Message from BBSRC Executive Chair. As we approach the festive season, I invite you to join me in reflecting on some of the fantastic science stories from 2018 – behind each of the baubles on our Christmas reindeer is an example of the excellent research BBSRC has funded.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Right Honourable Lord Henley, announces funding for a major bacterial plant diseases research programme supported by UK Research and Innovation’s Strategic Priorities Fund. The first phase of this investment initiates a UK-wide consortium to prepare for the possible introduction and spread of the devastating plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa into the UK.
Professor Roslyn Bill, a biotechnology specialist from Aston University, shares her top five fantastic yeasts and where to find them. With its first noted use around 4,000 years ago (older than the Egyptian Sphinx but younger than Griffins), yeasts have been cultivated by humans.
The Earlham Institute (EI) will be part of the epic DNA sequencing project which aims to decipher the genetic code of 66,000 species in the UK, led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, as part of a global effort to sequence the genomes of all 1.5 million known species of animals, plants, protozoa and fungi on Earth.
The UK arm, known as the Darwin Tree of Life Project (DTOL), has officially launched in London alongside the global effort, the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP).
In partnership with BBSRC, The Royal Society of Biology hosted an evening reception at the House of Commons to celebrate the biosciences in parliament. Speakers included Stephen Metcalfe MP, Professor Julia Goodfellow and Professor Melanie Welham, BBSRC Executive Chair.
Scientists have determined the DNA code of the opium poppy genome, uncovering key steps in how the plant evolved to produce the pharmaceutical compounds used to make vital medicines. The discovery may pave the way for scientists to improve yields and the disease resistance of the medicinal plant, securing a reliable and cheap supply of the most effective drugs for pain relief and palliative care.
A new study led by scientists from the universities of Bristol and Bath has used a combination of genomic and fossil data to explain the history of life on Earth, from its origin to the present day. Palaeontologists have long sought to understand ancient life and the shared evolutionary history of life as a whole, but the fossil record of early life is extremely fragmented.
An international research team have uncovered the hidden genetic secrets that give wheat its remarkable ability for local adaptation - revealing a previously untapped resource for breeding better, more resilient wheat. The report, published in Genome Research, used a novel method developed by Earlham Institute.
A biological switch that reliably turns protein expression on at will has been invented by University of Bath and Cardiff University scientists. The switch enables control of genome editing tools that might one day regulate cascades of desired genetic changes through entire populations.
A new family of enzymes has been discovered which paves the way to convert plant waste into sustainable and high-value products such as nylon, plastics, chemicals, and fuels. The discovery was led by members of the same UK-US enzyme engineering team which, in April, improved a plastic-digesting enzyme, a potential breakthrough for the recycling of plastic waste.
Think of a miniature drone, and most of us picture a quadcopter. Recent years have seen an explosion in the range of applications for drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Dr Simon Carpenter, head of the Entomology group at The Pirbright Institute, swipes right on some stars of the insect dating scene. The weird and wonderful sex lives of our chitinous cousins have long held a fascination with both the public and entomologists.
UK scientists are a step closer to understanding the mechanisms of natural fungal infections that cause the ash dieback disease affecting European Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) trees across the UK and continental Europe. The research, funded by BBSRC, has shed light on the fungal infection process, by which the fungal pathogen first infects the host via ascospores, the sexual reproduction spores of the pathogen.
Scientists have produced pigs that can resist one of the world's most costly animal diseases, by changing their genetic code. Tests with the virus - called Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome, or PRRS - found the pigs do not become infected at all.
The discovery changes our understanding of the basic mechanism of photosynthesis and should rewrite the textbooks. It will also tailor the way we hunt for alien life and provide insights into how we could engineer more efficient crops that take advantage of longer wavelengths of light.
BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today news and current affairs programme will be broadcasting live from Aberystwyth University on Thursday morning 17 May 2018. Presenter Justin Webb will co-present the programme from Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Penglais campus in front of a live audience of 150 staff, students and local people.
Europe’s ash dieback epidemic could well have been caused by just one or two mushroom-like fruiting bodies of a fungal pathogen from Asia, according to a comprehensive genome sequencing effort published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. This leaves even the most resistant ash trees at threat from the introduction of just one more spore from East Asia.
For the first time, researchers led by Professor Munir Iqbal at The Pirbright Institute have been able to insert protective avian influenza virus genes into the DEV vaccine virus by using a method of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing that allows higher rates of gene insertion. This makes the process more efficient and the resulting vaccine virus is able to protect ducks against both DEV and avian influenza.
A cheap, safe and effective method of dealing with harmful algal blooms is on the verge of being introduced following successful field and lab tests. Moves to adopt use of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as an effective treatment against toxic algae are already underway following the results of new research by a team from the John Innes Centre and the University of East Anglia (UEA.)
The role of the placenta in healthy fetal development is under-appreciated according to a new paper published today (14 March). The paper available in the journal Nature, reveals a how 103 genetic mutations in mice cause embryos to die before birth. The results showed the majority, almost 70%, cause defects in the placenta.
Scientists at The Pirbright Institute were awarded $2.66 million as part of a research project led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology in DARPA's Safe Genes programme. The programme aims to gain a fundamental understanding of how gene editing technologies function, address potential health and security concerns relating to accidental or intentional misuse of the technology and determine how they can be used safely, responsibly and predictably for global benefit.
Biologists at the Universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh have discovered why some crows ‘craft’ elaborate hooked tools out of branched twigs. The new study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution (22 January), explores why crows go the extra mile rather than using simple, unmodified sticks to extract prey - it allows them to get at hidden food several times faster than if they used basic (non-hooked) tools.
Scientists at the University of Dundee have discovered that E. coli bacteria could hold the key to an efficient method of capturing and storing or recycling carbon dioxide. Cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to slow down and even reverse global warming has been posited as humankind’s greatest challenge.
