news 2016

New University of Warwick research indicates cause of recurrent miscarriage Stem cell research to start to help end heartache for thousands of women Scientists at the University of Warwick have discovered that a lack of stem cells in the womb lining is causing thousands of women to suffer from recurrent miscarriages.

New research reveals that the limbs of the earliest four-legged vertebrates, dating back more than 360 million years ago, were no more structurally diverse than the fins of their aquatic ancestors. The new finding overturns long-held views that the origin of vertebrates with legs (known as tetrapods) triggered an increase in the anatomical diversity of their skeletons.

New research has revealed the healthy carriers of a gene that causes a rare respiratory disease are taller and larger than average, with greater respiratory capacity. The disease, alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) can result in severely reduced lung capacity due to emphysema. It is found in about 1 in 2,000 people, and occurs when an individual inherits a defective gene copy from both parents.

Small numbers are processed in the right side of the brain, while large numbers are processed in the left side of the brain, new research suggests. The study, from scientists at Imperial College London, offers new insights into the mystery of how our brains handle numbers. The findings of the research, published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, could in the future help to tailor rehabilitation techniques for patients who have suffered brain damage, such as stroke patients, and inform treatments for conditions such as dyscalculia, which causes difficulty in processing numbers.

Only a fraction of genes appear to be essential for human life, according to researchers from the East London Genes & Health project, working with Born in Bradford and others. The study did not have any related adverse health effects. During fertilisation, humans inherit two copies of every gene, one from each parent, so that if one copy is inactivated, the other may make up for it.

Experiments conducted by the University of Liverpool's Centre for Research into Reading, Literature and Society (CRILS) have found that literary reading could help increase mental flexibility. Reading literature is encouraged as an activity because it is thought to be of benefit to mental health and wellbeing, but very little is known about how reading can do this.

New research has shown that a group of drugs commonly used as anaesthetics or for treating depression may be used to defeat viruses. The study, published in the latest edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry , centred on the Bunyavirus family that includes viruses such as the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic virus which can cause fatal disease similar to Ebola.

Research reveals the diverse and unusual ways dead people were treated more than 2,000 years ago Unusual and macabre burial practices used by Iron Age Britons have been discovered by researchers from the Natural History Museum and Cardiff University.

The first gene identified for greying hair has been discovered by an international UCL-led study, confirming greying has a genetic component and is not just environmental. , the study analysed a population of over 6,000 people with varied ancestry across Latin America to identify new genes associated with hair colour, greying, density and shape, i.e. straight or curly.

Reducing river pollution offers "real benefit" against climate change Plans to spend £3 billion on cleaning up English and Welsh rivers under European legislation will also help in the fight against climate change - this according to new research from Cardiff University and Radboud University in the Netherlands.

The process of ageing begins even before we are born, according to an international team of researchers led by the University of Cambridge. In a study using rats to model pregnancy and fetal development, the researchers also found that providing mothers with antioxidants during pregnancy meant that their offspring aged more slowly in adulthood.

Surprisingly complex interactions between neurotransmitter receptors and other key proteins help explain the brain's ability to process information with lightning speed, according to a new study. Scientists at Oxford, Liverpool and McGill universities combined experimental techniques to examine fast-acting protein macromolecules, known as AMPA receptors, which are a major player in brain signalling.

Brown trout, the top predator in many European streams, may be able to survive in warmer waters under global warming. Many current predictions about the effects of global warming suggest top predators will be some of the hardest hit as ecosystems suffer around them. However, a new study looking at brown trout, the largest organisms in many freshwater streams, suggests their response to warming is more complex.

A 520 million-year-old fossilised nervous system - so well-preserved that individually fossilised nerves are visible - is the most complete and best example yet found, and could help unravel how the nervous system evolved in early animals. The more of these fossils we find, the more we will be able to understand how the nervous system - and how early animals - evolved.

An international study of almost 120,000 women has newly identified five genetic variants affecting risk of breast cancer, all of which are believed to influence how breast cells respond to the female sex hormone oestrogen. There may be a 'Goldilocks' level of oestrogen receptors in breast cells: too few or too many and the breast cells are more likely to become cancerous Alison Dunning Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women.

An unidentified fossilised bone in a museum has revealed the size of a fearsome abelisaur and may have solved a hundred-year old puzzle. Alessandro Chiarenza, a PhD student from Imperial College London, last year stumbled across a fossilised femur bone, left forgotten in a drawer, during his visit to the Museum of Geology and Palaeontology in Palermo Italy.

PA 41/16 An international team of researchers has discovered a gene in snails that determines whether their shells twist clockwise or anti-clockwise - and could offer clues to how the same gene affects body asymmetry in other animals including humans.

The discovery of a brain circuit 'shortcut' could explain why some addicts unintentionally relapse, and suggests that a shift in focus for therapies might help those who want to stay off drugs. I started drinking whisky when I was 20 and I have only a small amount now and then. But if I were to scan my brain, it changed that very first time, and it continues to be changed David Belin There is a road down which those with substance addiction travel.

Flowers' iridescent petals, which may look plain to human eyes, are perfectly tailored to a bee's-eye-view so that these pollinators can find and recognise them more easily, research from the University of Bristol and the University of Cambridge has found. A new study by Dr Heather Whitney from Bristol's School of Biological Sciences , Professor Beverley Glover from Cambridge's Department of Plant Sciences and colleagues, shows that the petals of iridescent flowers are tailored to be the perfect signal for bees.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow have made a breakthrough reclassification of Pancreatic Cancer, offering new opportunities to treat the disease. The study, co-led by Professor Andrew Biankin and a team at the university's Institute of Cancer Sciences, has identified four key subtypes of Pancreatic Cancer - currently the 4 th leading cause of cancer death in Western societies, and projected to be the 2 nd within a decade - each with their own distinct clinical characteristics and differential survival outcomes.