Topic description and stories

Top ten universities conduct a third of all UK animal research

27 Oct 2016

The ten UK universities who do the most world-leading biomedical research have announced their animal research statistics, revealing that they...

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Drosophila

Fruit fly model of deadly brain diseases could lead to blood test for vCJD

13 Oct 2016

A new model of fatal brain diseases is being developed in the fruit fly by a team led by Dr Raymond Bujdoso at the University of Cambridge, and could...

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Chicken Korma with Nan Bread

Chicken korma, Eton mess and a genetic variant provide clues to our food choices

04 Oct 2016

People who carry variants in a particular gene have an increased preference for high fat food, but a decreased preference for sugary foods, according...

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Clock

Time of day influences our susceptibility to infection, study finds

15 Aug 2016

We are more susceptible to infection at certain times of the day as our body clock affects the ability of viruses to replicate and spread between...

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FAMIN or feast? Newly-discovered mechanism influences how immune cells ‘eat’ invading bacteria

01 Aug 2016

A new mechanism that affects how our immune cells perform – and hence their ability to prevent disease – has been discovered by an international team...

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Basal cell carcinoma in mouse tail epidermis derived from a single mutant stem cell

Where did it all go wrong? Scientists identify ‘cell of origin’ in skin cancers

08 Jul 2016

Scientists have identified for the first time the ‘cell of origin’ – in other words, the first cell from which the cancer grows – in basal cell...

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abstract blood cells

Anatomy of a decision: mapping early development

06 Jul 2016

In the first genome-scale experiment of its kind, researchers have gained new insights into how a mouse embryo first begins to transform from a ball...

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What birds' attitudes to litter tell us about their ability to adapt

31 May 2016

Urban birds are less afraid of litter than their country cousins, according to a new study, which suggests they may learn that litter in cities is...

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A shaggy dog story: The contagious cancer that conquered the world

17 May 2016

A contagious form of cancer that can spread between dogs during mating has highlighted the extent to which dogs accompanied human travellers...

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Imaging a human embryo in the absence of maternal tissues - day 10 (left) and day 11 (right)

Scientists develop human embryos beyond implantation stage for first time

04 May 2016

A new technique that allows embryos to develop in vitro beyond the implantation stage (when the embryo would normally implant into the womb) has been...

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Chromosomes (cropped)

Early-stage embryos with abnormalities may still develop into healthy babies

29 Mar 2016

Abnormal cells in the early embryo are not necessarily a sign that a baby will be born with a birth defect such as Down’s syndrome, suggests new...

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Embryo development: Some cells are more equal than others even at four-cell stage

24 Mar 2016

Genetic ‘signatures’ of early-stage embryos confirm that our development begins to take shape as early as the second day after conception, when we...

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