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Potentially more than 90% of Alzheimer's disease cases would not occur without the contribution of a single gene (APoe), according to a new analysis led by UCL researchers. The scientists also found that close to half of all dementia cases would probably not arise without the gene's influence. The researchers say that the findings, published today in npj Dementia , highlight this gene (and the protein it produces) as a powerful yet under-recognised target for drug development, which could have the scope to prevent or treat a large proportion of all dementia.

Analysis of ancient DNA has confirmed that certain human herpesviruses became part of the human genome thousands of years ago, in a study involving a UCL researcher. For the first time, scientists have reconstructed ancient genomes of Human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/B) from archaeological human remains more than two millennia old.

Digital concerns around privacy, online misinformation, and work-life boundaries are highest among highly educated, Western European millennials, finds a new study from researchers at UCL and the University of British Columbia. The research, published in , also found individuals with higher levels of digital literacy are the most affected by these concerns.

Teenagers who are unhappy with their bodies are more likely to develop symptoms of eating disorders and depression in early adulthood, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. The research, believed to be the first of its kind, followed more than 2,000 twins born in England and Wales. It found that higher body dissatisfaction at age 16 predicted greater symptoms of eating disorders and depression well into the twenties, even after taking into account family background and genetics.

Long-term exposure to toxic air can substantially weaken the health benefits of regular exercise, suggests a new study by an international team including UCL researchers. The study, published in the journal BMC Medicine , analysed data from more than 1.5 million adults tracked for more than a decade in countries including the UK, Taiwan, China, Denmark and the United States.

A speedy new scan could improve how millions of people with high blood pressure are treated, suggests a new study led by UCL researchers. About a quarter of people with high blood pressure have been estimated to have a problem with their adrenal glands producing too much of the hormone aldosterone, which regulates levels of salt in the body.

A mysterious swarm of earthquakes that occurred near the Greek island of Santorini in early 2025 was caused by rebounding sheets of magma slicing through Earth's crust, finds a new study by an international team including a UCL researcher. Between late January and early March, the team analysed over 25,000 earthquakes that occurred between Santorini and Amorgos Islands.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can predict how well patients with rectal cancer will respond to treatment by analysing standard tissue samples taken during diagnosis, finds a new study from researchers at UCL and UCLH. In most cancers, the immune landscape surrounding a tumour plays a major role in determining how cancer progresses and how patients respond to therapy, yet the complex interactions between immune cells, tumour cells, and treatment often remain poorly understood.

An international team involving UCL astronomers has observed the first clear signal of a giant stellar eruption from a star beyond our solar system. The stellar eruption is analogous to a coronal mass ejection (CME) seen on our Sun, and implies a devastating impact for any planet unlucky enough to orbit the star.

The first evidence that humans have the ability to sense objects without direct contact, a form of 'remote touch' that birds such as sandpipers have, has been presented in a new study from researchers at UCL and Queen Mary University of London. In terms of objects, human touch has typically been understood to be limited to physical touch, where we detect objects through contact with our skin.

Neighbourhoods close to green parks and bodies of water are cooler throughout the year, finds a new UCL study focusing on the east of London, which also showed that low-cost weather sensors could provide usable research data in areas lacking climate data. The research, published in Meteorological Applications , showed that east London neighbourhoods located around the Olympic Park were hotter by 0.53C than the park itself on average, and as much as 0.87C during the summer.

People with signs of damage to their heart during middle age are more likely to develop dementia in later life, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in the European Heart Journal and funded by the British Heart Foundation, found middle-aged people with higher levels of a protein called cardiac troponin I in their blood were more likely to go on to develop dementia in later life.

A recently unearthed ancient monument in southeastern Mexico was built as a giant representation of the Mesoamerican universe, and was likely an important ceremonial site, finds new research by an international team involving a UCL archaeologist. The paper, published in Science Advances , describes the ancient complex of raised causeways, corridors carved into the earth and series of canals discovered at Aguada Fénix in 2020.

Ageing stars may be destroying the giant planets orbiting closest to them, according to a new study by astronomers at UCL and the University of Warwick. Once stars like the Sun run out of hydrogen fuel, they cool down and expand to become red giants. In the Sun's case this will happen in about five billion years.

Children faced a substantially higher risk of rare heart complications from being infected with COVID-19 during the pandemic than from being vaccinated against the disease, finds a new UCL-led study which compared the two scenarios for the first time. The study, published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health , looked at the electronic health records of nearly 14 million children in England under the age of 18 between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2022.

One of the most common antidepressants, sertraline, contributes to a modest improvement in core depression and anxiety symptoms, including low mood, within two weeks, finds a new analysis of a major clinical trial led by UCL researchers. The study, published in Nature Mental Health , analysed the findings of the PANDA trial, which first published results in 2019 and found that sertraline may have an earlier impact on anxiety than depressive symptoms.

UCL researchers are investigating how a UK-led team could design and build one of the core instruments on a flagship NASA mission, the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which will search for signs of life on distant planets. The mission is expected to launch in the early 2040s and is currently in an early preparatory phase.

Living in a neighbourhood where people trust each other is linked to an increased risk of severe mental illness among people from ethnic minority groups, despite the opposite being true for white majority populations, finds a new study in Sweden led by UCL researchers. People in Stockholm who live in neighbourhoods where they feel safe and supported have a lower risk of psychotic disorders and bipolar disorder - but only for people of Swedish or European origin, according to the Nature Mental Health study by researchers from UCL and Karolinska Institutet.

A team led by UCL scientists has identified a key protein that triggers diabetic retinopathy - a condition caused by high blood sugar damaging the retina's blood vessels and a leading cause of sight loss among working-age adults. The research in mice, funded by Diabetes UK, Moorfields Eye Charity and Wellcome, has the potential to revolutionise how the disease is treated, shifting the treatment from managing late-stage damage to preventing vision loss before it begins.

Scientists at UCL have engineered a rare type of immune cell to kill slow-growing bowel cancer cells that are resistant to current therapies, a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments in the future. Bowel cancer is one of the deadliest cancers in the world, causing over 900,000 deaths every year.