news 2017

New novel smartphone and tablet apps for patients with atrial fibrillation and healthcare professionals have been launched by heart experts in collaboration with the University of Birmingham. Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder and significantly increases the risk of stroke and death.

Scientists at EPFL have discovered that the mechanism that mitochondria use to defend mammalian cells against protein-damaging stress also exists in plants. The work is published in Molecular Cell. Image: Arabidopsis thaliana plants used in this study. On the left is a plant under normal growth conditions, while on the right is a plant treated with doxycycline, which has significantly stunted its growth but is protected against aging as evidenced by its fresher appearance (credit: J. Auwerx/EPFL).

Scientists have found a way of mimicking our body's natural healing process, using cell derived nano-sized particles called vesicles, to repair damaged tissue. The paper, published in Scientific Reports , describes a new approach to bone regeneration; stimulating cells to produce vesicles which can then be delivered to facilitate tissue regeneration.

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) In many metastasised types of cancer, disseminated tumours grow back despite successful chemotherapy. As a research team under the direction of the University of Bern has now discovered, this is because of isolated cancer cells that survive the chemotherapy due to a phase of dormancy.

A genetic fault has been identified in people with an aggressive type of leukaemia that can significantly affect how they respond to treatment. The findings come from a clinical trial led by the University of Birmingham that examined whether survival times for people with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) could be improved by adding a biological drug called vorinostat to the current standard treatment, a drug called azacitidine.

Lung cancer survivors who quit smoking within a year of diagnosis will live for longer than those who continue to smoke, according to new research led by the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford. The findings also revealed that general practitioners are comparatively less likely to intervene and offer stop-smoking support to cancer patients, than they are to people diagnosed with coronary heart disease.

A Scientist at the University of Birmingham has received a £1.4 million award from Cancer Research UK to carry out pioneering research that may discover how cancer 'steals the keys' from the body's locksmiths, disrupting healthy cell growth and function. Dr Mathew Coleman , of the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the University of Birmingham, is set to receive £1.4m over six years from Cancer Research UK to find out more about three specific proteins that are thought to have a role in cancer.

A new study has identified novel mechanisms whereby T cells may be able to distinguish an emerging class of targets specifically increased on cancer cells. The study, carried out by researchers from the University of Birmingham and the University of Virginia, and published today in Oncotarget, focuses on how the immune system recognises protein targets that are modified by phosphorylation, a process that is known to be commonly increased in cancer cells.

Rugby players from Aviva Premiership Rugby and Greene King IPA Championship are to take part in a major study led by the University of Birmingham as part of its work to develop a ground-breaking pitch-side test to diagnose concussion and brain injury. The study, being carried out in collaboration with the Rugby Football Union (RFU), Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players' Association, will run throughout the 2017/18 rugby season and is the biggest of its kind to take place in the history of UK sport.

Research led by the University of Birmingham, published today in Science Translational Medicine, has discovered that a drug commonly used to treat patients with either obesity or Type II diabetes could be used as a novel new way to lower brain pressure. Raised brain pressure is common in emergency situations such as traumatic brain injury, hydrocephalus and stroke, and is also the cardinal feature of Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH).

Congenital hyperinsulinism is a serious yet poorly understood condition. Research funded by the SNSF has discovered how it is caused by a genetic mutation. Diabetes is characterised by a deficiency of insulin. The opposite is the case in congenital hyperinsulinism: patients produce the hormone too frequently and in excessive quantities, even if they haven't eaten any carbohydrates.

Common anti-allergy medicines could prove to be an effective treatment for potentially fatal blood clots in the legs, according to new research by the University of Birmingham The research, funded by the British Heart Foundation , could lead to new treatments that prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) - a health issue that can be a particular problem on long-haul flights or other situations related to long-term immobilization.

EPFL spin-off Cellestia Biotech has just been given the regulatory go-ahead to start clinical testing a molecule it has developed to treat cancers involving mutations of the Notch gene. The molecule is a ray of hope for the 250,000 patients diagnosed every year with this mutation, which sharply reduces their chances of recovery.

By Ulrike Keller In the near future, orodispersible films could replace pills: scientists at the Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering are developing printing technologies to create personalized dosage forms for individual patient needs on demand. "Would you print out this prescription?" In the future, pharmacists could hear this question more frequently and could react in a different way than we would expect today.

Cancer is the second most common cause of death worldwide. Until recently, the chances of cure for patients suffering from metastatic cancer were low, as with such cancer the surgical removal of dista

ETH microbiologists led by Markus Künzler have discovered a remarkable enzyme in a fungus. They now want to use it to develop new drugs.

EPFL scientists have developed a ligand molecule that connects peptide drugs to blood-serum albumin and keeps them from being cleared out by the kidneys too soon. The ligand is easy to synthesize and can extend the half-life of therapeutic peptides from minutes to several days. Peptides are biological molecules, made up of short sequences of amino acids.

A team of researchers at the Universities of Birmingham, Plymouth, and Exeter carried out a study as to whether virtual reality experiences could reduce anxiety in patients undergoing dental procedures such as fillings and tooth extractions. Patients from at a dental practice took part in the study, which saw them being randomly selected to have standard care as normal, or instead be given technology which would see them experience either a 'walk' around a virtual reality city or a walk around a virtual version of Wembury beach in Devon.

The anticaking agent E551 silicon dioxide, or silica, has been used widely in the food industry over the past 50 years, and was long thought to be quite safe. Now, however, researchers working on the National Research Programme 'Opportunities and Risks of Nanomaterials' have discovered that these nanoparticles can affect the immune system of the digestive tract.

Cancer affects only very few children. Nonetheless, malignant tumours can develop above all in the muscles, bones and nerve tissue of the very young.