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Inside Britain’s Deadly Fungus Collection

Housed near Bristol, UKHSA’s National Collection of Pathogenic Fungi (NCPF) is home to more than 4,500 isolates of potentially deadly fungi, gathered over the last century. The collection serves as a remarkable illustration of how scientific endeavours from the World...

STIs through the centuries

In England, data produced by the UKHSA shows that year after year new diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections STIs remain high and, between 2021 and 2022, diagnoses of gonorrhoea and infectious syphilis increased by 50% and 15% respectively. In this blog post we...

How bacteria-munching viruses could offer an alternative to antibiotics

They look like something out of nightmare, but these so-called ‘spider viruses’ could be a powerful new weapon in tackling the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. Bacteriophages, or phages for short, have a remarkable and currently untapped potential for viral...

What are mRNA vaccines and how do they work?

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the urgent need for swift and safe vaccine development during public health emergencies. As detailed in the 100 Days Mission report, proactive vaccine research and development during non-crisis periods is important to help ensure we...