All UK & Rest of Europe articles – Page 34
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NewsApplied Microbiology International launches new report on improving soil health in the UK
Scientists have warned that the world’s tiniest organisms need to be taken into account in efforts to improve soil health. AMI has launched a new policy report setting out key recommendations to support the long-term protection, restoration and sustainable management of soils across the UK’s four nations.
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NewsStudy finds no evidence of persistent tick-borne infection in people who link chronic illness to ticks
When researchers studied Norwegians who thought tick bites caused their chronic health problems, they found no objective evidence linking the symptoms to ticks. The same study finds that health problems reported by participants were associated with little physical activity and low labour force participation.
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NewsThree women named Britain’s Brightest Young Scientists, each winning ‘unrestricted’ £100,000 Blavatnik Awards prize
The Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences has announced the three 2026 Laureates of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom, who each receive £100,000 – the nation’s largest unrestricted prize for science. The three Laureates with Sir Leonard Blavatnik ...
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NewsHow bacteria can reclaim lost energy, nutrients, and clean water from wastewater
A new review explores how technologies using electricity-generating bacteria—like those already piloted at the UK’s Glastonbury Festival and in field trials in Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa—could help us reclaim resources currently being flushed away.
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NewsBreadcrumbs lead to fossil free production of everyday goods
The humble breadcrumb could hold the key to cutting out fossil fuels from one of the chemical industry’s most widely used reactions. Scientists have found a one-pot microbial formula that uses waste bread to replace fossil fuel-derived hydrogen in hydrogenation.
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NewsScientists find that silencing bacteria can worsen heart infections
By studying a bacterium responsible for a severe heart infection, the scientists show that disrupting bacterial communication can be associated with adverse clinical outcomes. These findings open the door to more targeted therapeutic strategies against this type of infection.
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NewsScientists unlock magnetic secrets of bacteria with built-in compass
Some bacteria are miniature masters of navigation: A built-in “compass” made of magnetic nanoparticles helps them to reliably find the optimal habitat. Researchers have now unlocked the magnetic properties of individual bacteria — an important step toward harnessing the potential for technology.
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NewsYou don’t need to be very altruistic to stop an epidemic
Researchers have used a mathematical model of epidemic behaviour to find that even people who are only barely altruistic - valuing their own life as equivalent to the lives of around 100,000 others – would still see it as rational to drastically reduce their social contacts when infected.
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NewsFirst evidence of fungal pathogen becoming more deadly when co-infected with tuberculosis
Co-infection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, together with Cryptococcus neoformans, is a grave public health concern, increasing the risk of death significantly. Researchers have found that in the presence of Mycobacteria, the fungus changed its cell density, cell diversity, and capsule size.
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NewsPeatland lakes in the Congo Basin release carbon that is thousands of years old
Researchers have discovered that large blackwater lakes in the extensive peatlands of the central Congo Basin are releasing ancient carbon. How the carbon is mobilised from the peat to the lake, where it is finally released to the atmosphere, is still unknown.
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NewsScrub typhus a threat in the home, study in South India finds
Most human scrub typhus infections could occur inside villages rather than during agricultural work, suggests new research conducted with the help of communities living in Tamil Nadu.
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NewsNew findings on infection with the Epstein-Barr virus
Researchers have identified genetic and non-genetic factors that help the body fight the Epstein-Barr virus. Using a new technique, they were able to estimate the amount of EBV in the blood and find correlations in large health data sets – for example, an increased viral load in people with HIV infections, but also in smokers.
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NewsNew insights into how bacteria control DNA synthesis open the door to next generation antimicrobials
A new study combines structural biology, biophysical characterisation and functional assays to delineate how the bacterial transcriptional regulator NrdR’s quaternary structure responds to different nucleotide states and how these changes affect its regulatory activity.
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NewsMissed opportunity: Study shows low vaccination rates among expectant mothers in Norway against COVID-19 and influenza
A study of over 50,000 pregnant women in Norway during the 2023/24 influenza season found that only 29.9% were vaccinated against influenza and 12.1% against COVID-19 during pregnancy, remaining far below recommended targets.
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NewsNewly discovered virus linked to colorectal cancer
Researchers have discovered a previously undescribed virus in a common gut bacterium, Bacteroides fragilis. The virus appears more frequently in patients with colorectal cancer.
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NewsA break in a longstanding mystery about origin of complex life
One of our microbial ancestors was part of a group called the Asgard archaea, which today live primarily in the deep sea and other oxygen-free spaces. Now scientists have found that some Asgards use, or at least tolerate oxygen.
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NewsMissing microbes in UK infant gut and probiotics highlighted by global microbiome atlas
A global atlas mapping two key gut bacteria in infants around the world has uncovered a treasure trove of bacterial strains adapted to the infant gut and not found in commercial probiotic products. It lays the foundation for more effective, tailored infant probiotics.
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NewsA ring to transcribe them: The unique path of poxviruses
A study shows for the first time the mechanical elegance with which the viral protein VITF-3 controls the transcription process. Vaccinia viruses, the most widely studied model viruses from the poxvirus family, were examined at the molecular level.
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NewsExposing a hidden anchor for HIV replication
Scientists investigating HIV have revealed a previously unknown role for the viral protein integrase, which helps HIV insert itself into human DNA. A new study provides the first direct evidence that integrase plays a critical structural role earlier on in HIV’s life cycle — when the virus matures into an infectious force.
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NewsGlobal scientific paper establishes first consensus definition of gut health
A global group of 13 scientists and clinicians is helping establish clarity by publishing a consensus definition of gut health. They define gut health as “a state of normal gastrointestinal function without active gastrointestinal disease and gut-related symptoms that affect quality of life.”