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Chemical memory in plants affects chances of offspring survival

Professor Jose Gutierrez-Marcos and an international team of researchers have uncovered the mechanism that allows plants to pass on their ‘memories’ to offspring, which results in growth and developmental defects.

Press Release (1 December 2020)

Tue 01 Dec 2020, 10:29 | Tags: Publication Press Release Research Faculty of Science

Warwick scientists design model to predict cellular drug targets against Covid-19

A computational model of a human lung cell has been used to understand how SARS-CoV-2 draws on human host cell metabolism to reproduce by Dr Hadrien Delattre and Professor Orkun Soyer. This study helps understand how the virus uses the host to survive, and enable drug predictions for treating the virus to be made.
Press Release (25 November 2020)

Wed 25 Nov 2020, 13:16 | Tags: Press Release Research Faculty of Science

Diabetic drug could slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease

A hallmark of Parkinson's disease is the degeneration of a group of neurons in the brain that release the neurotransmitter dopamine (dopaminergic neurons). By introducing low concentrations of structurally-defined aggregates of alpha synuclein, a key toxic species in Parkinson’s disease, into single dopaminergic neurons, Emily Hill and Dr Mark Wall have shown these protein aggregates open a specific channel in the cell membrane, reducing neuronal excitability.

Press Release (24 November 2020)

Wed 25 Nov 2020, 13:12 | Tags: Press Release Research Faculty of Science

Breakthrough in studying the enzyme that ultimately produces fish odour syndrome

Fish odour syndrome (trimethylaminuria) is a debilitating disease, in which the liver cannot break down the smelly chemical trimethylamine which is produced by enzymes from bacteria residing in the gut leaving people with a fish like odour. Dr Mussa Quareshy and colleagues are paving the way to prevent the syndrome after a breakthrough in studying the enzyme in the gut which produces trimethylamine.

Press Release (23 November 2020)

Mon 23 Nov 2020, 10:49 | Tags: Press Release Research Faculty of Science

Understanding lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis

For young people with cystic fibrosis, lung infection with Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, is common and is treated with antibiotics in the hope that this will prevent a decline in lung function. However there has recently been debate over the role S. aureus plays in CF lung disease. Dr Esther Sweeney, Dr Freya Harrison and colleagues have used a new model of CF lungs which could be used to make better decisions about future use of antibiotics.

Press Release (19 November 2020)

Thu 19 Nov 2020, 16:52 | Tags: Publication Press Release Research Faculty of Science

Chemical clues in leaves can reveal ash tree resistance to deadly disease

Dr John Sidda, Professor Murray Grant and colleagues, have identified a group of chemicals present in ash leaves which could be used as biomarkers to look for susceptibility or resistance to ADB.

Press Release (11 November 2020)

Wed 11 Nov 2020, 11:16 | Tags: Press Release Research Faculty of Science

Genetic mutation may hold answers to controlled breathing

The relationship between the Cx26 gene and ability to regulate Carbon dioxide is to be explored by Professor Nick Dale thanks to a £686,956 grant, from the BBSRC.

Press Release (13 August 2020)

Thu 13 Aug 2020, 12:13 | Tags: Press Release Research Faculty of Science

Natural way to boost crop yield to be explored by Warwick Scientists

LegumesAn innovative way to increase plant yield naturally, reducing the need for expensive fertilisers is being explored by Dr Miriam Gifford, Dr Isabelle Carré and colleagues, thanks to a £492,343 grant from the BBSRC.

Press Release (12 August 2020)

Wed 12 Aug 2020, 09:45 | Tags: Press Release Research Faculty of Science

Breakthrough in studying ancient DNA from Doggerland that separates the UK from Europe

Professor Robin Allaby and colleagues have achieved a number of innovative breakthroughs in analysing sedimentary ancient DNA to reconstruct an 8,150 year old environmental catastrophe in an area that is now covered by the North Sea.

Press Release(16 July 2020)

Thu 16 Jul 2020, 14:47 | Tags: Publication Press Release Research Faculty of Science

UKRI fellowships awarded to Life Sciences Academics

Two academics from Life Sciences have been awarded a UKRI Future Leader Fellowship.

  • Dr Byron Carpenter for his project titled: Developing a synthetic signalling system capable of the precise spatial and temporal control of protein function in living cells.
  • Dr Erin Connelly for her project: Datamining medieval medical texts for modern medicines.

The fellowship scheme is awarded to the best researchers in the UK, keeping research and innovation in the UK world class.

Press Release

Thu 23 Apr 2020, 10:38 | Tags: Press Release Research Faculty of Science

Warwick Researchers to provide COVID-19 Intervention Modelling for East Africa (CIMEA)

James NokesA £1m grant from the Wellcome Trust has enabled researchers to work with East African countries in their emergency preparations for COVID-19 as the pandemic spreads across Africa. Press Release

Professor James Nokes comments:
'We hope that by closely combining our efforts with in-country expertise in modelling, epidemiology, health economics and systems and vulnerability mapping we can develop models appropriate to each setting with results that will immediately feed into the policy making process to have the greatest impact.'

Mon 20 Apr 2020, 15:06 | Tags: Press Release Research Faculty of Science

Microbial interactions in aquatic environments to be investigated

Prof Orkun SoyerThe microbes found in aquatic environments and their interactions will be investigated by Warwick researcher Professor Orkun Soyer, thanks to an investigator award from The Gordon and Betty Moore foundation.

Press release

Wed 11 Mar 2020, 15:53 | Tags: Press Release Award Research Faculty of Science

Check your pulses

Eric HolubThe Knowledge Centre look at research by Professor Eric Holub into new haricot bean varieties which are suitable for growing in the UK climate.
Read the article

Fri 07 Feb 2020, 13:20 | Tags: Research Faculty of Science

The Vegetables of Christmas Future

If you think about a traditional Christmas dinner, there’s turkey with pigs in blankets, or maybe you prefer a nut roast. But the rest is vegetables. A large proportion of our plate should be covered in vegetables, and the standard winter varieties, like carrots and sprouts, are grown very successfully in the UK.

But will this always be the case? Climate change is bringing with it new challenges as well as making known pests and diseases more difficult to tackle. Scientists at Warwick's Crop Centre, are working to understand the pests and diseases of the some of the UK’s major crops and developing, using traditional plant breeding and genetic expertise, new resistant varieties.

Knowledge Centre article

Mon 16 Dec 2019, 15:47 | Tags: Crop Centre Research Faculty of Science

Going viral: What are bacteriophages and how can they help us?

BacteriophageAntibiotics are going to stop working. Bacteria are developing resistance to the drugs we have to treat them and there is no doubt that without action getting an infection or having surgery is going to get a lot more risky. With a global health crisis on our hands, scientists across the world are now trying to find alternatives to the drugs which have kept us alive for the past decade.

One possible solution is the use of bacteriophages.

Dr Antonia Sagona is working on understanding how phages fight infections.

Read Knowledge Centre article

Tue 03 Dec 2019, 14:57 | Tags: Research Faculty of Science

The real Frozen: What can we do with ice?

Dr Hendrik Schafer and colleagues are looking at the microbial cycling of trace gases in sea ice as part of an international research programme called MOSAiC.
Read Knowledge Centre article

Fri 29 Nov 2019, 13:10 | Tags: Research Faculty of Science

Academic job opportunity: Associate Professor or Professor of Infection Microbiology

Applications are invited for an Associate Professor or Professor of Infection Microbiology to join our vibrant research and teaching community in the School of Life Sciences.

We particularly encourage applications from candidates who complement existing strengths in the School and who will lead research in the areas of laboratory based antimicrobial resistance and anti-infective discovery, the human microbiome, host-pathogen interactions and immunology, microbial genetics and chemical biology approaches to address human and animal infection.

Job description

Mon 11 Nov 2019, 10:51 | Tags: Vacancies Teaching Research Faculty of Science

Great Wall Symposium 2019

Group photo of delegates attending the Great Wall Symposium

Bacterial cell biology researchers from across the world gathered at The Pasteur institute in Paris at the end of September to attend the 6th biennial Great Wall symposium organised by Professor David Roper and Professor Ivo Boneca (Pasteur). This three day meeting on all aspects of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis was attended by just under 200 interdisciplinary researchers on all aspects of bacterial cell wall microbiology.

Dr Adrian Lloyd from SLS provided an invited talk on his recently submitted research on 'Substrate and stereochemical control of cell wall crosslinking by E. coli PBP1B' as well as a posters from a number of Warwick PhD students from SLS and WMS.

Wed 09 Oct 2019, 09:59 | Tags: Conference Research Faculty of Science

Videos from First Labcut Workshop

Labcut logoFunded by the Wellcome Trust and Warwick Quantitative Biomedicine Programme (WQBP), LabCut is a science film workshop run by SynBio CDT PhD students Cansu Kuey, Charlotte Gruender and Patrick Capel. The five films created during the inaugural workshop are now available to be viewed and will be screened during the British Science Festival in September. Find out more

Tue 20 Aug 2019, 15:05 | Tags: Video Research Faculty of Science

National livestock movement bans may prove economically damaging

CowNew research led by Dr Mike Tildesley has pioneered an economic perspective on controlling livestock diseases. Focusing on Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), bovine TB (bTB) and bluetongue virus (BTV), the researchers draw striking conclusions about the role of movement bans in controlling an outbreak.

Press Release

Mon 19 Aug 2019, 16:43 | Tags: Press Release Research Faculty of Science

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