Topic description and stories

Combating infectious diseases and the threat of antimicrobial resistance remains one of the greatest global challenges.

influenza

Virus evolution and human behaviour shape global patterns of flu movement

08 Jun 2015

The global movement patterns of all four seasonal influenza viruses are illustrated in research published today in the journal Nature , providing a...

Read more
Ebola virus

Scientists release Ebola sequencing data to global research community online

03 Jun 2015

A team of scientists, part of the international effort to curb further spread of the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, has released its first dataset of...

Read more
cold sore

Herpes virus hijackers

22 May 2015

The virus responsible for the common cold sore hijacks the machinery within our cells, causing them to break down and help shield the virus from our...

Read more

Pigs head at market in Vietnam

Pig-borne disease jumped into humans when rearing practices changed

31 Mar 2015

The most virulent strains of Streptococcus suis , the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in adult humans in parts of southeast Asia and in pigs...

Read more
Right: excavation deep down into the latrine by the Ecole Biblique de Jerusalem. Left: Taenia tapeworm egg in the latrine indicating either pork or beef tapeworm.

Human parasites found in medieval cesspit reveal links between Middle East and Europe

19 Mar 2015

Analysis of a latrine in Jerusalem that dates back over 500 years finds human parasites common in northern Europe yet very rare in Middle East at the...

Read more
Ebola virus

Emerging diseases likely to be more harmful in similar species

17 Mar 2015

When viruses such as influenza and Ebola jump from one species to another, their ability to cause harm can change dramatically, but research from the...

Read more

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Gene discovery provides clues to how TB may evade the immune system

16 Mar 2015

The largest genetic study of tuberculosis (TB) susceptibility to date has led to a potentially important new insight into how the pathogen manages to...

Read more
Smallpox pustules

Subterfuge, double agents and viruses

20 Feb 2015

Every moment of every day, our immune systems are battling to keep us healthy against an onslaught from invading organisms. But some of these...

Read more
Cows in a field

Minimising ‘false positives’ key to vaccinating against bovine TB

19 Feb 2015

New diagnostic tests are needed to make vaccination against bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) viable and the number of false positives from these tests...

Read more

This illustration depicts a three-dimensional (3D) computer-generated image of a cluster of rod-shaped drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, the pathogen responsible for causing the disease tuberculosis (TB). The artistic recreation was based upon scanning electron micrographic imagery.

Cambridge partners with India to fight multidrug resistant TB

13 Feb 2015

The University of Cambridge has been awarded £2 million from the UK Medical Research Council and the Government of India’s Department for...

Read more
Eve, the Robot Scientist

Artificially-intelligent Robot Scientist ‘Eve’ could boost search for new drugs

04 Feb 2015

Eve, an artificially-intelligent ‘robot scientist’ could make drug discovery faster and much cheaper, say researchers writing in the Royal Society...

Read more
Aedes aegypti mosquito

A very personal perspective on Dengue fever

20 Jan 2015

Leah Katzelnick was all set for a career as an anthropologist until she contracted dengue fever. She was in hospital for a week with severe symptoms...

Read more

Pages