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Biodegradable microspheres can be used to deliver heart cells generated from stem cells to repair damaged hearts after a heart attack, according to new findings by UCL researchers. This type of cell therapy could one day cure debilitating heart failure, which affects an estimated 920,000 people in the UK and continues to rise as more people are surviving a heart attack than ever before.

Consuming large amounts of daily caffeine may increase glaucoma risk for those with a genetic predisposition to higher eye pressure, finds a new study involving a UCL researcher. The international, multi-centre study, led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, US, is the first to demonstrate a link between diet and genes in glaucoma.

COVID-19 is associated with a wide range of neurological and psychiatric symptoms, writes Dr Jonathan Rogers (UCL Psychiatry), who has authored a new review paper. Although COVID-19 was first described as a disease of the lungs, as its relentless march has continued we've realised that it has a far wider reach in the human body.

Neurological and psychiatric symptoms such as fatigue and depression are common among people with Covid-19 and may be just as likely in people with mild cases, according to a new review study led by a UCL researcher. By reviewing evidence from 215 studies of Covid-19, the meta-analysis published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry reports a wide range of ways that Covid-19 can affect mental health and the brain.

The risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is substantially reduced for up to 10 months following a first infection, according to new findings from the Vivaldi study led by UCL researchers. For the study, published in Lancet Healthy Longevity , researchers looked at rates of Covid-19 infections between October and February among more than 2,000 care home residents and staff, comparing those who had evidence of a previous infection up to 10 months earlier, as determined by antibody testing, with those who had not been previously infected.

Sea ice in the coastal regions of the Arctic may be thinning up to twice as fast as previously thought, according to a new modelling study led by UCL researchers. Sea ice thickness is inferred by measuring the height of the ice above the water, and this measurement is distorted by snow weighing the ice floe down.

The main risk factors associated with the significantly higher numbers of COVID-19 infection in dialysis patients, have been revealed in a study led by UCL researchers. In the UK, around 30,000 people with kidney failure or disease must visit a medical centre several times a week for dialysis treatment, which helps filter waste products from the blood.

The mass of human chromosomes, which contain the instructions for life in nearly every cell of our bodies, has been measured with X-rays for the first time in a new study led by UCL researchers. For the study, published in Chromosome Research , researchers used a powerful X-ray beam at the UK's national synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source, to determine the number of electrons in a spread of 46 chromosomes which they used to calculate mass.

A breast cancer therapy that requires just one shot of radiotherapy is as effective as traditional radiotherapy, and avoids potential damage to nearby organs, according to a paper by UCL experts. The results, published in the British Journal of Cancer, mean that eight out of ten patients who receive the treatment, TARGIT-IORT, will not need a long course of post-operative external beam radiotherapy (EBRT).

Older adults with more natural teeth are better able to perform everyday tasks such as cooking a meal, making a telephone call or going shopping, according to researchers from UCL and the Tokyo Medical and Dental University. The study published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society , analysed data from 5,631 adults from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) aged between 50 and 70.

Noise complaints in London increased by nearly 50% during the first lockdown in Spring 2020 compared with the same period in 2019, finds a report by UCL researchers. Complaints about neighbourhood noise - mainly from residents - and construction increased the most, at 36% and 50% respectively. Areas with higher unemployment rates, more residents with no qualifications and lower house prices saw the biggest rise in complaints.

The largest ever map of dark matter - invisible matter thought to account for 80% of the total matter of the Universe - has been created by a team co-led by UCL researchers, as part of the international Dark Energy Survey (DES). As matter curves space-time, astronomers are able to map its existence by looking at light travelling to Earth from distant galaxies; if the light has been distorted, this means there is matter in the foreground, bending the light as it comes towards us.

Scientists and clinicians at UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) studying the effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapies in children with leukaemia, have discovered a small sub-set of T-cells that are likely to play a key role in whether the treatment is successful. Researchers say 'stem cell memory T-cells' appear critical in both destroying the cancer at the outset and for long term immune surveillance and exploiting this quality could improve the design and performance of CAR T therapies.

Young people have a general decision-making ability, distinct from IQ, which is associated with good social function, and may be linked to poor mental health, finds a new study led by UCL and Karolinska Institutet researchers. The decision-making ability, called 'decision acuity', is a novel construct and may be underpinned by how strongly certain brain networks are connected, according to the findings published in Neuron .

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the risks associated with seeing journals as authoritative voices on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, says Dr Chris Van Tulleken (UCL Infection & Immunity). A superficial reading of the history of vaccination might lead you to believe that it is simple.

Using a robotic 'Third Thumb' can impact how the hand is represented in the brain, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The team trained people to use a robotic extra thumb and found they could effectively carry out dextrous tasks, like building a tower of blocks, with one hand (now with two thumbs).

A study led by UCL researchers has discovered that cells from different parts of kidney tumours behave differently and, surprisingly, cells within the centre of a tumour are the most aggressive and have the highest chance of spreading around the body. Cancers can spread to other parts of the body, with cells taking hold as secondary tumours which make the disease much harder to treat.

A pioneering new study led by UCL scientists has revealed, for the first time, a layer of genetic material involved in controlling the production of tau; a protein which plays a critical role in serious degenerative conditions, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. The international research, conducted in mice and cells, also revealed this material is part of a larger family of non-coding genes* which control and regulate other similar brain proteins, such as beta amyloid associated with Alzheimer's and alpha-synuclein implicated in Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia.

Pollinators in the tropics are less likely to thrive in intensive croplands, finds a new study led by UCL researchers suggesting bees and butterflies are at risk of major losses. Across the globe, lower levels of land use intensity are good for pollinators, finds the new Nature Communications paper which shows the importance of sustainable land management in cities and agricultural regions.

Scientists at UCL have identified a new immunotherapy to combat the hepatitis B virus (HBV), the most common cause of liver cancer in the world. Each year, globally, chronic HBV causes an estimated 880,000 deaths from liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma/liver cancer (HCC). The pioneering study used immune cells isolated directly from patient liver and tumour tissue ,  to show that targeting acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT), an enzyme that helps to manage cholesterol levels in cells*, was highly effective at boosting immune responses.