Research & University News

Genes identified that fight infection

Country
Australia

Australian researchers have identified two genes that control a universal molecular programme responsible for placing immune cells at a point where they can quickly fight off pathogens before they establish themselves in the body. This role is said to be particularly important for protecting organs against disease.

Breast cancer genes identified

Country
United Kingdom

Four years on from a study that classified breast cancer into 10 distinct subtypes, researchers at the University of Cambridge have dug deeper into the genetic evidence to discover that 40 mutated genes cause the disease to progress.

New tool for the microbiome

Country
Luxembourg

Scientists from the University of Luxembourg have developed a new tool that can accurately replicate the human microbiome thereby enabling a more detailed analysis of the interaction between this ecosystem and human disease.

AZ to work with Craig Venter on genome analysis

Country
United Kingdom

AstraZeneca Plc has reached out to Craig Venter, who led the first commercial project to sequence the human genome, to collaborate on a database of genome sequences that could be used for drug research and development.

Gene editing applied to immunotherapy

Country
United Kingdom

Researchers at the University College London Cancer Institute have found a way of using T-cells to attack cancer without involving the entire immune system.This selective approach has the potential of reducing side-effects but so far experiments have only been carried out in mice.

Target for Ewing’s sarcoma

Country
Germany

German researchers have identified an epigenetic approach for treating the second most common form of bone cancer affecting children and adolescents and two potential biomarkers for detecting the disease.

Beta cells derived from fat

Country
Switzerland

Researchers at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) have taken stem cells from the fatty tissue of a 50-year old human and turned them into functional beta cells in a procedure that could potentially be used to treat diabetes.

Skin grown in laboratory

Country
Japan

Japanese scientists have reported growing three-dimensional skin tissue in the laboratory and successfully transplanting it into mice where it connected with nerve and muscle tissue allowing the skin to function normally.

Karolinska dismisses Macchiarini

Country
Sweden

Following a review of its staff disciplinary board, the Karolinska Institutet (KI) announced on 23 March that it had dismissed Paolo Macchiarini, a surgeon who is the focus of an investigation over alleged misconduct involving a novel trachea replacement procedure.

Dutch oncology start-up receives funding

Country
Netherlands

A 2015 oncology start-up from the Netherlands has obtained €7 million in Series A financing for a technology that targets the metabolic changes in tumour cells as a way of destroying them. Gadeta BV is based on research from the University Medical Center Utrecht.