Warwick Health GRP: the application of novel technologies

An important focus of the Warwick Health GRP is the application of interdisciplinary approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of disease. This webinar will showcase three distinct areas of activity where novel approaches and technologies are impacting both basic and clinical research. The webinar will once again highlight the strength and breadth of the GRP and demonstrate how collaborative interactions within the university and with external partners can have real impact. We hope that you can join us for a stimulating webinar and an opportunity to engage with our researchers.

Friday 4th December 2020, 11am-12pm, MS Teams

Registration

The link will be sent out before the event. This session will be recorded.

Stopping CRISPR with Machine Learning

Assistant Professor Fayyaz Minhas, Computer Science Department

The ability to edit DNA through CRISPR gene-editing technology has had and will continue to have a profound impact on our lives - from cancer research to industrial applications. In collaboration with the co-inventor of CRISPR gene-editing technology and this year's Chemistry Nobel, Dr. Jennifer Doudna, we have developed a machine learning method to identify "anti-CRISPR" proteins that inhibit the action of CRISPR and can be beneficial in controlling its action. This talk shall present the story behind how this was achieved and how similar technologies can be developed for other problems in biology. For more technical details, the audience is referred to our paper: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaa219

Single cell RNA sequence study

Associate Professor Sascha Ott, Computer Science

Paediatric inflammatory multisystem inflammatory syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection (PIMS-TS) is a new disease with overlapping features of Kawasaki disease (KD) and toxic shock syndrome. Unbiased single cell RNA sequencing analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from PIMS-TS and KD patients shows monocytes are the main source of pro-inflammatory cytokines and large changes in the frequency of classical, intermediate and non-classical monocytes occur in both diseases.

https://warwick.ac.uk/research/rtp/bioinformatics/

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.06.20164848v1

Flavour-based-test for COVID-19: A pilot study

Professor Alan Chalmers, WMG

Testing is a key factor in the fight to control the spread of COVID-19. The partial/complete loss/alteration of taste and/or smell has been recognised as a symptom of the disease. Virtual flavour is an emerging field in Virtual Reality, that has been shown to recreate highly authentic real flavour experiences by delivering the precise combination of individual virtual flavour components (taste, aroma, mouthfeel) to a user.

A pilot study will shortly be undertaken at Hospital Cayetano Heredia in Peru to see if samples of three different simple virtual flavours can be used as an early detection method for COVID-19. Each of the three flavours has two samples, with a Just Noticeable Difference between one of the flavour components (sweet, vanilla aroma, oiliness). The virtual flavours will be given daily to healthcare workers at the hospital who have tested negative for COVID-19. If they subsequently fail to distinguish between any of the two samples, they will be tested for COVID-19 again.