UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging

Amniotic fluid 'may heal premature baby gut'

25 March 2013

Early animal tests, published in the journal Gut, showed that stem cells inside amniotic fluid could heal some of the damage and increase survival. Severe inflammation, called necrotizing enterocolitis, can destroy the gut's tissues and lead to major organ failure.

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Pigeons' homing skill not down to iron-rich beak cells

11 April 2012

The theory that pigeons’ famous skill at navigation is down to iron-rich magnetic nerve cells in their beaks has been disproved by a new study published in Nature.

The study shows that iron-rich cells in the pigeon beak are in fact specialised white blood cells, called macrophages. This finding, which shatters the established dogma, puts the field back on course as the search for magnetic cells continues.

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Nano-magnets guide stem cells to damaged tissue

17 August 2009

Microscopic magnetic particles have been used to bring stem cells to sites of cardiovascular injury in a new method designed to increase the capacity of cells to repair damaged tissue, UCL scientists announced today.

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