news 2021

Scientists at UCL have discovered that some patients with a common type of childhood cancer do not respond to treatment because of a rare and previously unrecognised type of cancer cell, which has the unique capacity to "lie dormant" during chemotherapy and resist its effects. The breakthrough study in mice, uncovers for the first time the specific biological features that explain why a small number of leukaemic cells are able survive the crucial first 28 days of chemotherapy for B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (BCP-ALL).

A new test for hepatitis C which uses origami-style folded paper to deliver fast, accurate and affordable diagnoses could help the global fight against the deadly virus. The test, developed by biomedical engineers and virologists from the University of Glasgow, delivers lateral-flow results similar to a COVID-19 home test in around 30 minutes.

Levels of a fungus hazardous to patients with respiratory disease are more abundant in rooms with outside facing windows during the summer months, University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) researchers have found. The team - investigating the levels of Aspergillus fumigatus at Manchester Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre (MACFC) , at Wythenshawe Hospital, part of MFT - found a direct correlation between indoor and outdoor levels of the fungus between November 2014 and January 2016.

Scientists have discovered a new route to produce complex antibiotics exploiting gene editing to re-programme pathways to future medicines urgently required to combat antimicrobial resistance , treat neglected diseases and tackle future pandemics. Researchers from The University of Manchester have discovered a new way of manipulating key assembly line enzymes in bacteria which could pave the way for a new generation of antibiotic treatments.

Amateur boxing is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment and earlier onset of dementia, according to a study carried out by Cardiff University. The research team found that men who had boxed in their youth were twice as likely to have Alzheimer's-like impairment as those who had not boxed.

Women are more likely than men to struggle with both regular daily tasks and mobility activities as they age, according to new analysis of longitudinal cohort studies led by researchers at UCL and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in France. However, the researchers say disparities in ability to perform daily tasks have been steadily decreasing as the socioeconomic gap between the sexes has decreased.

The threat of disease transmission from conservationists moving wild animals between habitats or back into the wild needs to be urgently assessed to minimise risk. Experts at the University of Birmingham are calling on local and national health authorities and wildlife managers to adopt a robust approach.

Just three minutes of exposure to deep red light once a week, when delivered in the morning, can significantly improve declining eyesight, finds a pioneering new study by UCL researchers. Published in  Scientific Reports , the study builds on the team's previous work*, which showed daily three-minute exposure to longwave deep red light 'switched on' energy producing mitochondria cells in the human retina, helping boost naturally declining vision.

A new meta-analysis of over 150 research papers published during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the link between the weather and the spread of the illness. The study, published in the journal Weather, Climate, and Society , was conceived and conducted at The University Manchester and led by Ling Tan, a visiting scientist at the Centre for Crisis Studies and Mitigation.

An international team of scientists and pharmaceutical collaborators have made a breakthrough 'bench to bedside' discovery, ten years in the making, which they hope will advance the future treatment of Alzheimer's Disease in patients.

A new study has shown that the airborne transmission of COVID-19 is highly random and suggests that the two-metre rule was a number chosen from a risk 'continuum', rather than any concrete measurement of safety. We strongly recommend that people keep wearing masks in indoor spaces - there's no good reason to expose yourself to this risk as long as the virus is with us Epaminondas Mastorakos A team of engineers from the used computer modelling to quantify how droplets spread when people cough.

An unborn baby could become infected with Covid-19 if their gut is exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, finds a new study led by UCL researchers with Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the NIHR Great Ormond Street Biomedical Research Centre. Although the study did not look specifically at mothers with Covid-19 and whether their infection was transmitted to an unborn baby, it found that certain fetal organs, such as the intestine, are more susceptible to infection than others.

People with multiple health conditions - known as multimorbidity - are at risk of unplanned admissions to hospital. Now, new research has found the rates of hospitalisation in these people are even higher if one of their conditions is chronic kidney disease. The new research, led by the University of Glasgow and published in BMC Medicine, examined the rates of hospitalisation in people with multimorbidity, including those who also have chronic kidney disease as one of those conditions.

A test to measure both the T-cell and antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 in a single blood sample has been developed by scientists at Cardiff University. The unique approach can also be used to measure the immune response brought about by vaccination and previous infection. It was developed in collaboration with Wales-based biotechnology company ImmunoServ Ltd and is outlined in a study published in the journal Immunology.

Those who tested positive for COVID-19 (confirmed by a PCR test) had an increased risk of mental illness, fatigue and sleep problems, finds a new study which analysed the electronic primary care health care records* of 226,521 people from across the UK between February 2020 and December 2020. The research**, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open (JAMA Network Open) today, was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (NIHR GM PSTRC).

Antibiotic consumption rates grew by 46 percent after 2000, according to findings which also suggest lack of treatment access in some areas. Global antibiotic consumption rates increased by 46 percent in the last two decades, according to the first study to provide longitudinal estimates for human antibiotic consumption covering 204 countries from 2000 to 2018, published in Lancet Planetary Health on Thursday by the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) Project.

When a team of doctors, scientists and engineers at Addenbrooke's Hospital and the placed an air filtration machine in COVID-19 wards, they found that it removed almost all traces of airborne SARS-CoV-2. Reducing airborne transmission of the coronavirus is extremely important for the safety of both patients and staff Vilas Navapurkar While the discovery could have implications for improving the safety of repurposed 'surge wards', the researchers say it also opens up the possibility of being able to set standards for cleaner air to reduce the risk of airborne transmission of infections.

People who survive cancer early in their life have higher risks of ill health as they grow older, and these risks vary according to the cancer type and how the cancer was treated, a new study by UCL researchers has found. The researchers are now calling for these long-term health effects to be considered when young people and their families discuss treatment options with their healthcare team initially.

De-platforming Covid conspiracy theorists from Facebook has limited impact in reducing their influence, research finds Removing high-profile Covid conspiracy theorists from Facebook has had only limited impact upon the spread of misleading information, research from Cardiff University has found. Fan pages, affiliated groups and other secondary accounts set up by devoted believers continue to share problematic content about the causes and consequences of Covid-19 long after primary accounts have been taken down, the findings reveal.

Whole genome sequencing led to new rare disease diagnoses for NHS patients in some cases ending decades-long diagnostic odysseys Study represents significant step towards the goal of precision medicine - a transition that will have huge impact across the NHS and globally A world-first scientific study, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, has shown that whole genome sequencing (WGS) can uncover new diagnoses for people across the broadest range of rare diseases investigated to date and could deliver enormous benefits across the NHS.