Research

All in the head? Brains adapt to support new species

9 February 2021

Scientists studying forest dwelling butterflies in Central and South America have discovered that changes in the way animals perceive and process information from their environment can support the emergence of new species. The study led by the University of Bristol, and published today [9 February] in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), has implications for how new species might evolve and the underappreciated role of changes in the brain.

Major funding boost for internationally-recognised healthcare research centres

11 December 2017

Three interdisciplinary research consortia, including the University of Bristol's SPHERE project, have been allocated more than £11 million to continue healthcare sensing systems research that is revolutionising how we identify and respond to outbreaks of infectious diseases, diagnose and manage lung diseases, and recognise and solve emerging health and wellbeing issues in the home environment.

Bacteria breakthrough marks new era in cellular design and biofuel production

11 December 2017

Scientists at the universities of Kent and Bristol have built a miniature scaffold inside bacteria that can bolster cellular productivity, providing the foundation for a new era of cellular protein engineering and biofuel production.

Respiratory support used for COVID-19 patients produce less aerosol emission than breathing, speaking or coughing

8 February 2021

Respiratory support used to treat patients with severe COVID-19 are associated with less aerosol emission than breathing, speaking or coughing new research suggests. The study led by researchers from the University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) is published on the pre-print server medRxiv.

Reaction to Supreme Court decision on minimum income immigration rule

24 March 2017

Academics from the University of Bristol’s newly formed Institute for Migration and Mobility Studies have expressed disappointment at last month’s ruling by the Supreme Court which decided the minimum income immigration rule is lawful.

Fossil discovery in storeroom cupboard shifts origin of modern lizards back 35 million years

2 December 2022

A specimen retrieved from a cupboard of the Natural History Museum in London has shown that modern lizards originated in the Late Triassic and not the Middle Jurassic as previously thought.

Clinical trials begin to investigate treatment for diabetic eye disease

8 February 2021

A new approach to treating one of the leading causes of blindness among patients with diabetes is being tested in clinical trials which begin this month.

Brain’s connections which keep related memories distinct from each other, identified in new study

20 January 2017

Neuroscientists at the University of Bristol are a step closer to understanding how the connections in our brain which control our episodic memory work in sync to make some memories stronger than others. The findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, reveal a previously unsuspected division of memory function in the pathways between two areas of the brain, and suggest that certain subnetworks within the brain work separately, to enhance the distinctiveness of memories.

Twitter can reveal our shared mood

11 December 2017

In the largest study of its kind, researchers from the University of Bristol have analysed mood indicators in text from 800 million anonymous messages posted on Twitter. These tweets were found to reflect strong patterns of positive and negative moods over the 24-hour day.

New trial to assess whether rapid tests reduce antibiotic prescribing for respiratory infections in primary care

23 November 2022

A new randomised controlled clinical trial, led by the University of Bristol, will investigate whether rapid microbiological 'point-of-care' tests for respiratory infections could reduce antibiotic prescribing in primary care, thanks to funding of £1.6 million by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The tests, which are carried out in GP surgeries rather than sent to a laboratory, detect the presence of viruses and some bacteria, with results available on the same day.