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.
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.
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.
