Trial offers hope of a treatment for spinal muscular atrophy

20 September 2016

A research team led by the University of Oxford has found a promising treatment for degenerative disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a leading genetic cause of child death.

SMA occurs when people lack a gene called survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1). It can affect children in the womb or adults. This makes them unable to produce enough SMN protein, resulting in motor neurone degeneration and increasing muscle weakness. However, people have an almost identical gene called SMN2.

Five ways the pandemic has affected routine medical care

24 June 2022

Since the beginning of the pandemic, COVID has infected at least a third of the UK population and is estimated to have factored in the deaths of almost 200,000 people in the UK. But critically, COVID has also had a devastating impact on our healthcare systems. While this was expected, new evidence is beginning to reveal the scope of the issue – in particular the effects for people living with long-term health conditions.

Clinical trials for a malaria vaccine start in Mali and Indonesia

21 June 2022

Sanaria Inc. announced that two new Phase 2 trials of its pioneering malaria vaccines have started. The first is in 6- to 10-year-old children living in Bancoumana, Mali, a malarious region of West Africa. The second is in Indonesian soldiers based in Sumatra, Indonesia. The soldiers will be deploying for six to nine months this coming August to an intensely malarious district in eastern Indonesia.

Mechanism of expanding bacteria revealed

20 June 2022

A new study published in Nature has identified a potential Achilles heel in the protective layers surrounding Gram-negative bacteria that could aid in the development of next-generation antibiotics.

Discovery of gene involved in chronic pain creates new treatment target

15 June 2022

Oxford researchers have discovered a gene that regulates pain sensitisation by amplifying pain signals within the spinal cord, helping them to understand an important mechanism underlying chronic pain in humans and providing a new treatment target.

Oxford's largest ever study into Varicose veins shows need for surgery is linked to genetics

14 June 2022

A new international study by Oxford researchers published in Nature Communications establishes for the first time, a critical genetic risk score to predict the likelihood of patients suffering with Varicose veins to require surgery, as well as pointing the way towards potential new therapies.

Biological processes of ageing is key to improving later life health

9 June 2022

Improvements in health care, sanitation, and diet over last 100 years have significantly increased life expectancy. However, this increase in how long we can expect to live has not been accompanied by a similar increase in healthy life expectancy, defined as the time spent free of major illness or disease.