Glasgow University’s world-changing research developments range from aims of overcoming treatment-resistant malaria to pivotal archaeological discoveries in Glencoe.
This November, the University of Glasgow’s research has once again exhibited innovation and academic excellence – this month particularly in medicine, archaeology, and technology.
Researchers at the university have developed a new drug that has the potential to overcome treatment-resistant malaria. The team will work to permanently immobilise the PfCLK3 protein, preventing the Plasmodium falciparum parasite from duplicating and spreading malaria. The protein is pivotal in the parasite’s process of splicing RNA.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infection that, whilst curable, is life-threatening. As of 2022, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that malaria causes more than 600,000 deaths a year.
The drug ultimately serves to combat malaria’s resistance to common malaria treatment drug artemisinin and prohibit the parasite’s replicative abilities, killing it before it can proliferate into the bloodstream. Importantly, the parasite is unlikely to form a resistance against the drug, demonstrated in findings assisted by Columbia University.
The international research team hopes to develop the treatment as a single-dose process.
Professor of Chemical Biology, Andrew Jamieson, and one of the paper’s authors, said: “During the pandemic, global progress against malaria stalled as access to treatment became more difficult, while parasites simultaneously developed increasing resistance to current drugs.”
Taking a look at radiotherapy research, Cancer Research UK has awarded University of Glasgow scientists £1.5m. The financial funds to the CRUK Glasgow RadNet team hope to produce more gentle cancer treatments with fewer side effects.
CRUK RadNet Glasgow aims to “​​optimise radiotherapy to increase cure rates in patients with five cancers of unmet need: glioblastoma, head and neck, lung and mesothelioma, pancreas, [and] rectum”.
Over the next five years, the research team will work to elevate the efficacy of radiotherapy, focusing on cancer metabolism and social deprivation. The grant additionally supports the training of upcoming radiotherapy researchers, and clinical trials for RadNet’s future techniques and new technology.
“We aim to develop new radiotherapy technologies and treatment combinations to help more people survive cancer, with fewer side effects and to have a better quality of life after treatment,” says leader of the program, Glasgow University Professor Anthony Chalmers.
Typical side effects involve soreness and pain, fatigue, hair loss, and fertility issues, as a result of having to interact with both healthy tissues as well as cancerous cells.
The Scottish government records around 35,400 cancer diagnoses in Scotland each year. Globally, Cancer Research estimated 18.1 million new cases of cancer and 10 million deaths due to cancer, in 2020.
Glasgow has been chosen as one of just seven centres of excellence in a UK-wide network to develop radiotherapy research, alongside cities such as Cambridge, Manchester, Oxford, Leeds and London.
Groundbreaking discoveries in Glasgow University’s medical field continue to flourish. Scientists will further study the gut microbiome in patients with Crohn’s disease, notably examining the gut microbiome during a six-week period of nutrient-rich drinks. These prescribed drinks refer to pre-surgery Exclusive Enteral Nutrition (EEN), which is used to replace a patient’s diet, before surgical procedures. The research team will then investigate how these formulas perform in post-operative situations for adults with Crohn’s disease.
Those with Crohn’s disease typically have less bacterial diversity in their gut microbiomes, particularly species that can minimise inflammation. In the UK alone, 1 in 123 people are living with Crohn’s or Colitis, experts at the University of Nottingham say.
The project, MI-OCEAN (Microbiome analysis of the Optimisation before Crohn’s surgery using Exclusive Enteral Nutrition), intends to strengthen the scientific community’s knowledge of the microbiome’s role in recovery speeds for varying post-surgical patients.
Alongside Dr Athanasios Koutsos and Professor Simon Milling, Professor Konstantinos Gerasimidis will direct the research.
As a professor of clinical nutrition, who has formerly studied the influence of diet and the gut microbiome, Professor Gerasimidis told the Glasgow Guardian: “We will explore whether changes in the microbiome induced during six weeks of treatment with a liquid-only diet (also known as Exclusive Enteral Nutrition or EEN) will predict post-surgical outcomes and the risk of future disease recurrence in adults with Crohn’s disease and compared to patients continuing their usual diet.”
“Using AI we will also explore whether inclusion of microbiome signatures will enhance prognostication of patients’ postoperative outcomes and future risk of disease recurrence, compared to using routine clinical and disease markers”.
Professor Gerasimidis adds, “We will profile the gut microbiome in 2,472 faecal samples collected from 618 patients participating in the OCEAN trial (a study funded by NIHR) which aims to improve Crohn’s disease patients’ post-operative outcomes with EEN. In a subset of up to 40 patients, we will analyse blood and gut tissue samples (at surgery and 6-12 months post-surgery) to understand the underpinning mechanisms linking the mucosal microbiome with host immunity.”
Ambitions for the team involve the MI-OCEAN research generating future alternative dietary therapies that meet the standard of efficacy set by EEN.
“This will mean that dietary therapies will be more tolerable, easier for patients to adhere to, without interfering considerably with their lifestyle and importantly could be used after gut surgery as maintenance strategies to mitigate the risk of subsequent disease relapse,” writes Professor Gerasimidis.
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust will provide the study’s researchers with over $3 million. The University of Birmingham, the University of Strathclyde, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, and the Earlham Institute are all fellow collaborators of the project.
Historical discoveries have not escaped Glasgow University’s research during November. In collaboration with the National Trust for Scotland, the archaeological dig in Glencoe aimed to unearth the history surrounding the 1692 Massacre of Glencoe. Around 38 members and associates of Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were killed by government troops, during a party.
The team of archaeologists and students have discovered a plethora of artefacts at the township of Achnacon, ranging from pottery, knife handles, loom weights, shoe buckles, and broken tobacco pipes.
Excavations offered insight into MacDonald of Achnacon, the Glencoe Clan Chief’s cousin, who escaped during the massacre, such as 17th-century bronze coins from gambling during the party. Finds during the excavation also provided possible physical evidence of MacDonald of Achnacon’s escape. In uncovering MacDonald of Achnacon’s house, the team also found a bent plaid pin and two segments of lead musket balls nearby.
Co-Director of the archaeological excavations, Dr Edward Stewart said, “We are able to build a richer understanding, not only of the tragic events of the 1692 Massacre, but also the everyday lives of those who lived and worked in Glencoe in the 17th and 18th centuries”.
Excavations will continue in June 2025 to uncover more of Glencoe’s history that was once thought lost to time.
Medical equipment is also rapidly improving at the University, as growth in new health monitoring cultivates a potential future of contactless monitor technology.
Researchers have developed a stethoscope that uses radar to pick up on heart sounds with very promising accuracy. A paper in the IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics journal outlines the monitoring process.
A 24Ghz continuous-wave radar system will be used to concurrently calculate chest movements and heart valves opening and closing. Electromagnetic waves used in the process will emulate the ability of stethoscopes, whilst patients can stay fully clothed.
Data from volunteers of their heart sounds and chest movements using radar were recorded by the team. Meanwhile, an electrocardiogram (ECG) machine, the current most accurate measurement of heart rate, also monitored the hearts of the volunteers as a point of reference.
Results showed that between the ECG machine and the ‘radar stethoscope’, there was nearly a 99% accuracy when recording heart sounds, with measurements differing by less than one beat per minute.
Professor Muhammad Ali Imran, co-author of the paper and head of the university’s Communication Systems/Dean Transnational Engineering Education said, “This paper shows that radar can be used to monitor heart sounds with remarkable precision, which could make it invaluable for use in clinical settings and at home in the future.”
“We’re already looking at other ways to precisely read people’s other vital cardiovascular signs using this technique. We hope to develop a more fully-featured commercial design in the future which could pair heart rate monitoring with breathing rate, blood pressure readings and other useful measurements.”
