News 2019

Scientists have reported an effective and environmentally sustainable way to block the transmission of mosquito-borne dengue virus, in trials carried out in Malaysia. Using a strain of the bacteria Wolbachia , which inhibit mosquitoes from transmitting viruses to humans, researchers at the Universities of Glasgow and Melbourne and the Institute for Medical Research in Malaysia were successfully able to reduce cases of dengue at sites in Kuala Lumpur.

Scientists have detected an exotic tick-borne parasite within sheep in the North of Scotland, according to a new study. The research, by scientists at the University of Glasgow's School of Veterinary Medicine and Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, was published today in Emerging Infectious Diseases, the journal of the Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

Forty-four academics are included in Clarivate's 'Highly Cited Researchers 2019' list, which recognises authors of the most influential research papers around the world. The results are comparable with university peers such as Oxford (55 researchers recognised), Cambridge (53) and Imperial College London (34) and represent an increase since last year, when 41 UCL researchers were recognised.

Scientists have peered inside the brain to show how taking DMT affects human consciousness by significantly altering the brain's electrical activity. DMT (or dimethyltryptamine) is one of the main psychoactive constituents in ayahuasca, the psychedelic brew traditionally made from vines and leaves of the Amazon rainforest.

Scientists have discovered a way to manipulate the body's own immune response to help boost tissue repair. The findings, published in Current Biology today [18 Nov], reveal a new network of protective factors to shield cells against damage. This discovery, made by University of Bristol researchers, could significantly benefit patients undergoing surgery by speeding recovery times and lowering the risk of complication.

Researchers from the Universities of Cardiff and Bristol have devised a test that could in future help to identify children at risk of developing a very common eye condition. Short-sightedness, or myopia, usually develops during childhood and is thought to affect up to one in three people in the UK.

A new type of microscopy is helping to unlock the secrets of the zebrafish's heart - which could also teach us more about how human hearts form, grow and heal. Video In a new paper published today , researchers from the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh describe how they have developed a new method to capture 3D video images of the growing hearts of zebrafish embryos for the first time.

Scientists at the University of Birmingham have unravelled the genetic mechanisms behind tiny waterfleas' ability to adapt to increased levels of phosphorus pollution in lakes. By mapping networks of genes to the physiological responses of ancient and modern waterfleas (Daphnia), the researchers, based in the University's School of Biosciences , were able to show that a cluster of over 800 genes, many of them involved in metabolic processes, evolved to become "plastic", or flexible.

Neuroscientists at the University of Glasgow have gained new insight into how the brain predicts missing visual information when perceiving the outside world. The researchers, from the University's Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, discovered that our brains "sketch out" portions of scenes that are not visible - much like how an artist sketches out a scene before filling the remaining details.

Each time a newborn baby hiccups, it triggers a large wave of brain signals which could help the baby learn how to regulate their breathing, finds a new UCL-led study. The study, published in Clinical Neurophysiology , was based on brain scans of newborn infants. "The reasons for why we hiccup are not entirely clear, but there may be a developmental reason, given that foetuses and newborn babies hiccup so frequently," said the study's lead author, research associate Kimberley Whitehead (UCL Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology).

As bacteria adapt to hotter temperatures, they speed up their respiration rate and release more carbon, potentially accelerating climate change. By releasing more carbon as global temperatures rise, bacteria and related organisms called archaea could increase climate warming at a faster rate than current models suggest.

The genome of an ancient Egyptian wheat has been sequenced for the first time by a UCL-led team, revealing historical patterns of crop movement and domestication. The study was carried out by an international research team, which mapped the genetic code from a sample of wheat harvested over 3,000 years ago, that was excavated in 1924 from the Hememiah North Spur site in Egypt.

One of the world's leading centres for research into the underlying causes of mental health issues is marking its 10th anniversary. The MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics is also transitioning from a Medical Research Council Centre to a Cardiff University Centre, and Professor James Walters is taking over as director, replacing Professor Sir Michael Owen.

People who have a certain type of bacteria in their guts may be at greater risk of developing bowel cancer. The findings were presented by University of Bristol researcher, Dr Kaitlin Wade, at the 2019 NCRI Cancer Conference in Glasgow today [4 Nov]. While there is increasing evidence that the make-up of the gut microbiome plays a role in the human health and the body's susceptibility to disease including an association between the microbiome and bowel cancer, very few have provided convincing evidence for causality.

Heavy smoking may have a causal effect on facial ageing, according to new research led by the University of Bristol. The study searched across 18,000 traits from the UK Biobank cohort to identify those that may be affected by how heavily someone smokes. As well as recognising several known adverse effects such as on lung health, the research also found heavy smoking could influence appearance.

Gannets, the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic, can travel hundreds of miles from their homes just to catch food for their chicks. However, with around a million square miles of ocean to choose from, it has always been a mystery how they decide where is best to search for fish. Now, new research led by the University of Glasgow and published today in the Journal of Avian Biology, offers new insights into why these iconic shaped seabirds choose to hunt the way they do.

People with more harmful amyloid plaques in the brain already score worse than their peers on cognitive tests at age 70, finds a new UCL-led study. Amyloid plaques are implicated in Alzheimer's disease, which typically develops multiple years later, so the new findings, published in Neurology , might show early warning signs before any disease develops.

Clues to the final journey of Ötzi - a remarkable 5,300-year-old human corpse found frozen in ice in the Italian Alps - have now been revealed through the identification of mosses and liverworts frozen with the Iceman, according to new University of Glasgow research. The study -published today in PLOS ONE and in collaboration with the University of Innsbruck - identified at least 75 species of brypophytes - mosses and liverworts -preserved with the Iceman, holding important clues to Ötzi's final surroundings and last moments.

Stone tool use develops differently within species of Old World monkeys in spite of shared environmental and ecological settings, according to a new study involving UCL. Macaques are the only Old World monkeys that have been observed using percussive stone tools and scientists do not know for certain how or why certain groups have developed this behaviour.

Krill ' small crustaceans eaten by whales, seals and penguins ' play a vital role in removing carbon from the atmosphere, according to a new study. A study on how krill affect the Southern Ocean's ability to take in carbon from the atmosphere and bury it on the seafloor has revealed the small crustaceans play an outsized role in the process.