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Young people who read fiction have significantly stronger reading skills than their peers who do not, according to new findings from UCL. Researchers from the UCL Institute of Education (IOE), analysed data from more than 250,000 teenagers aged 15, across 35 industrialised countries* who had taken part in the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA).

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.

Children who are the youngest in their classroom are more likely to be diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) than their older classmates, finds a new global study co-authored by UCL. The research, published in the  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , systematically reviewed studies that examine the relationship between a child's age relative to their classmates and their chances of being diagnosed with, or medicated for, ADHD.

Century-scale climate variability was enhanced when the Earth was warmer during the Last Interglacial period (129-116 thousand years ago) compared to the current interglacial (the last 11,700 years), according to a new UCL-led study. The findings, published today and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Australian Research Council (ARC), reveal that the Last Interglacial period was punctuated by a series of century-scale arid events in southern Europe and cold water-mass expansions in the North Atlantic.

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.

The use of e-cigarettes among smokers has shifted from more affluent early adopters to being used more widely across all socioeconomic groups, according to new UCL research. The study, published today in  Addiction  and funded by Cancer Research UK, is the first of its kind to look at the use of e-cigarettes, which includes vape pens and vape mods, by socioeconomic groups at the population level.

More young people are choosing not to drink alcohol, and many others are drinking less, according to a UCL research team. The study, published in BMC Public Health , analysed a 10-year period of data from the annual Health Survey for England. Researchers found that the proportion of 16 to 24 year olds who don't drink alcohol increased from 18% in 2005 to 29% in 2015.

A patient with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), is set to be given a pioneering treatment, which has been developed by researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Prion Unit at UCL. CJD is a rare but devastating disease that causes brain damage and for which there is currently no treatment. It is always fatal and most patients sadly die within six weeks of diagnosis.

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.

A healthy home environment could help offset children's genetic susceptibilities to obesity, according to new research led by UCL. The study, published this week in JAMA Pediatrics , found that the impact of genetic factors on weight is roughly halved if a child is bought up in a less 'obesogenic' home environment where healthy eating and exercise is more prevalent.

International scientists are one step closer to answering the most fundamental question of our existence, 'why are we here'', as part of a global collaboration involving UCL researchers. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is led by scientists at CERN, Switzerland and Fermilab, USA, and is dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of neutrinos, the most abundant and most mysterious matter particles in the universe.

Intergenerational power relations may be just as important as male-female power relations for women's economic empowerment, according to new UCL research. The study, published in  World Development , was conducted in rural Nepal where mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law often have fraught relationships, as their survival and well-being depend on gaining favour with male family members.

Humans did not accelerate the decline of the 'Green Sahara' and may have managed to hold back the onset of the Sahara desert by around 500 years, according to new research led by UCL. The study by a team of geographers and archaeologists from UCL and King's College London, published , suggests that early pastoralists in North Africa combined detailed knowledge of the environment with newly domesticated species to deal with the long-term drying trend.

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.

A diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts, plant-based food and fish, typical of a traditional Mediterranean diet, could help lower depression risk, according to new research from UCL. The study, published today in Molecular Psychiatry , is a comprehensive, systematic overview of the current evidence regarding a link between the quality of people's diets and the risk of depression.

Researchers at UCL Cancer Institute have shown for the first time that immune cells found within the urine mirror those found in cancerous bladder tumours. This discovery could potentially help doctors to track patient responses to bladder cancer treatment in the future, in a quick and easy way with a urine test.

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.

A new outbreak of a rare but preventable eye infection that can cause blindness, has been identified in contact lens wearers in a new study led by UCL and Moorfields Eye Hospital researchers. The research team found a threefold increase in Acanthamoeba keratitis since 2011 in South-East England. Reusable contact lens wearers with the eye infection are more likely to have used an ineffective contact lens solution, have contaminated their lenses with water or reported poor contact lens hygiene, according to the findings published today in the British Journal of Ophthalmology .

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.