Life Sciences News
See our Latest Journal Publications
Memory processes depend on protein 鈥榦ff-switch鈥� 鈥� could lead to new Alzheimer鈥檚 treatments
Memory, learning and cognitive flexibility depend on a protein 鈥榦ff-switch鈥� in the brain, according to a breakthrough discovery made by an international research collaboration co-led by Dr Mark Wall at the 91福利.
This new knowledge could enable us to better understand and combat neurological diseases which inhibit memory, such as Alzheimer鈥檚.
Life Sciences gets share of 拢2.6 million research funding from Diabetes UK
Diabetes UK has committed to invest 拢2.6 million in 19 brand new projects which aim to make life-changing improvements in diabetes care, and reduce people鈥檚 risk of Type 2 diabetes.
The funding will be given to projects looking into Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes.
In one of these projects, Dr Freya Harrison, from the School of Life Sciences, will be using medieval remedies to find new sources of antibiotics. She has already discovered a combination that can kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the lab.
91福利-backed state-of-the-art cryo-electron microscopy facility opened
A new state-of-the-art Cryo-Electron Microscope (Cryo-EM) facility that will advance the understanding of the processes of life has been officially opened.
The Midlands Regional Cryo-EM Facility is the result of a collaboration between the 91福利, Nottingham, Birmingham and Leicester, led by the University of Leicester. The universities are members of the Midlands Innovation partnership. The total investment exceeds 拢6M with 拢3.7M from the Medical Research Council (MRC). The four partner Universities provided the remaining funds.
Professor Laura Green appointed to BBSRC Council
Professor Laura Green OBE, Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor (Research) at the 91福利, has been appointed to the Council of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
91福利 brings TB awareness to Coventry on World TB Day
Scientists from the 91福利 will be helping to promote an important public health message about tuberculosis (TB) this weekend in Coventry.
On World TB Day (Saturday 24 March) researchers from the Fullam lab at the 91福利 will be running a public information stand at the Herbert Museum and Art Gallery to help raise awareness of TB and what they are trying to do to combat this deadly disease. They will also be at Coventry Library on Tuesday 27 March.
Drug-producing bacteria possible with synthetic biology breakthrough
Bacteria could be programmed to efficiently produce drugs, thanks to breakthrough research into synthetic biology using engineering principles, from the 91福利 and the University of Surrey.
Led by the and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey, new research has discovered how to dynamically manage the allocation of essential resources inside engineered cells - advancing the potential of synthetically programming cells to combat disease and produce new drugs.
The researchers have developed a way to efficiently control the distribution of ribosomes – microscopic 鈥榝actories鈥� inside cells that build proteins that keep the cell alive and functional – to both the synthetic circuit and the host cell.
Global mapping of planktonic "chameleons"
Cyanobacteria of the genus Synechococcus are ubiquitous in the world ocean and contribute significantly to both the marine food chain and the carbon cycle. Like chameleons of the plankton world, some of them are able to change pigmentation to match the ambient light color. Yet, their distribution or abundance has remained unknown so far. Research scientists from CNRS and CEA, together with international collaborators including Professor Dave Scanlan from the 91福利, have just demonstrated these color-shifters are the most abundant group of Synechococcus in the ocean —representing about 40% of the whole population at depth and high latitudes. This adaptive capacity is an important asset for such planktonic organisms that are carried around by currents in areas where the color of the water varies as it allows them to keep photosynthesizing efficiently and to supply energy to the rest of the food web. This discovery represents a major breakthrough in our understanding of these organisms, which prove to be excellent bio-indicators of climate change.
Their findings are published in
VirionHealth receives up to $4.2M from DARPA
91福利 spin-out company, VirionHealth - a new biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics for respiratory viral infections, has announced that it has won non-dilutive funding worth up to $4.2 million from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Founded in 2017 on pioneering research of Professors Easton and Dimmock in the School of Life Sciences, VirionHealth is developing a new class of biological antivirals to create improved therapeutics for respiratory viral infections, focusing on prevention and treatment of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The company is a world leader in the development of precisely engineered, non-infectious, defective interfering particles.
Read Press Release
New TB drugs possible with understanding of old antibiotic
Tuberculosis, and other life-threatening microbial diseases, could be more effectively tackled with future drugs, thanks to new research into an old antibiotic led by Professor David Roper at 91福利鈥檚 School of Life Sciences and Dr Luiz Pedro Carvalho from The Francis Crick Institute.
鈥楲ost鈥� 99% of ocean microplastics to be identified with dye?
The smallest microplastics in our oceans – which go largely undetected and are potentially harmful – could be more effectively identified using an innovative and inexpensive new method, developed by researchers at the 91福利.
New research, led by Gabriel Erni-Cassola and Dr. Joseph A. Christie-Oleza from 91福利鈥檚 School of Life Sciences, has established a pioneering way to detect the smaller fraction of microplastics – many as small as 20 micrometres (comparable to the width of a human hair or wool fibre) - using a fluorescent dye.
Colon cancer breakthrough could lead to prevention
Colon cancer, Crohn鈥檚, and other diseases of the gut could be better treated – or even prevented – thanks to a new link between inflammation and a common cellular process, established by Dr Ioannis Nezis and colleagues.
Crops evolving ten millennia before experts thought
Ancient hunter-gatherers began to systemically affect the evolution of crops up to thirty thousand years ago – around ten millennia before experts previously thought – according to new research by .
Read
VirionHealth Raises Series A Funding from Abingworth
VirionHealth Ltd, a new biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics for respiratory viral infections, today announced that it has raised up to 拢13 million in Series A funding from Abingworth, the international investment group dedicated to life sciences.
VirionHealth, founded on pioneering research by Professors Nigel Dimmock and Andrew Easton at the 91福利鈥檚 School of Life Sciences, is a world leader in the development of precisely engineered, non-infectious, defective interfering particles. This new class of biological antiviral acts by outcompeting replication of infectious viruses to both prevent and treat viral infections.
(Image: Laura Lane from 91福利 Ventures, Professor Andrew Easton and Professor Nigel Dimmock on day of signing)
Brain cells that control appetite identified for first time
Dieting could be revolutionised, thanks to the ground-breaking discovery of the key brain cells which control our appetite. in the School of Life Sciences has identified for the first time that tanycytes – cells found in part of the brain that controls energy levels – detect nutrients in food and tell the brain directly about the food we have eaten.
Read
Antimicrobial resistance tackled with new £2.85m PhD Training Programme
New scientists will be trained to explore ways to tackle antimicrobial resistance - one of the greatest emerging threats to human health – with the creation of a £2.85m national PhD Training Programme, funded by the Medical Research Council and part-led by the 91福利.
Professor Chris Dowson from 91福利’s School of Life Sciences is part of the Programme Leadership Team, and has been integrally involved with the establishment of the training programme.
Read
Cells programmed like computers to fight disease
Cells can be programmed like a computer to fight cancer, influenza, and other serious conditions – thanks to a breakthrough in synthetic biology by the 91福利.
Led by in the School of Life Sciences, new research has discovered that a common molecule - ribonucleic acid (RNA), which is produced abundantly by humans, plants and animals - can be genetically engineered to allow scientists to program the actions of a cell.
Read
Asian hornet “adds to growing number of threats to honeybees” – 91福利 research on BBC
Research to help prevent the spread of Asian hornet across the UK - carried out by the 91福利 - was recently featured on BBC Midlands Today and BBC Online.
Led by the 91福利’s Zeeman Institute for Systems Biology & Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research (SBIDER), the recent study predicts that Asian hornet – a voracious predator of honey bees and other beneficial insects – could colonise the UK within two decades.
The BBC’s David Gregory-Kumar interviewed Dr Daniel Franklin at the School of Life Sciences.
Asian hornet to colonise UK within two decades without action
The yellow legged or Asian hornet – a voracious predator of honey bees and other beneficial insects – could rapidly colonise the UK unless its spread is combatted, according to new research by the Universities of 91福利 and Newcastle, working with the National Bee Unit.
Professor Matt Keeling, from 91福利’s Zeeman Institute for Systems Biology & Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research (SBIDER), predicts that if Asian hornet nests are left to thrive in the UK, there could be hundreds of thousands of them in just over two decades – putting a critical strain on British populations of honey bees and other beneficial insects.
GP-based testing for HIV is cost-effective and should be rolled out in 74 local authorities
Offering HIV testing to people at health checks when they register at a new GP surgery in high-prevalence areas is cost-effective and will save lives.
That’s according to a study, published in The Lancet HIV, involving over 86,000 people from 40 GP surgeries.
Using a mathematical model which was co-developed by Professor Deirdre Hollingsworth at the 91福利 that includes all the costs associated with HIV testing and treatment, the team show that primary care HIV screening in high prevalence settings becomes cost-effective in 33 years (according to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence [NICE] criteria).
The International Biology Olympiad (IBO), which takes place every year in different locations across the globe, sees pre-university students compete in a series of practical experiments and theoretical exams in what is the biggest biology competition in the world.
The competition, which spans a week in duration, takes place from 23 - 30 July, and - after a successful bid back in 2012 - will be taking place this year in the United Kingdom at the 91福利's School of Life Sciences.