New research into the different life stages of malaria parasites has identified promising areas for new drug targets aimed at disrupting the parasite’s invasion of the liver. Scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Bern and Umeå University discovered seven metabolic pathways that the parasite needs to infect the liver, where the parasite multiplies rapidly before invading the blood and causing malaria.

The £9.4m funding from Wellcome will support researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and nine other partner institutions involved in the Darwin Tree of Life project to launch the first phase of sequencing all the species on the British Isles. This will see the teams collect and barcode around 8000 key British species, and deliver high-quality genomes of 2000 species.

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, University of Amsterdam and their collaborators revealed that the measles virus deletes part of the immune system’s memory, removing previously existing immunity to other infections, in both humans and ferrets. Importantly, the team showed for the first time that measles resets the human immune system back to an immature baby-like state with only limited ability to respond to new infections.

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced $13 million in new grants to create a Gut Cell Atlas, cataloguing the many cell types in the small and large intestines. The initiative aims to understand distinct cell functions and interactions in human health and Crohn’s disease. Helmsley’s Gut Cell Atlas initiative is part of the larger international Human Cell Atlas collaboration

New insights into the journey from health to disease in the human liver have been made by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, the University of Cambridge and their collaborators. In the largest study of its kind, the team documented in unprecedented detail how the accumulation of changes in our DNA over time, known as mutations, evolves during the development of chronic liver disease and liver cancer.

The hidden world of genetic changes, or mutations, in healthy colon tissue has been uncovered by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators. The team developed technology to sequence the genomes of small numbers of colon cells, allowing them to study genetic mutations in unprecedented detail. Researchers found complex patterns of mutations, including changes in cancer genes, and a huge variability of mutations both within and between people.

The inaccurate allegations refer to specific research that aimed to support scientific discovery with partners working in Africa. The Sanger Institute has not commercialised any products based on this research and it has not received and will not financially benefit from any revenues.

For the first time, scientists have uncovered the likely series of events that led to the world’s deadliest malaria parasite being able to jump from gorillas to humans. Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Montpellier reconstructed an approximately 50,000-year-old gene sequence that was acquired by the ancestor of Plasmodium falciparum, giving it the ability to infect human red blood cells. 

The largest study of its kind into childhood developmental disorders has discovered that jumping genes cause genetic changes in some patients with undiagnosed neurodevelopmental diseases. The research has provided genetic diagnoses for three children enrolled in the Deciphering Developmental Disorders project, which will help the families access support and understand the disease risks for any future children.

In a world first, scientists have created the human developmental liver cell atlas that provides crucial insights into how the blood and immune systems develop in the foetus. It maps changes in the cellular landscape of the developing liver between the first and second trimesters of pregnancy, including how stem cells from the liver seed other tissues to support the high demand for oxygen needed for growth.