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Early life experiences can impact the activity of our genes much later on and even affect longevity, finds a new study in fruit flies led by UCL researchers. In the study published in Nature Aging , the scientists report that gene expression 'memory' can persist across the lifespan, and may present a novel target for improving late-life health.

Animals that live fast - that is, frequent or abundant reproduction and short lifespans - are more resilient to human-driven land use changes than those with slow life-histories, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. Across the globe, in areas that have experienced rapid expansion of cropland or bare soil, fast-lived species have increased in numbers in recent decades while slow-lived species are in decline, according to the findings published in Global Change Biology .

Powerful jets of material released by black holes are accelerated far into space by shock waves within the jets, an international collaboration involving UCL researchers has found. The study, published in Nature , helps to solve a decades-old mystery about how these jets are produced. The research team was able to rule out alternative causes of the jets - such as magnetic reconnection - and, out of a number of theoretical models of how the particles in the jets are accelerated, showed that just one model was correct.

A global open-source dataset of high-resolution images of Earth - the most extensive and detailed of its kind - has been developed by experts led by UCL with data from the European Space Agency (ESA). The free dataset, WorldStrat, will be presented at the NeurIPS 2022 conference in New Orleans. It includes nearly 10,000km² of free satellite images, showing every type of location, urban area and land use from agriculture, grasslands and forests to cities of every size and polar ice caps.

Researchers at UCL have grown 'mini eyes', which make it possible to study and better understand the development of blindness in Usher syndrome for the first time. The 3D 'mini eyes', known as organoids, were grown from stem cells generated from skin samples donated by patients at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH).

Primary healthcare service outreach (PHSO) interventions, where patients are attended to in their own environment, could be key to improving health in the homeless population, finds a new UCL study. The life expectancy of people experiencing homelessness in the UK is currently 30 years shorter than that of the general population, and previous research has shown that a quarter of these deaths could have been prevented if a doctor had been seen in time.

An artificial intelligence tool developed by researchers at UCL and Queen Mary University of London could help governments decide whether or not to bail out a bank in crisis by predicting if the intervention will save money for taxpayers in the long term. The AI tool, described in a new paper in Nature Communications , assesses not only if a bailout is the best strategy for taxpayers, but also suggests how much should be invested in the bank, and which bank or banks should be bailed out at any given time.

A small increase in the number of people having two vaccines against Covid-19 was more effective in controlling the virus during Europe's fourth wave - when the Omicron variant appeared - than the rapid uptake of booster vaccines, finds a new UCL-led study. Published in the International Journal of Public Health , the study found that a 4.2% increase in the number of people having two doses (full vaccination) led to a 54% reduction in case rates across Europe - despite the detection of the highly infectious Omicron.

Patients with advanced ankle osteoarthritis who undergo surgery see equally good outcomes from the two main surgical treatments for the condition, a new study led by UCL researchers has shown. The TARVA randomised clinical trial compared total ankle joint replacement with ankle fusion (when the ankle joint is pinned to prevent movement).

Offering a booster dose or changing the vaccination schedule available to infants in sub-Saharan Africa could greatly reduce the risk of them contracting potentially fatal diseases such as pneumonia, sepsis and meningitis, a UCL-led study has found.

Two treatment regimens for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), containing the first new drug to have been discovered for the disease in 40 years, are more effective than a previously recommended treatment, according to results from a global trial led by UCL researchers. The study, published by The Lancet , found that a six-month treatment regimen including injections and a nine-month regimen taken only in tablets, both of which used the new drug bedaquiline, were more effective than a nine-month regimen that until two years ago was regarded as the best standard of care.

A first-of-its-kind gene-editing therapy for people with a disorder that causes heart failure is safe in the short term and may stop disease progression, according to early results of a UCL-led trial. Transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis is characterised by a build up in the heart of misfolded transthyretin (TTR) protein.

Revolutionary X-ray technology co-developed by UCL has been used to identify a link between the damage that severe Covid-19 can inflict on lungs and pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that causes severe scarring of lung tissue. The high-energy X-ray technique, Hierarchical Phase-Contrast Tomography (HiP-CT), scans whole organs down to cellular level, allowing clinicians to view blood vessels about a tenth of the diameter of a human hair.

A first-of-its-kind gene-editing therapy for people with a disorder that causes heart failure is safe in the short term and may stop disease progression, according to early results of a UCL-led trial. Transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis is characterised by a build up in the heart of misfolded transthyretin (TTR) protein.

Tailoring the analysis of whole genome sequencing to individual patients could double the diagnostic rates of rare diseases, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. In 2018, the UK's department of health announced an NHS Genomic Medicine Service, which allows patients with rare diseases to have their entire genetic code read in the hope of providing a much-needed diagnosis.

Problematic alcohol use is associated with increased odds of suicide or self-harm, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in BJPsych Open , did not identify a clear association with levels of alcohol consumption and risk of suicide or self-harm, other than among those with 'probable dependence' (the highest consumption level); rather, they identified signs of alcohol negatively impacting people's lives as risk factors.

A signature in the X-ray light emitted by a highly magnetised dead star known as a magnetar suggests the star has a solid surface with no atmosphere, according to a new study by an international collaboration co-led by UCL researchers. The study, published in the journal Science , uses data from a NASA satellite, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), which was launched last December.

Regularly monitoring women with BRCA gene alterations associated with cancer can benefit their future health, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene alterations are known to greatly increase a woman's risk of developing ovarian cancer. Preventative surgery to remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes is currently the only way to avoid the disease.

The Congo peatlands turned from a major store of carbon to a source of carbon dioxide emissions thousands of years ago due to a drying climate, according to a new study involving UCL researchers. , the study highlights the potential of the Congo peatlands - the largest tropical peatland in the world - to again release billions of tonnes of stored carbon into the atmosphere in a future warmer world.

Chronic pain is widespread among those in their mid-40s in Britain, with those who experience it more likely to report pain, poor health - including COVID-19 infection - and joblessness later in life, according to a new study by researchers at UCL and Dartmouth College, US. Published today in the journal PLOS ONE , the research follows more than 12,000 people born in a single week in March 1958 in Britain through to age 62.