University of Oxford

New research reveals a novel drug, designed to break up the aggregations of toxic proteins associated with Parkinson’s disease, can effectively slow the disease in mouse models. The researchers are now looking at moving toward human trials.

Following a swift independent investigation, large-scale trials for a COVID-19 vaccine developed by scientists at the University of Oxford are recommencing across the UK after a suspected adverse reaction triggered a global halt to trials last week.

A new systematic review is affirming the effectiveness of honey as a first-line treatment for upper respiratory tract infections, suggesting antibiotics are ineffective treating minor coughs and colds, and honey offers superior symptomatic relief.

New data has found the cheap steroid dexamethasone significantly reduces deaths when administered to COVID-19 patients in intensive care. The treatment has been described as “the first major breakthrough in the therapeutics of COVID-19 infection”.

Is there a link between personality traits and gut microbiome composition? While new research does not claim gut bacteria determines a personality, it does reveal a bi-directional association between behavior and the microbiome.

For the first time, researchers have identified regions of the genome related to left-handedness in the general population.

Birds flying together in formation can save substantial amounts of energy. But what’s good for the goose isn’t necessarily good for the gander, with scientists finding that for pairs of homing pigeons this approach actually costs them energy instead.

A team of scientists led by Ken Amor from the Department of Earth Sciences at Oxford University has uncovered evidence of the largest meteor ever to strike the British Isles.

The summer of 2018 was marked by extreme weather events like droughts and floods. A new study has pinned the blame on stalled giant waves in the jet stream, and unfortunately they’re expected to only get worse with the changing climate.

​In an extraordinary milestone procedure, scientists in the UK have performed the first gene therapy operation aimed at stopping progression of the most common cause of vision loss. The success of the procedure is yet to be determined​.

​In the largest cross-cultural survey ever conducted, a team of anthropologists has determined 7 moral rules they suggest are universal. Surveying ethnographic accounts from 60 different cultures the research concludes every single culture analyzed seems to be ruled by the same moral precepts.​

​After a heart attack, the heart's damaged muscle tissue is replaced by non-beating scar tissue. Unfortunately, this leaves the muscle permanently weakened. There could be new hope, however, as scientists have taken strides toward understanding how a fish is able to heal its own heart.