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Health - Life Sciences - 17.08.2023
International collaboration identifies new breast cancer susceptibility genes
International collaboration identifies new breast cancer susceptibility genes
A large-scale international collaboration has identified new genes associated with breast cancer that could eventually be included in tests to identify women at increased risk of the disease. To our knowledge, this is the largest study of its kind Douglas Easton The study, published today in Nature Genetics , was led by teams at the University of Cambridge and Université Laval, Quebec.

Life Sciences - Health - 17.08.2023
Largest genetic study of brain structure identifies how the brain is organised
Largest genetic study of brain structure identifies how the brain is organised
The largest ever study of the genetics of the brain - encompassing some 36,000 brain scans - has identified more than 4,000 genetic variants linked to brain structure. The results of the study, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, are published in Nature Genetics today.

Health - Life Sciences - 17.08.2023
Rapid genome sequencing improves lives and treatment for children with epilepsy
Rapid genome sequencing improves lives and treatment for children with epilepsy
Researchers at UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital have collaborated with institutes across the world to use rapid genome sequencing to provide a diagnosis for children with unexplained epilepsy and significantly benefit their care. Epilepsy in children ranges in severity and can leave families and carers with many questions about their child's future health.

Life Sciences - Psychology - 15.08.2023
Reduced grey matter in frontal lobes linked to teenage smoking and nicotine addiction - study
Findings may demonstrate a brain and behavioural basis for how nicotine addiction is initiated and then takes hold in early life, say scientists. Smoking is perhaps the most common addictive behaviour in the world, and a leading cause of adult mortality Trevor Robbins Levels of grey matter in two parts of the brain may be linked to a desire to start smoking during adolescence and the strengthening of nicotine addiction, a new study has shown.

Environment - Life Sciences - 14.08.2023
Urban great tits have paler plumage than their forest-living relatives
Known for their striking yellow breast feathers and distinctive song, great tits are a common sight in gardens and countryside alike. Now, new research has revealed that some great tits may be more brightly coloured that others, with urban birds found to have paler plumage than their countryside counterparts Known for their striking yellow breast feathers and distinctive song, great tits are a common sight in gardens and countryside alike.

Life Sciences - Environment - 10.08.2023
Warming oceans and rivers cause genomic changes in fish, scientists find
A study of four common fish species by University of Manchester scientists has revealed that gene expression changes when their developing embryos are exposed to warmer waters. The analysis of the small-spotted catshark, zebrafish, European seabass, and the three-spined stickleback is published in the journal Science of The Total Environment.

Life Sciences - Health - 10.08.2023
Harnessing the power of AI to shed light on different types of Parkinson’s disease
Machine learning can accurately predict subtypes of Parkinson's disease using images of patient-derived stem cells, finds a new study by researchers at UCL and the Francis Crick Institute. The research, published in Nature Medicine Intelligence and in partnership with technology company Faculty AI , has shown that computer models can accurately classify four subtypes of Parkinson's disease, with one reaching an accuracy of 95%.

Health - Life Sciences - 07.08.2023
Brain's 'appetite control centre' different in people who are overweight or living with obesity
Brain’s ’appetite control centre’ different in people who are overweight or living with obesity
Cambridge scientists have shown that the hypothalamus, a key region of the brain involved in controlling appetite, is different in the brains of people who are overweight and people with obesity when compared to people who are a healthy weight. Although we know the hypothalamus is important for determining how much we eat, we actually have very little direct information about this brain region in living humans Stephanie Brown The researchers say their findings add further evidence to the relevance of brain structure to weight and food consumption.

Environment - Life Sciences - 07.08.2023
Stealth swimmers: the fish that hide behind others to hunt
An experiment on coral reefs provides the first evidence that predators use other animals for motion camouflage to approach their prey without detection. The shadowing behaviour of the trumpetfish appears a useful strategy to improve its hunting success. James Herbert-Read A new study provides the first experimental evidence that the trumpetfish, Aulostomus maculatus, can conceal itself by swimming closely behind another fish while hunting - and reduce the likelihood of being detected by its prey.

Life Sciences - Health - 04.08.2023
From a fish to a dish, how animal alternatives are advancing stroke research
From a fish to a dish, how animal alternatives are advancing stroke research
Scientific research involving animals is a vital tool for understanding and treating diseases; scientists can recreate aspects of human diseases and investigate how the complicated array of body systems respond. Nevertheless, it is an ethical question that divides opinion and many scientists are now working on the '3Rs' of animal research: to reduce animal numbers, replace them wherever possible and refine techniques to prevent animal suffering.

Health - Life Sciences - 02.08.2023
Genetic variant linked to lower levels of HIV virus in people of African ancestry
Genetic variant linked to lower levels of HIV virus in people of African ancestry
An international team of researchers has found a genetic variant that may explain why some people of African ancestry have naturally lower viral loads of HIV, reducing their risk of transmitting the virus and slowing progress of their own illness. Every time we discover something new about HIV control, we learn something new about the virus and something new about the cell Harriet Groom Reported today in Nature , this is the first new genetic variant related to HIV infection discovered in over 25 years of research.

Life Sciences - Health - 01.08.2023
Computer model of real life brain plots more accurate route for neurosurgeons
Computer model of real life brain plots more accurate route for neurosurgeons
Scientists have developed a new method for measuring the physical properties of the human brain to better understand how it moves during surgery. The first-of-its-kind study applied data from MRI scans of real-life brain motion to a novel computational model to reveal the biomechanics behind a process known as brain shift.

Life Sciences - 28.07.2023
Secret of virgin birth, and switch on the ability in female flies
Secret of virgin birth, and switch on the ability in female flies
Scientists have pinpointed a genetic cause for virgin birth for the first time, and once switched on the ability is passed down through generations of females. It was very exciting to see a virgin fly produce an embryo able to develop to adulthood Alexis Sperling For the first time, scientists have managed to induce virgin birth in an animal that usually reproduces sexually: the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster .

Life Sciences - Health - 27.07.2023
Lifespan of ageing science's model organism driven by reproductive self-destruction
Lifespan of ageing science’s model organism driven by reproductive self-destruction
The lifespan of a small roundworm that has been used as a key model organism in ageing research is limited by how it self-sacrifices to feed its young, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The authors of the new Nature Communications paper say their findings raise questions about how well insights from the Caenorhabditis elegans  ( C. elegans ) worm can be translated to human ageing advances.

Life Sciences - Health - 26.07.2023
Protein found in milk speeds up wound healing
Protein found in milk speeds up wound healing
Bandages infused with casein, a protein that occurs naturally in cow's milk, significantly improved wound healing in rats compared to those in control groups, according to a new study by UCL researchers. The study, published today in Interface , is the first to test casein's reputed healing benefits on an animal model.

Health - Life Sciences - 24.07.2023
Potent anti-cancer therapy created using 'click chemistry'
Potent anti-cancer therapy created using ’click chemistry’
A potent anti-cancer therapy has been created using Nobel prize-winning "click chemistry", where molecules click together like LEGO bricks, in a new study by UCL and Stanford researchers. The study, published in Nature Chemistry , opens up new possibilities for how cutting-edge cancer immunotherapies might be built in future.

Life Sciences - Health - 21.07.2023
Scale of disorder underpinning Motor Neuron Disease much larger than previously thought
Scale of disorder underpinning Motor Neuron Disease much larger than previously thought
Hundreds of proteins and mRNA molecules are found in the wrong place in nerve cells affected by Motor Neuron Disease (MND), finds a new study by researchers at UCL and the Francis Crick Institute. The condition, also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), is a rapidly progressing and devastating condition that causes paralysis by affecting motor neurons, with limited treatment options.

Health - Life Sciences - 20.07.2023
Could mink farms be the source of the next flu pandemic?
Urgent action is needed to address the significant risk posed by fur farms for the emergence of future viral pandemics, Imperial scientists warn. Mink fur farms could provide the optimum conditions for H5N1 influenza to mutate and make the jump to humans, potentially leading to the next global pandemic, warn scientists from Imperial College London.

Life Sciences - Health - 13.07.2023
Ten organisations account for half of all animal research in Great Britain in 2022
Today, 13 July 2023, Understanding Animal Research (UAR) has published a list of the ten organisations that carry out the highest number of animal procedures - those used in medical, veterinary, and scientific research - in Great Britain. These statistics are freely available on the organisations' websites as part of their ongoing commitment to transparency and openness around the use of animals in research.

Life Sciences - Health - 13.07.2023
UK organisations release annual statistics for use of animals in research
The ten organisations in Great Britain that carry out the highest number of animal procedures - those used in medical, veterinary and scientific research - have released their annual statistics today. The statistics for the University of Cambridge are as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency and openness around the use of animals in research.