is predominantly directed to fight infection but which also has an important role in regulating mood and behaviour.

April 2016 saw the UK Biobank launch the largest ever body scanning project in the world. Funded by the MRC, Wellcome Trust and British Heart Foundation, the biobank will scan 100,000 people to provide images of their brains, hearts, bones, carotid arteries and abdominal fat. Head of Imperial's Division of Brain Sciences , Professor Paul Matthews is one of the academic experts who has supported the creation of this resource.

Current estimates of the number of cheetahs in the wild are 'guesswork', say the authors of a new study which finds that the population in the cheetah stronghold of Maasai Mara, Kenya, is lower than previously thought. In the early 1900s it was believed that around 100,000 cheetahs roamed the Earth.

An international collaboration of researchers has identified five new gene regions that increase a woman's risk of developing endometrial cancer, one of the most common cancers to affect women, taking the number of known gene regions associated with the disease to nine. Interestingly, several of the gene regions we identified in the study were already known to contribute to the risk of other common cancers Deborah Thompson Endometrial cancer affects the lining of the uterus.

A diet containing too much red meat and not enough fruit and vegetables could increase your body's 'biological age' and contribute to health problems.‌ Research led by the University of Glasgow and published today in Aging, has found that a moderate increase in serum phosphate levels caused by red meat consumption, combined with a poor overall diet, increases biological age (miles on the clock) in contrast to chronological age (years of age).