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Oxford researchers use magnets and radio waves to diagnose cancer Matthew Clark reports on the development of new methods of cancer diagnosis at Oxford University. A team from Oxford have pioneered a technique for diagnosing cancer in early stages with a 94% success rate. It takes advantage of the abnormal metabolic fingerprint of cancerous cells to detect them before it’s too late. The University of Oxford study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, deals with subtle early symptoms that are too similar to minor ailments to be diagnosed effectively. Our current NHS guidelines for treatment referral were designed around common organ-specific cancers with noticeable symptoms such as breast lumps. However, many cancers present with non-specific problems such as fatigue and weight loss so they are very difficult to diagnose. The newly developed method of Biofluid Metabolomic testing is an inexpensive and non-invasive test that only requires a small blood sample. The characteristic feature of cancer cells is their inability to regulate growth and division, leading them to grow into a tumor. Different types of cancer excrete many elevated waste products that are different to healthy cells. These include Beta-hydroxybutyrate, Acetylneuraminic acid and good old fashioned salt. Traditional clinical diagnosis techniques are unable to detect these small differences until it’s too late, but the new NMR technique has managed to effectively do so. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a spectroscopic technique that uses strong magnetic fields to determine a molecule’s 3D structure. It works on the basis that atoms within the molecule have a positively charged nucleus – surrounded by negatively charged electrons. When a molecule is trapped within the field of an NMR machine, there are two possible positions for the nuclei to adopt. They can
either align with the field, or flip around to directly oppose it. The easier ‘lower energy’ state for the nuclei is to be aligned so that’s how they all behave at first. Nuclei are able to flip from the comfortable aligned state into unaligned state, but only when they are supplied with enough energy. This is supplied in the form of electromagnetic radio waves. The exact energy required for this flip to occur depends on the structure of the molecule. The more electrons each part of the molecule has whizzing around it, the greater the ‘shielding effect’ on the nuclei will be. The more shielded the nuclei, the higher the energy (and frequency of radio wave) that is needed to flip its magnetic field.
The machine produces a spectrum of radio waves with differing frequencies and records exactly which frequencies are absorbed by molecules within the sample and their relative abundance. This technique is incredibly sensitive – able to pick up tiny amounts of obscure metabolites that would be impractical to test for with traditional methods. Another brilliant part is the spectrum from cancer patients vs healthy controls can serve as a database for quick and efficient diagnosis in early stages. Samples from 300 patients with concerning symptoms of cancer, such as fatigue and weight loss, were analysed. They were recruited through the Oxfordshire Suspected CANcer (SCAN) pathway, and a correct diagnosis was returned in 94% of cases. In a press release from the University, Dr Fay Probert, lead researcher of the study from the University of Oxford, says: “This work describes a new way of identifying cancer. The goal is to produce a test for cancer that any GP can request. We envisage that metabolomic analysis of the blood will allow accurate, timely and cost-effective triaging of patients with suspected cancer, and could allow better prioritisation of patients based on the additional early information this test provides on their disease.” Image Credit: Matthew Clark
An essay arguing for the return of the Parthenon Marbles by the former Oxford Unionpresident Boris Johnson has been revealed for the first time. The essay, titled ‘Elgin goes to Athens – The President marbles at the Grandeur that was (in) Greece’, was written in 1986 for the Oxford Union magazine, Debate. Journalists from Athens newspaper Ta Nea found the article in an Oxford library and have made it public. 21-year-old Johnson notes the complex issues concerning the artefact’s location, stating ‘they are on the one hand the passionate national feeling of the Greek people, and on the other the sophistry and intransigence of the British Government’. However, he later expresses that the British government should ‘restore to Greece the sculptural embodiment of the spirit of the nation.’
Anvee Bhutani, SU President, underscores the importance of participating in the boycott, as it “not only affects [current students] but also those who may become students in the future”. The SU highlights that there are already a variety of alternative surveys at the University, department and college-level, including the Oxford Internal Student Barometer. Furthermore, other platforms allow students to voice their concerns and provide feedback on their university experience, including the SU itself, common rooms and subject reps. The survey closes near the end of April and results are typically published in July. It is at this stage that the SU will see whether they have met the 50% threshold and completed a successful boycott.
On the web Vaccine Head Speaks Out Oxford Vaccine Center head: “We cannot vaccinate the planet every six months.” Yan Chan
The Bike Project A new project is seeking to give bicycles to refugees. Joshua Low
Old Boris Johnson essay argues for return of the Parthenon Marbles Charlotte Keys reports on a newly-revealed essay by Johnson.
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The Parthenon Marbles, a collection of sculptures created under the supervision of Phidias, are also known as the Elgin Marbles after the man who arranged for their transportation to England. Lord Elgin argued that the Marbles were authorised by an Ottoman edict to be taken to England at the turn of the 19th century. However, no such official document has been found. Elgin later sold them to the British government in 1816 for £35,000, a controversial decision in Parliament even at the time. They have been located in the British Museum since their acquisition. The debate over the Marbles gained momentum in the 1980s after the Greek minister of culture, Melina Mercouri, campaigned for their return. In those same years Johnson’s article revealed that he was sympathetic to the Greek campaign, hosting Mercouri at an Oxford Union debate on the matter. The chamber voted in favour of the Marbles’ return to Greece. The British government has consistently disagreed with the Greek government over
the issue, arguing in 1983 against the return of the Marbles because the ‘transaction had been conducted with the recognised legitimate authorities of the time’. The current prime minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and culture minister, Lina Mendoni, have said that they are ‘stolen’. Classics student Boris Johnson seems to have agreed with that view; however, as a politician he has rebuffed the Greek government’s request. In March, Johnson said that “the UK government has a firm longstanding position on the sculptures, which is that they were legally required by Lord Elgin under the appropriate laws of the time and have been legally owned by the British Museum’s trustees since their acquisition.” Johnson, who wrote that “the Elgin Marbles should leave this northern whisky-drinking guilt-culture, and be displayed where they belong: in a country of bright sunlight and the landscape of the Achilles, ‘the shadowy mountains and the echoing sea’”, has since altered his stance and has aligned himself with the general opinion of Whitehall.
New Year’s Honours
7 Oxford University Members were awarded honours in 2022. Meg Lintern
Brasenose Archaeology A new build at Brasenose has unearthed new archaeological finds. Daniel Moloney
