Category Archives: Medical research

Curing the incurable: teaching an old drug new tricks to fight ovarian cancer

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The winning essay in the Max Perutz science writing award 2020 was written by Sarah Taylor from the MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine at the University of Edinburgh

In May, PhD students who are funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) were invited to enter the Max Perutz science writing award 2020 and to tell the general public “why your research matters”. From the many entries received, the 10 that made the shortlist covered diverse topics, including motor neurone disease, self-harm, babies’ experiences of pain, and bone loss resulting from space travel.

The essays were judged by the Observer’s Ian Tucker, the Science Museum’s Roger Highfield, Prof Fiona Watt from the MRC, Bristol University’s Andy Ridgeway and the journalist and broadcaster Samira Ahmed.

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Covid reinfections ‘to be expected’ as virus spreads, say government scientists

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Reports suggest timeframe between recovery and reinfection ‘relatively short’ for those who contracted virus twice

Government science advisers have warned that reinfections with Covid-19 are “to be expected” as the virus spreads, based on what is known about people’s immunity to other coronaviruses that cause the common cold.

Researchers on the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium said it was unclear at what point people who had recovered from the virus became vulnerable to reinfection, but cited emerging reports of second infections that suggested the timeframe was “relatively short”.

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Remdesivir has very little effect on Covid-19 mortality, WHO finds

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Results of major trial described as sobering, with drug found not to improve survival rates

Remdesivir, one of the big treatment hopes for Covid-19, has very little effect on preventing deaths, according to a large and comprehensive trial run by the World Health Organization.

The drug, made by the US biotech firm Gilead, has been talked up as a potential cure and was taken by Donald Trump. A trial in the US had previously showed it reduced the length of stay in hospital. But the gold-standard Solidarity WHO trial, which was based on a far larger sample – 3,000 people on the drug, compared with as many who were not – showed remdesivir had little effect on deaths over 28 days.

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Third of newborns with Covid infected before or during birth – study

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Review of reported neonatal cases finds most babies with virus contract it in hospital

Nearly a third of coronavirus infections in newborn babies are picked up in the womb or from the mother during labour, a review of reported cases has found.

While Covid-19 is rare in newborns, doctors have been keen to understand the potential risks that babies face should tests reveal they have the infection soon after birth.

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Long Covid: what we know so far

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Lasting symptoms may not be down to a single syndrome but several different ones

At the start of the pandemic we were told that Covid-19 was a respiratory illness from which most people would recover within two or three weeks, but it’s increasingly clear that there may be tens of thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands, who have been left experiencing symptoms months after becoming infected.

Now, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has released a report which suggests that “long Covid” may not be a single syndrome, but up to four different ones, which some patients might be experiencing simultaneously. Here’s what we now know:

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UK’s test and trace ‘having marginal impact’: which countries got it right?

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Scientists’ verdict on £12bn system has refocused attention on what is working elsewhere in cutting Covid-19 transmission rates

The newly released assessment by the UK government’s scientific advisers that the £12bn test and trace programme “is having a marginal impact” in reducing Covid-19 transmission has refocused attention on how other countries are faring with their regimes.

Since test-and-trace programmes were first mooted around the world at the outset of the pandemic – including monitoring via apps or hardware – they have been beset by issues of privacy and public support over both downloading and using apps and also with a wider willingness to abide by isolation measures.

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UK coronavirus live: Covid deaths in England and Wales quadrupled in a month, ONS figures show

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Latest updates: minister says Covid restrictions require ‘difficult judgment’ of protecting lives while prioritising education and jobs

The Department for Education’s latest school attendance statistics show an increase in the number of state schools in England partially closed because of Covid-19.

More than one in five state secondaries reported being partially closed, meaning that classes or year groups were sent home or were isolating. Previously 82% were classed as “fully open” but last week the proportion fell to 79%.

Attendance in fully open primary schools is now consistent with what we would have expected before coronavirus. Across all state schools, only a small minority of pupils are self-isolating and schools are providing remote education, in line with what pupils would be receiving in school.

We will continue to work with schools to ensure all appropriate steps are taken to keep pupils and staff safe.

A pilot scheme will be launched “shortly” in England which will involve relatives of care home residents being treated as key workers to enable safe visits, Helen Whately, the care minister, has said.

Giving evidence to the joint science and health committee hearing on coronavirus, she said she wanted to enable visiting “but it must be safe”.

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Virus that causes Covid-19 can survive up to 28 days on surfaces, scientists find

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Researchers find Sars-CoV-2 survives longer at lower temperatures and lasts 10 days longer than influenza on some surfaces

Australian scientists have found that the virus that causes Covid-19 can survive for up to 28 days on surfaces such as the glass on mobile phones, stainless steel, vinyl and paper banknotes.

The national science agency, the CSIRO, said the research undertaken at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong also found that Sars-CoV-2 survived longer at lower temperatures.

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Iain Duncan Smith calls for review of Chinese investment in UK

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Former Conservative leader says government should assess China’s influence in areas from 5G to Covid-19 research

Chinese ownership of British businesses should be subject to a national security review by the UK government to assess the impact of Beijing’s growing economic power, according to the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith.

The senior backbencher – a leading figure in the rebellion that forced Downing Street to introduce tougher controls on Huawei – believes ministers have failed to deal with the scale of China’s influence on strategic industries in the UK.

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Would herd immunity stop the spread of coronavirus?

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Even if achievable, the strategy would kill too many people, say scientists

Like the Covid-19 virus itself, the idea of herd immunity has surged back into public life having been suppressed for months. It was initially touted as a way to hold back the pandemic – by allowing sufficient numbers of infections to occur and so reduce numbers of non-immune potential hosts for the virus. The disease would then stop spreading, it was argued.

The notion quickly fell out of favour when researchers highlighted the high death toll that would have to occur in the UK before herd immunity was achieved. Nevertheless, the idea has now bubbled back and is again making headlines.

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The race for a Covid vaccine: inside the Australian lab working round the clock to produce 100m doses

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The Guardian is given a unique insight into the operations of CSL, which is making vaccines that could help end the crisis

Some call it the “happy soup”.

Take a dash of modified Covid-19 protein DNA, mix it with cells from a Chinese hamster’s ovary, and place the combination in two state-of-the-art 2,000L bioreactors in a sprawling scientific facility on Melbourne’s northern fringes.

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Herd immunity letter signed by fake experts including ‘Dr Johnny Bananas’

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Open letter calling for new Covid-19 strategy also signed by ‘Prof Cominic Dummings’

An open letter that made headlines calling for a herd immunity approach to Covid-19 lists a number of apparently fake names among its expert signatories, including “Dr Johnny Bananas” and “Professor Cominic Dummings”.

The Great Barrington declaration, which was said to have been signed by more than 15,000 scientists and medical practitioners around the world, was found by Sky News to contain numerous false names, as well as those of several homeopaths.

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BAME groups hit hard again as Covid second wave grips UK nations

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As cases surge, figures show the demographics of those most seriously affected by coronavirus remain the same

One of the earliest signs that black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people were being disproportionately harmed by the coronavirus pandemic came when the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNAR) published research in early April showing that 35% of almost 2,000 Covid patients in intensive care units in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were non-white.

A lot has happened in the intervening six months with numerous reports, including by the Office for National Statistics and Public Health England (PHE), confirming the increased risk to ethnic minorities and recommendations published on how to mitigate that risk. However, as the second wave intensifies, the demographics of those most seriously affected remain remarkably similar.

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‘Brain fog’: the people struggling to think clearly months after Covid

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Doctors grapple for answers as more patients report post-coronavirus cognitive impairment

For Mirabai Nicholson-McKellar, Covid-19 brought an onslaught of symptoms from chest pains to an 11-day migraine, three positive test results, and a period in hospital.

Seven months later, the rollercoaster is far from over: the 36-year-old from Byron Bay, Australia is still experiencing symptoms – including difficulties with thinking that are often described as “brain fog”.

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Scientists get hands dirty with research into medieval poop

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Study seeks to compare microbiomes of our ancestors for clues to modern diseases

Researchers working knee-deep in 14th- and 15th-century latrines have found that bacterial DNA from human excrement can last for centuries and provide clues to how our gut contents have changed significantly since medieval times.

Analysis of two cesspits, one in Jerusalem and the other in the Latvian capital, Riga, could help scientists understand if changes to our microbiome – the genetic makeup of the bacteria, virus, fungi, parasites and other microbes living inside us – affect modern-day afflictions.

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Why Edinburgh University’s lockdown study is not all it seems

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Commentators have used study as evidence government was too quick to impose full lockdown but conclusions not so clear

While it has been widely accepted that the closure of UK schools in March was bad for the life chances of its children, a research paper from the University of Edinburgh has gone as far as to say that the move could have contributed to a higher Covid-19 death toll.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, suggested lockdown restrictions were the most effective way of reducing peak demand for intensive care unit beds, but argued they were also likely to prolong the epidemic because, once lifted, they left a large population susceptible to the virus.

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Pubs and restaurants: do scientists think Covid closures and curfews work?

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While virus can spread easily in crowded indoor venues, 10pm cut-off is questionable

Pubs, bars and restaurants in Scotland will be banned from serving alcohol to customers indoors for more than two weeks, while pubs in northern England face the possibility of tighter restrictions. But what does the science say?

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Scientists call for Covid herd immunity strategy for young

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Critics describe proposal to isolate vulnerable, disabled and older people as ‘grotesque’

An international group of scientists has called on governments to overturn their coronavirus strategies and allow young and healthy people to return to normal life while protecting the most vulnerable.

The proposal, drawn up by three researchers but signed by many more, argues for letting the virus spread in low-risk groups in the hope of achieving “herd immunity”, where enough of the population is resistant to the virus to quell the pandemic.

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Europe must go beyond science to survive Covid crisis, says WHO

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Authorities urged to develop policies to tackle ‘virus fatigue’ as Finland, Poland and Russia join nations with rapidly rising cases

The World Health Organization has said European countries will need to “move beyond biomedical science” to overcome Covid-19 as “pandemic fatigue” and new infections rapidly rise across the continent.

Hans Kluge, the WHO’s Europe director, said that while fatigue from months of uncertainty and disruption was measured differently in different countries, aggregated survey data from across the region suggested that in some cases it it had reached levels of over 60%.

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Did early focus on hand washing and not masks aid spread of Covid-19?

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Increasing number of scientists believe risk from contaminated surfaces may have been overplayed

From the moment coronavirus reached UK shores, public health advice stressed the importance of washing hands and deep-cleaning surfaces to reduce the risk of becoming infected.

The advice was informed by mountains of research into the transmission of other respiratory viruses: it was the best scientists could do with such a new pathogen.

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