news 2018

A study published used genetic data from nearly a million people across Europe and North America to highlight some of the key ways in which type 2 diabetes develops, and to find several genes which could be attractive targets for the creation of new therapeutic drugs.

A small clinical trial has shown that a new drug has promise for targeting tumours in patients with an aggressive type of blood cancer. Multiple myeloma is a relatively rare type of cancer that develops in the bone marrow - the spongey tissue inside the bone where new blood cells are produced - often spreading to multiple sites within the body.

5 October 2018 Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Hannover studying a naturally-produced compound that inspired the biggest selling family of commercial agricultural fungicides have, for the first time, discovered how this important class of compound is synthesised in nature. The findings could potentially be used in the future to enable a 'pick and mix' approach with combinations of enzymes to make designer biosynthetic pathways for new compounds that could help to control crop diseases.

Clinical and research teams at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, using infection prevention and control best practice, whole genome sequencing and electronic patient data, have halted an outbreak of a potentially deadly fungal pathogen after detecting that multi-use patient equipment was responsible.

A team of scientists at the University of Cambridge has developed an artificial mouse embryo-like structure capable of forming the three major axes of the body. The technique could reduce the use of mammalian embryos in research. We were surprised to see how far gastruloids develop, their complex organisation and the presence of early-stage tissues and organ Alfonso Martinez Arias The definitive architecture of the mammalian body is established shortly after the embryo implants into the uterus.

A new study published today in Nature shows that getting smaller was a key factor contributing to the exceptional evolution of mammals over the last 200 million years. The origin of modern mammals can be traced back more than 200 million years to the age of dinosaurs. But while dinosaurs evolved to become some of the largest land animals, for the following 150 million years, the ancestors of all modern mammals pursued an entirely different strategy: getting very small.

New research has shown that support cells in the brain can be utilised to heal and protect neurones, paving the way for the development of new medicine to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Tackling neurodegeneration remains one of the great challenges for modern medicine. Most of the major neuro-psychiatric conditions (such as epilepsy, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases) involve a gradual decline of neuronal populations as neurones in the affected areas die.

A new study reveals that when burying beetle larvae are denied parental support, they evolve bigger jaws to compensate. Our ongoing research investigates the importance of the social environment in evolution Rebecca Kilner In gardens, parks and woods across the UK, the Sexton burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides quietly buries dead mice and other small vertebrates to create edible nests for their young.

Research from Oxford University has revealed that bold male birds focus on forming strong relationships with their future breeding partners while shy male birds play the field. A new study from the Department of Zoology, Oxford University, has found that the individual personalities of male great tits influences how they bond with their future breeding partner.

Researchers at MRC HIU examined the large intestine using sophisticated single cell technology, in work that paves the way for better treatments for IBD. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease with limited treatment options. The two main forms of the disease, Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis, affect more than 300,000 people in the UK.

A unique source of stem cells in blood helps to build blood vessels according to new UCL-led research with mouse embryos. The findings change scientific understanding of how blood vessels are made and bring scientists one step closer to using stem cells to grow new blood vessels and repair damaged ones.

Imperial scientists have helped unravel the genetic code of tuberculosis (TB), enabling doctors to tailor treatments to each individual patient. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine , may herald a quicker, more tailored treatment for the millions of people around the world living with tuberculosis.

The ears of male mosquitoes amplify the sound of an approaching female using a self-generated phantom tone that mimics the female's wingbeats, which increases the ear's acoustic input by a factor of up to 45,000, finds a new UCL-led study. The researchers were studying disease-carrying mosquitoes, and hope their findings, published , could help design acoustic lures to control the spread of deadly diseases.

Scientists hope that a new approach to vaccine development, combined with improved surveillance of potential future threats of outbreak, could help to massively reduce the impact of deadly diseases such as Ebola, Marburg and Lassa fever. "This has the potential to have an enormous positive impact on global public health" Jonathan Heeney Researchers from the University of Cambridge will shortly begin clinical trials of a new vaccine that builds on almost two decades of research to protect against diseases caused by RNA viruses.

New research from an international team led by Oxford University's Department of Zoology and the National-Kapodistrian University of Athens shows that an ancient retrovirus - HK2 - is more frequently found in drug addicts and thus is significantly associated with addiction. The human genome is "littered" with remnants of ancient retrovirus infections that invaded the germline of our primate ancestors.

Researchers have developed a new way to target the toxic particles that destroy healthy brain cells in Alzheimer's disease. This is the first time that a systematic method to go after the pathogens - the cause of Alzheimer's disease - has been proposed. Michele Vendruscolo Academics at the University of Cambridge and at Lund University in Sweden have devised the first strategy to 'go after' the cause of the devastating disease, which could eventually lead to the development of new drugs to treat dementia.

Children, like adults, can improve their response to difficult tasks by the power of group work, new research led by the University of Bristol has found. The 'Wisdom of Crowds' is well documented in adults, but previously children were thought to lack the social and cognitive skills to make effective group decisions together.

Researchers have developed a genome-editing tool for the potential treatment of mitochondrial diseases: serious and often fatal conditions which affect 1 in 5,000 people. Mitochondrial replacement therapy is a promising approach to prevent transmission of mitochondrial diseases, however, as the vast majority of mitochondrial diseases have no family history, this approach might not actually reduce the proportion of mitochondrial disease in the population.

Depression during pregnancy is unlikely to directly impact babies in the womb and lead to emotional or behavioural problems after birth, according to a new study by King's College London researchers published in The Lancet Psychiatry . Up to 1 in 5 expectant mothers will experience depression during pregnancy, with such episodes being associated with the development of emotional and behavioural problems in childhood.

Land-based bird populations are becoming confined to nature reserves in some parts of the world - raising the risk of global extinction - due to the loss of suitable habitat, according to a report led by UCL. Researchers analysed biodiversity in the area known as Sundaland, which covers the peninsula of Thailand, Borneo, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Bali, one of the world's most biologically degraded regions.