Low doses of radiation equivalent to three CT scans, which are considered safe, give cancer-capable cells a competitive advantage over normal cells. Researchers studied the effects of low doses of radiation in mice and found it increases the number of cells with mutations in p53, a well-known genetic change associated with cancer. However, giving the mice an antioxidant before radiation promoted the growth of healthy cells, which outcompeted and replaced the p53 mutant cells.

Wellcome Sanger Institute researchers will receive funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) for five collaborative projects supporting the Human Cell Atlas (HCA), the global initiative to map every cell type in the human body. These projects will investigate specific tissues in the thymus, lung, liver, kidney and immune system to understand health and what goes wrong in disease.

In Nature Microbiology, scientists have identified which gene mutations make MRSA susceptible to a combination of penicillin and clavulanic acid. Analysing the whole-genome sequences of a diverse collection of MRSA strains revealed that a significant number of strains – including USA300 clone, the dominant strain in the United States – would be treatable with this drug combination.

For the first time, researchers have mapped the building blocks of the human lungs and airways, in both asthma patients and normal people. Understanding the cells and their signals could lead to finding new drug targets for treating asthma.

Professor Nicole Soranzo joins 48 fellow scientists from 17 countries in being elected as Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). An additional eight researchers from Argentina, Australia, Japan and the US have become Associate Members of the organisation whose mission is to promote excellence in European molecular life sciences research.

Researchers have mapped the most common bacterial cause of pneumonia around the world and revealed how these bacteria evolve in response to vaccination.

The research from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and collaborators offers incredible potential for studying human development and regenerative medicine. It is the first time scientists have been able to derive stem cells from early pig embryos and will also be beneficial for animal health and food production.

The search for a global Strep A vaccine has narrowed after researchers sequenced the DNA of more than 2,000 Group A Streptococcus samples from around the world. Researchers identified potential vaccine targets present in strains from all the countries sampled, pointing to the possibility of developing an effective global vaccine against Strep A, one of the top 10 causes of death from infectious diseases worldwide.

The difficult decision has been made after consultation with the Sanger Institute board and the Genome Research Limited board, which has representation from Wellcome. The facility is expected to close over the next few years.

In the first large-scale analysis of cancer gene fusions, researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators used CRISPR to uncover which gene fusions are critical for the growth of cancer cells. The team also identified a new gene fusion that presents a novel drug target for multiple cancers, including brain and ovarian cancers. The results give more certainty for the use of specific gene fusions to diagnose and guide the treatment of patients.