Life Sciences & Biology
Professor William F. Marzluff – Histones: Tailless mRNAs
Professor William F. Marzluff and his colleagues at the University of North Carolina study the regulation of gene activity in animal cells. Specifically, they are interested in the regulation of gene expression during the cell cycle by postranscriptional...
Ada Hamosh, MD, MPH – OMIM® – The Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man Knowledgebase: A Wardrobe Full of Genes
The OMIM knowledgebase provides a map to the complex world of human genetics, linking genes and their associated traits in an easy-to-understand system that is an essential resource used by researchers and clinicians worldwide. A commercial and technological...
Dr Mollie Manier – How Female Flies Choose the Right Partner After Mating with Multiple Males
Research led by Dr Mollie Manier at The George Washington University has revealed how female fruit flies choose the right sperm to fertilise their eggs after mating with multiple males. Secondary sexual male ornaments are advantageous in acquiring mates and can...
Dr David Marcinek – Guiding Ageing Research into Maturity
Old age is a bigger part of life today than ever before, yet our ability to tackle age-related diseases is lagging behind our extraordinary leaps in lifespan. One of the many dedicated researchers delving into the ageing process is Dr David Marcinek, who is bringing...
Dr Diana P. Bratu – Real-Time Visualisation Of Mrna Regulation And Transport
Dr Diana Bratu’s laboratory utilises biophotonics to image the movement of mRNA and the proteins it interacts with during the development of the fruit fly egg, informing research ranging from the basics of mRNA transport to therapeutic development. The Importance of...
Dr Florence Bareyre – A Chordate with Destiny
Spinal cord injuries have garnered the dedication of countless researchers. Nevertheless, the path towards understanding and mastering neuronal repair in the central nervous system (CNS) remains more tortuous than even the tangled nerves themselves. It...
Dr Kristin M Aquilino | Professor Gary Cherr – Bringing White Abalone Back from the Brink
The white abalone snail has been overfished to the verge of extinction, but Dr Kristin Aquilino and Professor Gary Cherr at UC Davis hope to save the species by reintroducing their captive-bred population back into the wild. Threatened by Overfishing Although trying...
CAPRISA: Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa
The Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) was established in 2002 with a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant award. The organisation was created as a partnership between five institutions: University of KwaZuluNatal, University of...
The Galapagos Conservation Trust
Galapagos Conservation Trust (GCT) is the only UK registered charity to focus exclusively on the conservation and sustainability of the Galapagos Archipelago. Launched in 1995 at the Royal Society, GCT has supported a vast array of projects in Galapagos...
Dr Scott Carver – Conservation, Connections of Humans and Nature, and Unravelling a World of Infectious Diseases
Dr Scott Carver and his team at the University of Tasmania use a multidisciplinary approach to study the spread of disease within and among wild animals, their domestic counterparts, and humans. ‘No man is an island,’ says the poem, ‘entire of himself.’ It was...
Dr Leonard Bryan Coop – Cloudy, With A Chance Of Insects
The Integrated Plant Protection Center at Oregon State University is both a hub for research into agricultural pest management and the host of widelyused pest forecasting tools. Dr Leonard Coop and his co-workers plan to improve those tools even further. Should I...
Dr Nicolo Riggi | Dr Ivan Stamenkovic – Shining Light on Paediatric Cancers
Paediatric tumours often follow different developmental pathways than adult cancers, and may require different approaches to treatment for the best outcomes. Drs Ivan Stamenkovic and Nicolo Riggi work to unravel the mysteries of paediatric cancer by illuminating the...
Dr Irina S. Druzhinina – Using Mother Nature to Help Clean Up Mother Nature
Mycologist and Environmental Engineer Dr Irina Druzhinina and her colleagues at the Biochemical Technology Research Division of the Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Biological Engineering, TU Wien in Vienna, Austria, are looking for a compound to use in the...
Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Honor Society
Founded in 1886 at Cornell University, Sigma Xi is an international community of scientists and engineers dedicated to promoting excellence in research, enhancing public engagement with science, and fostering the next generation of researchers. Here, we have had the...
Dr Matthew D. Hirschey – Combatting Carbon Stress To Keep Cells Healthy
Aging is a complex process through which cumulative cellular wear and tear leaves us vulnerable to disease. One avenue for aging occurs when enzymes in our bodies break down food into energy. Dr Matthew Hirschey at Duke University aims to explain the biochemistry...
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
The national heart, lung, and blood institute (nhlbi) is one of 27 centers, institutes, and offices within the national institutes of health (nih). It was established originally as the national heart institute in 1948 with amission to support research and research...
Professor Reinhard Dallinger – Investigating Metals In The World’s Invertebrate Animals
Ecotoxicologist Professor Reinhard Dallinger and his colleagues at the University of Innsbruck in Austria look for ways to locate and measure environmental metal fluxes and pollution in non-model invertebrate and indicator organisms, like worms and shellfish. Looking...
Soapbox Science
Soapbox Science was founded as a public outreach platform for promoting women scientists and their research. Now in its seventh year, Soapbox Science takes female scientists out of the lab and onto the streets, to talk to the passing, unsuspecting public about...
Dr Diliana D. Simeonova – Deciphering Unknown And Unrecognised Phosphorus-Microbial Transformations
Dr Diliana D. Simeonova and her colleagues at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Microbiology in Sofia, Bulgaria perform research at the interface between geochemistry and microbiology – or simply geomicrobiology. Dr Simeonova and her colleagues are...
Professor Stephen Goff – Contagious Cancer Cells In Shellfish
Professor Stephen Goff of Columbia University studies transmissible cancer in shellfish. His interest in viruses and their role in cancer led him to initially research a potential viral cause for leukaemia that is present in shellfish. The cancer did not have a viral...
Professor Arthur Devries – Cold As Ice: Antifreeze Proteins In Polar Fishes
Professor Arthur DeVries of the University of Illinois is the discoverer of anti-freeze proteins in polar fishes, which enable them to survive and thrive in polar environments, where they would otherwise freeze to death. This unique adaptation forms a cornerstone of...
Professor Helmut Segner – Shrinking Fish Stocks: The Effect Of Environmental Sex Hormones On Immunity
The size of fish catches from rivers has reduced to alarming levels in many countries. Professor Helmut Segner of the University of Bern in Switzerland is studying the reasons why fish stocks might be dwindling. His research focusses primarily on the effect of sex...
Professor Gordon Taylor – Marine Microbes Shed Light On Our Changing Oceans
Climate change and anthropic interactions with the oceans are making marine habitats increasingly unsuitable for marine animal life. This is why researchers like Professor Gordon Taylor at Stony Brook University are working to understand the complex dynamics governing...
Dr Craig Albertson – Beyond Genetics
Dr Craig Albertson and his colleagues at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst conduct research in evolutionary developmental (evo-devo) biology. The team’s research focus is at the intersection of genes, development and evolution, using the craniofacial skeleton...
Dr Bettina Sonntag – Unseen Worlds: Microscopic Lake Plankton Fuel Food Chains And Befriend Algae
Dr Bettina Sonntag investigates ciliates – microscopic organisms living in freshwater lakes. As a senior scientist at the Research Institute for Limnology in Mondsee, Austria, Dr Sonntag leads a research team exploring how these single-celled protists interact with...
Professor Nicola Aceto – Fighting Metastatic Cancer One Clump Of Cells At A Time
Professor Nicola Aceto studies how circulating cancer cell clusters work with an eye on novel treatments for cancer patients with the most deadly disease—metastatic cancer. How did you come to work at the Cancer Metastasis Lab at the University of Basel, Switzerland?...
Dr Daniel Heath – Growing Better Salmon: Balancing Economics With Environmental Impact
Aquaculture – growing fish or other aquatic species in captivity – is an important strategy for meeting the increasing demand for seafood from a growing human population, while also preserving wild fish stocks. However, aquaculture can also have negative environmental...
The U.S. Department Of Agriculture’s National Institute Of Food And Agriculture
An exclusive interview with Dr Sonny Ramaswamy, the director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) As one of 18 agencies within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is the...
Professor Daniel Szymanski – Math Plus Biology: Building A Knowledge Base To Engineer Plant Traits
Novel research seeks to unravel one of the most complex mysteries of plant biology and pave the way toward better, denser crops, under the careful guidance of Professor Daniel Szymanski at Purdue University. Looking into Leaf Growth Trapped within a thick canopy...
Professor Daniel John Jackson – How Animals Fabricate Biominerals
Professor Daniel J. Jackson and his team at the University of Göttingen use snails and sponges as models to study how animals make biominerals, and to gain insight into how this ability first evolved. The cellular and molecular mechanisms that allow an animal to make...
Professor Suzie Currie – Coping With Stress In An Aquatic World
As high temperatures continue to set records around the globe, aquatic organisms are facing new environmental extremes. Freshwater and marine animals will either adapt to resulting changes in salinity, temperature and oxygen, or face mortality and possible extinction....
The Society For Developmental Biology – Choose Development! Increasing Diversity In Developmental Biology
The Society for Developmental Biology is successfully increasing the diversity of undergraduates wishing to pursue careers in developmental biology through a programme called Choose Development! Lack of diversity in science A 2011 report published by the National...