The ability of some cobras to spit their venom, unique amongst snakes, evolved as a defence mechanism to inflict pain rather than to catch prey, according to new research. The research was led by the Centre for Snakebite Research at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), and Swansea University says it also involved Dr … Continue reading Spitting cobras evolved painful venom for defence, possibly from early humans

Researchers from Swansea University have been commissioned by the Senedd to explore people’s experiences of being contacted by Test, Trace, Protect (TTP) and told to self-isolate. The project aims to explore some of the main challenges and barriers that people encounter, as well as some of the supports that help people cope with and comply … Continue reading Call for study participants who have been contacted by Test, Trace and Protect in Wales

Supercomputing facilities set up to track the spread and evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic have received £1.2m in government funding to expand globally. Cardiff University says the new funding will enable the CLIMB COVID-19 project, which it leads with the University of Birmingham, to carry out significant upgrades to computational equipment to process and store … Continue reading Covid-19 genome sequencing project gets a major upgrade

Researchers at Swansea University are developing the world’s first smart vaccine device that will deliver the Covid-19 vaccine and measure its efficacy through monitoring the body’s associated response. Swansea University says the research, from its Institute for Innovative Materials, Processing and Numerical Technologies (IMPACT), will produce the vaccine through the use of microneedles (MNs) to … Continue reading Swansea University develops “world’s first” Covid-19 vaccine smart patch

A new project set up to study the best way to care for patients with long standing eye conditions in the community has secured a major research grant. Swansea University reports Dr Pippa Anderson and Dr Mari Jones, from their Centre for Health Economics (SCHE), are part of a multidisciplinary team which has just been … Continue reading Funding boost for research looking at the provision of eyecare in the community

Researchers at Swansea University Medical School are helping to drive forward understanding of the virus that causes Covid-19 and how it can be tackled. The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of Covid-19, has swept across the world with unprecedented speed. Since it was initially identified there have been more than … Continue reading New international research looks at a way of fighting back against Covid-19

A new study from Swansea University suggests women who stop taking their asthma medication during pregnancy are at risk of giving birth prematurely and are less likely to breastfeed their babies. Many women in the UK are prescribed medicines for asthma before or during pregnancy, at around 11.8% of the population. However, prescription records show … Continue reading Stopping asthma medication while pregnant risks preterm birth

A trial of a cold remedy containing seaweed which could potentially combat coronavirus is underway in Swansea. WalesOnline reports a research study by Swansea University involving four hundred and eighty frontline NHS workers in the city is examining the efficacy of Boots Dual Defence in preventing Covid illness and reducing the severity of its symptoms. … Continue reading Trials in Swansea to see if a popular Boots cold remedy can stop coronavirus

A research team, led by Swansea University College of Engineering, are developing a pilot online marketplace designed to optimise manufacturing supply chain networks and create a new industry wide business model. Swansea University says this new platform will seek to better connect manufacturers and suppliers, enabling a streamlined product/process sourcing and selection service tailored to … Continue reading New engineering partnership to develop digital marketplace to improve the manufacturing supply chain

A team from Population Data Science at Swansea University is to join a network of forty one partners from thirty countries as part of the Population Health Research Infrastructure (PHIRI), a new mechanism for organising and sharing information on Covid-19. MediWales reports the Swansea University team, led by Professor Ronan Lyons, has secured over €220,000 … Continue reading Swansea University team to join EU project to organise and share information on coronavirus