Science Summaries

Our Science Summaries describe the research of our scientists in language that is easy to understand.

Frequently prescribing antibiotics for patients with Covid-19 in hospital is often unnecessary and risks making more bacteria drug-resistant, research suggests.

May 2021: A light-activated drug that can enter and kill cancer and bacterial cells without harming nearby healthy cells has been tested successfully.

March 2021: Members of the Jenkins lab have discovered how the maturity and behaviour of cells recruited to sites of infection or injury are influenced by the existing cell population in that area.

March 2021: Dr Utsa Karmakar and colleagues from the Centre have discovered a new behaviour of immune cells, called neutrophils, that is important in auto-immune conditions including rheumatoid arthritis.

June 2020: Researchers from the Bain and Jenkins labs discover that immune cells called macrophages get a better education in the female abdomen, making them more effective scavengers of harmful bacteria.

October 2019: The fight against liver disease could be helped by the discovery of cells that cause liver scarring

October 2019: Researchers have discovered that a key cell type involved in liver injury and cancer consists of two cellular families with different origins and functions

October 2019: Early diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients could be helped by new imaging technology that sheds light on how tumours form

October 2019: Researchers have discovered a subgroup of cells which provide a promising target for chronic liver disease therapies.