Life Sciences & Biology
Dr Mirjam Knörnschild – Bats In Translation
Dr Mirjam Knörnschild and her group at the Free University Berlin study the acoustic communication and social behaviour of wild bats to understand the evolutionary interplay of social and vocal complexity, the functional significance of culturally transmitted song...
Professor Allen J. Moore – Uncovering The Evolutionary Origins Of Parental Care
Parental care is relatively uncommon in the animal kingdom, and most young are left to fend for themselves at birth. However, parenting behaviours have evolved multiple times in the history of life and are seen in diverse groups of animals. In recent years, biologists...
Professor Paul Dent – A Versatile Antiviral Drug With Potential From Ebola To Hiv
Professor Paul Dent, of Virginia Commonwealth University, has conducted extensive research into the potential of AR-12, a small molecule drug, to act as a versatile antiviral agent. The drug exploits clever targeting of ubiquitous chaperone proteins, leading to...
Dr David Greenberg – The Genetics Of Epilepsy
Searching for disease-causing genes is no simple task. Dr David Greenberg has been studying the genetic determinants of inherited epilepsy for 30 years and explains how the search can be hampered by deeply ingrained, but incorrect, assumptions within the field....
The American Society For Biochemistry And Molecular Biology
Representing over 12,000 members worldwide, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) has been advancing the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology for the last 100 years. Over the next few pages we have had the pleasure of speaking...
Professor Seamas Donnelly | Dr Ciaran O’reilly – Translational Medicine: Fundamental Research, Drug Discovery And More!
Professor Seamas Donnelly and Dr Ciaran O’Reilly are currently working together in a cross-disciplinary team, uncovering the role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor in inflammation and cancer, and investigating promising small molecule therapeutic approaches....
The Biotechnology And Biological Sciences Research Council
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is one of seven Research Councils that work together as Research Councils UK (RCUK). BBSRC invests in world-class bioscience research, with the goal of tackling major challenges such as lessening the...
Dr Heiko Reutter – Studying Congenital Human Malformations Caused By Too Many Genes
Genetics researcher Dr Heiko Reutter and his colleagues at the Institute of Human Genetics of the University of Bonn, Germany, think that some congenital malformations of the uro-rectal area, oesophagus and trachea are caused by too many copies of genes that govern...
Dr Jing He – Using Advanced Computational Techniques To Derive Protein Structures From 3d Cryo-Electron Microscopic Images With Insufficient Resolution
Scientist Dr Jing He and her colleagues at Old Dominion University in Virginia use advanced computational techniques to interpret 3-dimensional electron microscopic images of frozen proteins to determine their 3-dimensional structures. The World of Molecular...
Professor Elizabeth Adkins-Regan – Social Behaviour In Birds: What Makes Them Tick?
Professor Elizabeth Adkins-Regan of Cornell University investigates the physiological mechanisms underlying social and reproductive behaviour in birds, including the life-long bonds formed by monogamous pairs, parental behaviours and the influence of parents on...
Professor Arlan Richardson – Growing Old Gracefully: The Science Behind Aging
Professor Arlan Richardson and his colleagues at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center investigate the biological mechanisms behind aging. Professor Richardson is specifically interested in the effects of aging and dietary restriction on gene expression,...
Rebecca Tallmadge, Phd | Maria Julia Bevilaqua Felippe, Mv, Ms, Phd – Antibodies, Epigenetics, And A Bit Of Hay
Dr Julia Felippe and Dr Rebecca Tallmadge of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine are attempting to understand the complex world of the equine immune system. We talk to them about their discoveries and plans. Imagine a gingerbread house, tall as a...
Dr Harald Putzer – Rna Metabolism: How Different Bacteria Reached The Same Conclusion In Their Own Ways
Dr Harald Putzer at the Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, France, investigates how bacteria regulate the expression of genes by degrading their transcripts with RNase enzymes, and how organisms separated by billions of years of evolution, figured out how to do it...
Professor Roger Koeppe & Professor Denise Greathouse – Designing Lipid-Bilayer Interacting Peptides To Better Understand Protein Function
Professors Roger Koeppe II and Denise Greathouse at the University of Arkansas design and study peptides that interact with model biological lipid-bilayer membranes. They are interested in understanding the protein-lipid molecular interactions that are responsible for...
Professor Joyce Van Eck – Improving Crops By Genetic Engineering And Targeted Genome Editing
Located at the Boyce Thompson Institute, an independent affiliate of Cornell University, the Van Eck lab explores novel methods for major crop improvement possibilities offered by a powerful gene editing method called CRISPR/Cas9. Portrait of a bioengineer Professor...
Professor Christine Theoret – The Horse As A Model For The Study Of Human Wound Healing Disorders
Professor Christine Theoret at the University of Montreal studies dermal fibroproliferative disorders in horses with the aim of reducing financial and welfare impacts on the equine industry. The results of her work may also be carried over to the field of human...
Dr Donald J. Vander Griend – Uncovering Genetic Pathways to Prostate Cancer
Dr Donald Vander Griend and his research team at the University of Chicago have devoted the last few years to investigating novel gene pathways which underlie prostate cancer development and progression, as well as the factors leading to treatment resistance and...
Professor Nathan E. Rank | Professor Elizabeth P. Dahlhoff – Exploring Evolution By Studying Beetles Living On The Edge
Professors Nathan Rank and Elizabeth Dahlhoff, along with their collaborators and students, explore the question of evolutionary responses to changes in climate by studying a small, native beetle that lives two miles high in the mountains of Eastern California....
Dr Corina Vlot-Schuster – The Seeds We Sow And The Grain We Reap
Much of the world’s population is dependent on just a few crops, with blight and disease an ever-present threat. Dr Corina Vlot-Schuster of the Helmholtz Centre Munich, after many years researching plant defences against pathogenic attack, aims to open the door to...
Professor Marc Bramkamp – Understanding How Bacterial Cells Organise In Space And Time
Professor Marc Bramkamp of the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany, is at the forefront of research into the growth, division and chromosome organisation of bacterial microorganisms. He uses state-ofthe art techniques, such as live cell imaging,...
Professor Paul Dent – Developing Cancer Killing Combinations
Professor Paul Dent is committed to taking an idea from the bench to the bedside. He is doing just that by designing clinical trials that investigate how drugs can combine and synergise to kill tumour cells. Maximising the potential of cancer treatments Professor Paul...
Professor Karl Forchhammer – Awakening Sleeping Bacteria
Professor Karl Forchhammer and his colleagues analyse how cyanobacteria can survive and recover from long periods of starvation. They use the model strain Synechocystis PCC 6803, a non-diazotrophic, unicellular cyanobacterium. When deprived of a nitrogen source, the...
Professor William W. Lytton – Uniting Biology And Maths To Understand The Human Brain
Neurologist and computational neuroscientist Professor Bill Lytton and his colleagues at the Neurosimulation Laboratory of the State University of New York in Brooklyn are using computer simulation to investigate brain function and disease. Their research has...
Dr Clare Kirkpatrick – The Toxin-Antitoxin System With A Few Tricks Up Its Sleeve
Dr Clare Kirkpatrick’s research has led to the discovery of a bacterial toxin-antitoxin system with unique features. This information can be used in future studies to identify novel molecular pathways in bacteria which can be targeted by new antibiotics. Antibiotic...
Professor Nita Sahai – Geochemical Beginnings: How Minerals May Have Played A Key Role In The Origins Of Life
Professor Nita Sahai, of the University of Akron, studies the geochemistry underlying protocell formation and evolution, with a view to understanding the origins of life. This fascinating research is applicable to understanding both how life started on our own planet,...
Dr Stefan Veltel – Dysregulated Cellular Migration: Seeing is Believing
Dr Stefan Veltel and his colleagues at the Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf in the Institute of Medical Microbiology, and Hygiene, study the molecular mechanisms of small GTPases in the context of various diseases. One protein in their focus is Rab21 and its...
Professor Rhodri Ceredig | Andreia Ribeiro – A Novel Assay For A Novel Therapeutic
Professor Rhodri Ceredig and his PhD student Andreia Ribeiro have developed a novel assay for measuring the immunosuppressive potency of MSC (mesenchymal stromal cells) that could revolutionise the use of this cell-based therapy How did your research experience...
Professor Naoko Tanese – Huntingtin: Its Role In Gene Expression
Professor Naoko Tanese and her research team at New York University School of Medicine investigate transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene regulatory pathways. Specifically, Professor Tanese is interested in identifying the post-transcriptional functions of the...
Dr Mathias Currat – Simulating genetic patterns in European human evolution
Click to read Share
Dr Patrice François – How Mutant Staph Jumped From Livestock To Humans
Dr Patrice François and his team at the Genomic Research Laboratory (GRL) have investigated a recently evolved staph strain that originates in farm animals and mutates into a pathogen adapted to humans. This pathogen can be found in human populations that have no...
Dr. Sharon Ruthstein – The Importance Of Copper In The Human Cell
Dr. Sharon Ruthstein researches the biological pathways involving metal ions, especially copper, by using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Spectroscopy. Here, she discusses the importance of copper in the human body and the implications for future diagnostic and...
The Small Business Administration
Small businesses are the creators of jobs and the driving force behind the US economy. Recognising this truth, the US government established the Small Business Administration (SBA) in 1953 in order to help Americans start and develop their own small businesses. As...