MRC Epidemiology Unit
At this year’s World Congress on Menopause in Lisbon Stasa Stankovic, a PhD student in the Unit’s Early Life Aetiology and Mechanisms programme, won the Robert Greenblatt Award for the best research in the area of basic science related to women’s health and menopause. Stasa presented her latest research to the congress on the genetics of […]
One in 500 men carry extra sex chromosome, putting them at higher risk of several common diseases
Around one in 500 men could be carrying an extra X or Y chromosome – most of them unaware – putting them at increased risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis and thrombosis, say researchers at the universities of Cambridge and Exeter. In a study published in Genetics in Medicine, researchers analysed genetic […]
STEM for Britain finals: Stasa Stankovic presents her research on genomics of reproductive ageing and fertility to MPs in the House of Parliament
Stasa Stankovic, a PhD student in the Unit’s Early Life Aetiology and Mechanisms programme, has reached the top 10 biomedicine finalists in STEM for Britain – a major scientific poster competition organised by the UK government’s Parliamentary & Scientific Committee. STEM for Britain is a major scientific poster competition and exhibition which has been held in […]
How our brain uses nutritional state to regulate growth and age at puberty
Scientists have discovered how a receptor in the brain, called MC3R, detects the nutritional state of the body and regulates the timing of puberty and rate of growth in children and increases in lean muscle mass. These findings, published today in the journal Nature, may explain how humans have been growing taller and reaching sexual […]
Researchers identify new genes linked to longer reproductive lifespan in women
The age at which women go through menopause is critical for fertility and impacts healthy ageing in women, but reproductive ageing has been difficult for scientists to study and insights into the underlying biology are limited. Now, scientists have identified nearly 300 gene variations that influence reproductive lifespan in women. Additionally, in mice, they have […]
Rare genetic variants confer largest increase in type 2 diabetes risk seen to date
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have identified rare genetic variants – carried by one in 3,000 people – that have a larger impact on the risk of developing type 2 diabetes than any previously identified genetic effect. Type 2 diabetes is thought to be driven in part by inherited genetic factors, but many of […]
New research finds that genetics plays an important role in age at first sex and parenthood
An international research team, led by Professor Melinda Mills and colleagues at the University of Oxford and MRC Epidemiology Unit scientist Dr Felix Day, has discovered hundreds of genetic markers driving two of life’s most momentous milestones – the age at when people first have sex and become parents. In an analysis of data from […]
Genetics study links early male puberty to shorter lifespan and darker hair colour
Early puberty in boys is linked to a shorter lifespan and darker hair colour, according to the largest ever study of the genetics of male puberty, led by scientists at the University of Cambridge. The study, published today in Nature Communications, identifies 76 regions of the genome that influence male puberty, several of which have […]
Testosterone levels affect risk of metabolic disease and cancers
Having genetically higher testosterone levels increases the risk of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes in women, while reducing the risk in men. Higher testosterone levels also increase the risks of breast and endometrial cancers in women, and prostate cancer in men. The findings come from the largest study to date on the genetic […]
Understanding the causes and consequences of mosaic Y chromosome loss
Research led by Dr John Perry and Dr Deborah Thompson (a former member of the Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology) has found that loss of the Y chromosome from circulating white blood cells is a biomarker of biological ageing that reflects broader genome instability across other tissues. Published in Nature, the study builds on observations […]
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