Life Sciences & Biology
Professor Ronald Erskine – Improving Milk Quality from the Farm to the Table
The US dairy industry has undergone major restructuring over the past couple of decades, with growing herd sizes and an increased reliance on labour from outside the family. These changes have brought about new challenges to prevent infectious diseases among cattle....
Dr Susann Fischer | Professor Thomas Becker – Brewer’s Yeast – Engineering Better Beer
Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast is the primary microorganism for making fermented beverages such as beer, wine and sake. However, ensuring efficient and high-quality fermentation requires the use of genetic engineering. Most consumers are opposed to the idea of...
PPM: Tailoring Cannabis to Create Medicine for the Masses
Cannabis is a plant that remains largely stigmatised, along with people who consume or condone it. However, Dr Andrea Holmes and her colleagues at Precision Plant Molecules are revealing the numerous hidden benefits of cannabis, when processed with precision....
Professor Wolf Singer – The Coordination of Neuronal Communication
More than a century of research in neuroscience has demonstrated that neurons and specific areas of the cerebral cortex are specialised in their function. For example, separate aspects of a visual stimulus (such as its colour, shape, and motion) are processed by...
Dr Gábor Balázsi – Rewiring DNA: Gene Circuits in Synthetic Biology
The futuristic field of synthetic biology has the potential to deliver exciting, innovative technologies – improved chemicals, materials, medicines, environmental solutions, and even smart biological devices – converging Mother Nature with human ingenuity. Dr Gábor...
The CucCAP Project – Harnessing Genomics for Disease Resistance in Cucumbers, Melons and Squashes
Watermelons, cucumbers and squashes represent a vital source of food worldwide, and their industries are worth billions. However, these important crops are being held back by a number of serious diseases. Through genomic studies, Dr Rebecca Grumet of Michigan State...
Dr Jae Ho Kim | Dr Stephen Brown – Can Tissue Damage Caused by Radiation Treatment Be Reduced?
Radiation therapy is a common treatment for cancerous tumours. However, radiation-induced tissue injury can be a serious side effect of treatment. Dr Jae Ho Kim and Dr Stephen Brown of Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, USA, have identified molecular processes associated...
Dr Douglas McNeel – Enhancing the Efficacy of Immunotherapeutic Drugs for Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is a leading cause of male cancer deaths worldwide, with one man in every seven likely to contract the disease during his lifetime. As late-stage prostate cancer remains a fatal disease resistant to conventional treatment, the need for effective new...
Dr Lei Cao – The Impact of Our Environment on Our Well-being
The human body is a bewildering set of interacting systems, a complex web of signals and pathways which are constantly adjusting to the conditions which we find ourselves in. Ground-breaking research by Dr Lei Cao, of Ohio State University, USA, is providing new...
Dr Elizabeth Ryan – Efficacy of Wholefoods for Health and Cancer Prevention
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. With up to 70% of new cases predicted to occur in the developing world, finding affordable and effective cancer preventive agents for global use is critical. Dr Elizabeth Ryan, from the Department of Environmental...
Dr Gary Williams | Dr Rodolfo Cardoso – Probing the Link Between Perinatal Nutrition and Puberty in Cattle
For almost two decades, Dr Gary Williams and his graduate students at Texas A&M AgriLife Research/Texas A&M University have worked to unveil the mysteries of puberty in young female cattle. With this research, Dr Williams and his former graduate student and...
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation promotes academic cooperation between excellent scientists and scholars from abroad and from Germany. To this end, it grants more than 700 research fellowships and research awards annually. These allow researchers from all over...
Worldwide Cancer Research
Worldwide Cancer Research is a UK-based charity, founded in 1979. It funds research into all types of cancer across the globe, specifically focusing on early-stage basic laboratory science aiming to provide the seeds of discovery which may ultimately lead to...
Dr Yi Li – Health Starts in the Cell: Approaching Obesity from the Inside Out
Over the last few decades, obesity has become substantial public health concern. Obesity is associated with a myriad of other ailments and is on the rise in most developed countries. As with many chronic diseases, the development of an obese body type is often more...
Professor Michael O’Donnell – The Incredible Ways of DNA Replication
For over 30 years, Professor Michael O’Donnell, based at the Rockefeller University in New York, has focused on the mechanisms involved in the duplication of genetic material in cells, a process known as DNA replication. Professor O’Donnell’s work spans from the early...
Dr Jerry Silver – Spinal Cord Damage and Emerging Treatments
Injuries to the spinal cord can cause permanent paralysis and even lead to death, with little to no hope of regaining lost functions once the trauma has occurred. Dr Jerry Silver and his team at Case Western Reserve University Medical School, USA, have been working to...
Professor Yubin Zhou – Let There Be Light!
Professor Yubin Zhou, from the Center for Translational Cancer Research at the Texas A&M University Institute of Biosciences & Technology, USA, is developing ways to use light to control cellular function. The researcher and his team are responsible for a...
Calder Biosciences: Engineering Solutions for Improved Vaccines
Designing better vaccines is the end goal for Calder Biosciences Inc., a company that has found a new way to engineer vaccines, ensuring greater stability, prolonging their duration in the body and thereby enhancing protection. Using a natural chemical reaction known...
Professor Thomas Bosch – The Metaorganism: The Microbiome and Its Host
A human body is not only composed of human cells – we are host to a multitude of microorganisms, without which we would not be able to survive. As such, humans, and all other organisms are truly metaorganisms composed of a host and a complex microbiome....
Dr Zhihua Jiang – RNA and the Key to the Diversity of Life
Over 90% of a mammalian genome is transcribed into RNA molecules, including both protein-coding and non-coding transcripts. Genes often produce one or more expressed isoforms. Dr Zhihua Jiang at Washington State University has developed novel next-generation...
Dr Charles Wray – Teaching the Genome Generation
Since the release of the first human genome, our understanding of genetics has grown significantly. However, keeping up with developments in the field can be overwhelming for students, and even teachers. Dr Charles Wray of The Jackson Laboratory has created a unique...
Professor Tony Moore – An Enzyme for the Future
Professor Tony Moore and his team at the University of Sussex are investigating the alternative oxidase. This enzyme provides an alternative route for molecular oxygen in the pathways of energy production that are often considered to be wasteful of energy but hold the...
Professor Charles Carter – The Evolution of Genetic Coding
The research of Professor Charles Carter, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA, unravels some of the biggest mysteries of molecular evolution. His research is dedicated to investigating how information flows from genes to proteins found in living organisms...
Orange Innovation: Creating Citrus Disease Resistance
Florida’s citrus industry is under threat from Huanglongbing (HLB, or citrus greening disease), a devastating plant disease. A collaboration between the University of Florida and the University of Connecticut aims to develop resistance to HLB in citrus plants, using...
Professor Jeffrey Becker – A New Method to Understand Cell Communication
The question of how cells communicate with their environment has long fascinated scientists. Typically, cells receive information from the outside through a group of proteins known as membrane receptors. For many years, these receptors have been the focus of...
Dr Stuart C. Sealfon – Using Mathematical Modelling to Predict Biology
With unprecedented advances in scientific research comes a growing body of data. Accurately interpreting these data is a significant obstacle to an improved understanding of biological systems and their behaviour during disease. To overcome this challenge, Dr Stuart...
Dr Thomas Wahli – Brown Trout & Its Parasite: A Complicated Relationship
The brown trout and Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae are two animals with a close connection: that of a host and its parasite. The brown trout represents an important native species in many parts of Europe for fishing activities. Thus, declines in brown trout...
Outcomes of Gender Summit 11, Co-hosted by NSERC
From November 6 to 8, 2017, more than 675 advocates of gender equity from across many different fields in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) took part in Gender Summit 11, in Montreal, Quebec. Co-hosted by the Natural Sciences and Engineering...
Dr Mark D. Ohman – New Perspectives on Marine Ecology: Technology Informs Oceanic Carbon Models
The world’s oceans are responsible for absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to mitigate its warming effect on the planet. However, the way in which marine ecosystems respond to temperature changes can impact the ocean’s ability to...
Dr Merari Feliciano-Rivera – Towards Sustainable Yam Production in Puerto Rico
Yams provide a staple food source in Puerto Rico, supplying an essential source of nutrients and fibre. However, pests and disease have been severely diminishing local yields. To tackle this problem, Dr Merari Feliciano-Rivera and her team at the University of...
Dr Lalit Pukhrambam – Targeting Thioredoxin-Interacting Protein: The Future for Treating Diabetic Retinopathy?
Diabetic retinopathy is one of the main causes of blindness in developed countries. Currently, there is no known cure. Dr Lalit Pukhrambam is working to change that. Along with his group at Wayne State University, he is investigating the influence that a molecule,...
Dr Anju Vasudevan – Linking Blood Vessel Development to Psychiatric Disorders
The research of Dr Anju Vasudevan, from the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital, focusses on the early development of blood vessels in the brain and how defects in this process may be associated with a diagnosis of neuropsychiatric...