Latest Life Sciences News
'Chase and run' cell movement mechanism explains metastasis
Publication date: 17 June 2013
A mechanism that cells use to group together and move around the body – called 'chase and run' - has been described for the first time by scientists at UCL.
Grant Museum wins Cultural Pros Award at Museums + Heritage Awards
Publication date: 16 May 2013
The Grant Museum of Zoology at UCL has been voted the winner of the inaugural Culture Pros Pick at the Museums + Heritage Awards – the Oscars of the museum world – at the awards ceremony last night.
Behaviour of seabirds during migration revealed
Publication date: 1 May 2013
The behaviour of seabirds during migration – including patterns of foraging, rest and flight – has been revealed in new detail using novel computational analyses and tracking technologies.
Sounds of UCL: competition winners and panoramas
Publication date: 19 April 2013
What sounds make up London’s global university? UCL Communications has announced the winners of its ‘Sounds of UCL’ competition, which invited staff and students to capture ambient audio clips that reflect the life of UCL.
Search for new antibiotics advanced by discovery of key processes within bacterial protein
Publication date: 12 April 2013
Scientists have discovered how bacteria transport the tiny hair-like strands, called pili, which cover their outer surface from the inside of the cell, where they are assembled, to the exterior. Pili are a key target for a new generation of antibiotics, as without them the bacteria are unable to group together and to stick to human cells causing infection.
Call for proposals: UCL–French Embassy science and technology workshops
Publication date: 26 March 2013
- Link: Further details
UCL and Oxford unite to tackle challenge of sustainable medical innovation
Publication date: 20 March 2013
UCL and the University of Oxford have come together to form CASMI - the Centre for the Advancement of Sustainable Medical Innovation.
UCL Open Access Guidelines and Publishing Guide
Publication date: 13 March 2013
UCL guidelines on open access and a publishing guide are available to UCL researchers.
The RCUK Policy on Open Access introduces, with effect from 1 April 2013, new open access requirements for research papers funded by the Research Councils.
Animal model of evolution indicates thick hair mutation emerged 30,000 years ago
Publication date: 15 February 2013
The first animal model of recent human evolution reveals that a single mutation produced several traits common in East Asian peoples, from thicker hair to denser sweat glands, an international team of researchers report.
Graphene research chosen as EU Future Emerging Technology flagship
Publication date: 12 February 2013
The European Commission has chosen the Graphene Flagship as one of Europe’s first 10-year FET flagship projects.
UCL News podcast: Getting Plastered at the Slade & Walking with Gosse
Publication date: 1 February 2013
The UCL News podcast gives you the opportunity to listen to the latest news and research from around UCL every fortnight. Split up into three parts, you can either listen to the podcast all in one go, or save features for later listening.
Human Brain Project wins major EU funding
Publication date: 28 January 2013
The Human Brain Project has been officially selected as one of the European Commission’s two FET Flagship projects. The new project will unite European efforts to address one of the greatest challenges of modern science: understanding the human brain.
Community pharmacies could be NHS ‘third tier’
Publication date: 18 January 2013
At the 2013 UCL School of Pharmacy annual lecture, Sue Sharpe, the Chief Executive of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), presented a blue‐print for community pharmacies to serve as a ‘third tier’ in the NHS, alongside GP practices and hospitals.
Chemistry resolves toxic concerns about carbon nanotubes
Publication date: 15 January 2013
Safety fears about carbon nanotubes, due to their structural similarity to asbestos, have been alleviated following research showing that reducing their length removes their toxic properties.
Origin of life emerged from cell membrane bioenergetics
Publication date: 20 December 2012
A coherent pathway which starts from no more than rocks, water and carbon dioxide and leads to the emergence of the strange bioenergetic properties of living cells has been traced for the first time in a major hypothesis paper in Cell this week.
Record number of Marie Curie Fellowships for research at UCL
Publication date: 18 December 2012
23 postdoctoral
researchers from 14 different countries have been awarded Marie Curie
Individual Fellowships. The awards will enable researchers to spend up to two
years working with research teams across all schools at UCL.
More than two hundred genes identified for Crohn’s Disease
Publication date: 14 December 2012
More than two hundred gene locations have now been identified for the chronic bowel condition Crohn's Disease, in a study that analysed the entire human genome.
UCL Grand Challenges £5,000 grants available
Publication date: 23 November 2012
The UCL Grand Challenges Small Grants Scheme invites applications to fund cross-disciplinary projects in Global Health, Sustainable Cities, Intercultural Interaction and Human Wellbeing.
UCL Research Frontiers Contest results
Publication date: 6 November 2012
The results of the UCL Research Frontiers contest have been announced, celebrating the fact that curiosity-driven discovery and analysis has been a feature of UCL from its foundation.
UCL Behaviour Change Month – November 2012
Publication date: 23 October 2012
UCL Behaviour Change Month in November 2012 will comprise a series of cross-disciplinary talks, discussions and workshops, and lead up to a £10,000 research prize workshop in January 2013.
Evolution mostly driven by brawn, not brains
Publication date: 16 October 2012
The most common measure of intelligence in animals, brain size relative to body size, may not be as dependent on evolutionary selection on the brain as previously thought, according to a new analysis by scientists.
UCL News Podcast - US Elections & Professor Steve Jones
Publication date: 12 October 2012
The UCL News podcast gives you the opportunity to listen to the latest news and research from around UCL every fortnight. Split up into three parts, you can either listen to the podcast all in one go, or save features for later listening.
UCL Discovery downloads surpass 2m
Publication date: 5 October 2012
The total number of papers, reports and PhD dissertations downloaded from UCL Discovery, the university’s Open Access repository, surpassed 2,000,000 during September 2012.
New website calls for help from bat detectives
Publication date: 2 October 2012
Scientists are asking for the public’s help to monitor bats across Europe and track changes in our environment by listening to their weirdly wonderful ultrasonic tweets on a new website.
UCL dementia scientists benefit from £1.5m charity funding boost
Publication date: 21 September 2012
Dementia scientists at UCL are set to gain from a funding boost after Alzheimer’s Research UK committed a record amount of money to new research projects.

