news 2018

Researchers say that new 'mini-placentas' - a cellular model of the early stages of the placenta - could provide a window into early pregnancy and help transform our understanding of reproductive disorders. Details of this new research are published today . The placenta is absolutely essential for supporting the baby as it grows inside the mother.

While this week marks World Antibiotic Awareness Week, experts at the University of Birmingham are carrying out pioneering research to find real world solutions to the global threat of antimicrobial resistance. Each November, the World Health Organization (WHO) holds World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW) , running this year from November 12th to 18th, to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance.

Training domestic violence and abuse (DVA) advocates to deliver psychological support to women experiencing DVA could significantly improve the health of those affected. In a randomised controlled trial led by researchers from the University of Bristol, women who received the intervention showed reduced symptoms of psychological distress, depression and post-traumatic stress compared to those who received just advocacy.

A global team of researchers has found the first common genetic risk factors associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a complex condition affecting around 1 in 20 children. Professor Anita Thapar, from Cardiff University, who leads an ADHD research group as part of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, said: "This study marks a very important step in beginning to understand the genetic and biological underpinnings of ADHD.

Searching through the mountains of published cancer research could be made easier for scientists, thanks to a new AI system. As a cancer researcher, even if you knew what you were looking for, there are literally thousands of papers appearing every day Anna Korhonen The system, called LION LBD and developed by computer scientists and cancer researchers at the University of Cambridge, has been designed to assist scientists in the search for cancer-related discoveries.

Eighteen researchers at the University of Bristol have been named in the annual Highly Cited Researchers 2018 List, which recognises influential researchers around the world. Now in its fifth year, the citation analysis identifies those who have published a high number of papers that rank in the top one per cent most cited works in their field.

A drug treatment, already approved for use in patients, could offer new hope for some patients with brain bleeding and strokes. New research, led by the University of Glasgow and published today in Human Molecular Genetics , has shown that the compound sodium phenyl butyric acid could be used to reduce brain bleeding which can cause strokes when it is caused by a defect in a gene called collagen IV.

Facial sense of touch is important to enable babies breastfeed; this new device could help researchers understand when things go wrong. Babies need a sense of touch in their faces to give contact feedback to the brain, which in turn helps the baby find the nipple to breastfeed. For example, if a newborn baby's right cheek is lying on their mother's breast, the baby feeds back the sensory information from its cheek to the brain, which then signals the baby to turn its head to the right and 'root' for the nipple.

The gap between the life expectancy of the richest and poorest sectors of society in England is increasing. This is the finding of new research from Imperial College London. The research, published in the journal Lancet Public Health , also reveals that the life expectancy of England's poorest women has fallen since 2011, in what researchers say is a "deeply worrying" trend.

A new study by the University of Birmingham has found that seven in every eight children who have their tonsils removed are unlikely to benefit from the operation. Researchers, supported by the National Institute for Health Research, analysed the electronic medical records of over 1.6 million children from more than 700 UK general practices dating between 2005 and 2016.

The Mexican tetra fish can repair its heart after damage - something researchers have been striving to achieve in humans for years. Now, new research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) published in Cell Reports suggests that a gene called lrrc10 may hold the key to this fish's remarkable ability.

Researchers at the University of Bristol have established greater evidence for a causal link between trauma in childhood and psychotic experiences at 18 years old. The findings, published today (21 November) in JAMA Psychiatry , are the first to comprehensively examine the association between different types of trauma, and their timing in childhood with later psychotic experiences using a large population study.

Understanding Animal Research, an organisation promoting greater openness about animal research, has today released a list of the ten universities in the UK that conduct the highest number of animal procedures - those used in medical, veterinary and scientific research. These statistics are freely available on the universities' websites as part of their ongoing commitment to transparency and openness.

A researcher from the University of Bristol presented research at Parliament yesterday that recommends the consideration of more holistic interventions in the world's poorest countries. An unintended consequence of water tap access in rural Ethiopian villages is population growth. The provision of a safe water supply increases child survival and improves women's health in these communities, but Dr Mhairi Gibson , a Reader in Anthropology at Bristol, has discovered a subsequent rise in child malnutrition as village resources are strained by a booming population.

People living in deprived areas are more vulnerable to the effects of unhealthy lifestyles, including previously unrecognised risk factors such as short or long sleep duration and long TV viewing time. In a new study led by the University of Glasgow and published today in The Lancet Public Health , researchers have shown that the association between an unhealthy lifestyle and death is stronger in the more deprived groups.

A bacterial toxin that allows an infectious strain of bacteria to defeat its competitors has been discovered by Imperial College London scientists. The finding provides a better understanding of the mechanisms behind bacterial warfare, which is the first step for the design of improved treatments for microbial diseases.

New research from King's College London has found that MDMA, the main ingredient in ecstasy, causes people to cooperate better - but only with trustworthy people. In the first study to look in detail at how MDMA impacts cooperative behaviour the researchers also identified changes to activity in brain regions linked to social processing.

Scientists from the University of Bristol have designed a new synthetic glucose binding molecule platform that brings us one step closer to the development of the world's first glucose-responsive insulin which, say researchers, will transform the treatment of diabetes. The World Health Organization estimate that over 382 million people worldwide, including 4.05 million people in the UK, have diabetes - a metabolic disorder affecting blood sugar levels.

Researchers have developed a new technique to analyse cell membrane proteins in situ which could revolutionise the way in which we study diseases, such as cancer, metabolic and heart diseases. The discovery was made as part of an international research collaboration, led by Oxford University, alongside peers including Imperial College London.

The time of day, determined by a cell's internal clock, has a stronger influence on cell division than previously thought, reveals a new study. Cells replicate by dividing, but scientists still don't know exactly how they decide when to split. Deciding the right time and the right size to divide is critical for cells - if something goes wrong it can have a big impact, such as with cancer, which is basically a disease of uncontrolled cell division.