news 2018

An international team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and the University of Oxford has revealed that New Caledonian crows are able to create tools by combining two or more otherwise non-functional elements, an ability so far observed only in humans and great apes. The new study, published today in Scientific Reports , shows that these birds can create long-reaching tools out of short combinable parts - an astonishing mental feat.

Research from King's College London has shown for the first time that genetics plays a significant role in whether young adults choose to go to university, which university they choose to attend and how well they do. Previous studies from King's College London have shown that genetics plays a major role in academic achievement at school, with 58% of individual differences between students in GCSE scores due to genetic factors.

The first farmers who arrived into Europe had company when they travelled out of the Near East during the Neolithic expansion. Along with many other plants and animals, they also brought their dogs. The international collaboration conducted by researchers at École Normale Supérieure of Lyon, the University of Oxford, the National History Museum and the University of Rennes, has revealed that dogs have quite literally been man's best friend, from as far back as 9,000 years ago.

A newly discovered role for the enzyme glutamine synthetase could have important implications for developing anti-cancer drugs according to a new UCL study. An intrinsic part of tumour growth is the sprouting of blood vessels, which supply cancerous tumours with the blood and energy that they need to survive.

Identical brain mechanisms are responsible for triggering memory in both sleep and wakefulness, new research at the University of Birmingham has shown. The study sheds new light on the processes used by the brain to 'reactivate' memories during sleep, consolidating them so they can be retrieved later.

Surgeons could soon eavesdrop on a patient's brain activity during surgery to remove their brain tumour, helping improve the accuracy of the operation and reduce the risk of impairing brain function. There's been huge progress in brain imaging and electrophysiology - our understanding of the electricity within our bodies - so why not use this information to improve brain surgery? Yaara Erez Patients with low-grade gliomas in their brains - a slow-spreading, but potentially life-threatening tumour - will usually receive surgery to have the tumour removed.

PA 204/18 Adopting a more local and flexible approach to sustainable development could be key to boosting the productivity of small-scale farms in Africa, a study involving researchers at the University of Nottingham has found. The research, led by the University of Liverpool and in collaboration with UK and African partners, reveal village chicken populations in Ethiopia to be genetically diverse and highly adapted to their local physical, cultural and social environments.

Cardiff University has opened a brand new facility with the capacity to hold up to a million biological samples for medical research. The Cardiff University Biobank , opened today by Health Secretary Vaughan Gething, will give researchers quick and easy access to biological samples to be used in research for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening illnesses.

15 October 2018 A tissue-like material capable of synchronised beating when heated and cooled has been developed by a team of University of Bristol chemists. The discovery is the first chemically programmed approach to producing an artificial tissue. The findings, which could have major health applications in the future, could see chemically programmed synthetic tissue being used to support failing living tissues and to cure specific diseases.

A radical new approach combining archaeology, genetics and microscopy can reveal long-forgotten secrets of human diet, sanitation and movement from studying parasites in ancient poo. Researchers at the University of Oxford's Department of Zoology and School of Archaeology have applied genetic analysis to 700-year-old parasites found in archaeological stool samples to understand a variety of characteristics of a human population.

Only a small proportion of cases of dementia are thought to be inherited - the cause of the vast majority is unknown. Now. Why do some people get these diseases while others don't? We know genetics plays a part, but why do people with no family history develop the disease? Patrick Chinnery The findings suggest that for many people with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, the roots of their condition will trace back to their time as an embryo developing in the womb.

Oxford scientists report exciting new insights into the structure and function of the brain using genetic information and detailed brain images from UK Biobank. The researchers took data from detailed MR images from 10,000 UK Biobank participants, which are freely available from the resource to researchers around the world, to examine thousands of different measurements of the brain.

The health and balance of the gut microbiota is important in the progression of a bacterial infection, according to new research. A new study, led by the University of Glasgow and published , found that disease-causing bacteria were taking signals from the host's gut microbiota in order to spread and progress the infection.

Scientists have created a 'window' into the brain, which enables researchers to watch in detail how human brain cells connect to each other. In the new study, led by Imperial College London in collaboration with a group from the University of Cambridge , researchers for the first time successfully transplanted human brain cells into a mouse brain, and watched how they grew and connected to each other.

A scientific breakthrough has revealed a new way that bacteria evolves, thought to be at least 1,000 times more efficient than any currently known mechanism. The insights will help scientists to better understand how superbugs can rapidly evolve and become increasingly antibiotic resistant. The research, led by the University of Glasgow and the National University of Singapore and , has found a previously unknown method of genetic transduction - the process through which bacteria begins to evolve into potentially deadly superbugs.

A new easy-to-use legal tool that enables exchange of biological material between research institutes and companies launches today. The OpenMTA provides a new pathway for open exchange of DNA components - the basic building blocks for new engineering approaches in biology Jim Haseloff The OpenMTA is a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) designed to foster a spirit of openness, sharing and innovation in global biotechnology.

Scientists at UCL have designed a virtual modelling technique which can create highly detailed 3D models of individual cancerous tumours and simulate the delivery of drugs in order to predict their effectiveness. In the study, researchers acquired high-resolution images of surgically-resected tumours and used mathematical modelling to run detailed computational experiments.

On World Mental Health Day we look at how understanding the wiring and rewiring of the adolescent brain is helping scientists pinpoint why young people are especially vulnerable to mental health problems - and why some are resilient. If you speak to anyone who has had a mental health problem, you will know the effect it's had on them and their families.

The first clinical trial of novel approach to modifying the progression of Alzheimer's disease has opened in London, led by UCL researchers. The study is being conducted at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Clinical Research Facility at the Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology Centre at Queen Square, assisted by the Royal Free Hospital.

Female guppies with smaller brains can distinguish attractive males, but they don't recognise them as being more appealing or choose to mate with them, according to a new study by UCL and Stockholm University researchers. The study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution , adds weight to the link between mate preference and cognitive ability.