BBSRC - News stories and features

Call for membership of BBSRC Strategy Advisory Panels, deadline 2 March 2012

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 14:42:51 +0000

BBSRC is looking to appoint high calibre, committed individuals from the academic and industrial sectors to potentially increase the membership on our Strategy Advisory Panels by between 2 and 4 members in the following areas:
Basic bioscience underpinning health
Exploiting new ways of working
Food security
Industrial biotechnology and bioenergy

Chief Executive's blog: Unilever, Institutes, TSB and Foo

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 08:32:56 +0000

The first external visit of the week was to Unilever’s research laboratory at Port Sunlight. As a company with interests in food, health and healthcare, and with a published intention to move towards full sustainability of its value chain by 2020, it was not surprising to see that their strategic interests map closely onto our own.

Scientist warns of new MRSA threat

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 11:45:05 +0000

An MRSA expert from the University of Bath has warned that a new, more toxic strain of the disease poses a serious threat to people in Britain as it migrates from the United States.

Changes to the BBSRC website

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 09:41:30 +0000

The design of our website has stayed nearly the same for over 4 years. We will shortly be making a few changes. Unlike in 2007 when we conducted a major redesign of the whole site including an audit of all content, a complete restructure and a new design across the site, this time we are simply giving a new modern look to the home page and the Our Impact section at www.bbsrc.ac.uk/impact. You will, however, notice a new header and footer across the whole site.

Study asks whether the equine industry needs a biobank

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 16:50:16 +0000

Laura Corbin is a final year PhD student at The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh. She is working with the British Equestrian Federation to establish whether or not an equine biobank is needed to enable the horse industry to make the most of advancing genomic technologies in order to combat disease.

Event: Clostridium XII, 10-12 September 2012, The University of Nottingham

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 09:51:20 +0000

International conference on the genetics, physiology and biotechnology of solvent- and acid-forming Clostridia.

Cutting off the oxygen supply to serious diseases

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:50:01 +0000

A new family of proteins which regulate the human body's 'hypoxic response' to low levels of oxygen has been discovered by scientists at Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary, University of London and The University of Nottingham.

Protein study gives fresh impetus in fight against superbugs

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:37:50 +0000

Scientists funded by BBSRC have shed new light on the way superbugs such as MRSA are able to become resistant to treatment with antibiotics. The researchers have mapped the complex molecular structure of an enzyme found in many bacteria. These molecules - known as restriction enzymes - control the speed at which bacteria can acquire resistance to drugs and eventually become superbugs. The study, carried out by an international team including scientists from the University of Edinburgh, focused on E. coli, but the results would apply to many other infectious bacteria.

New international standards to aid data sharing

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:21:31 +0000

Led by researchers at University of Oxford (UK) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) at Harvard University, (USA), more than 50 collaborators at over 30 scientific organizations around the globe have agreed on a common standard for integrating biological data sets. This will make it possible to consistently describe the enormous and radically different databases that are compiled in the biosciences in fields ranging from genetics to stem cell science, to environmental studies.

Chief Executive's blog: Warwick, BioIndustry, JISC and outreach

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:35:22 +0000

Last week began with a visit to discuss Life Sciences and related topics at the University of Warwick, which also included discussions of horticulture, as part of the Warwick Crop Centre. Horticulture is a somewhat unheralded UK success story, in that it has had little investment, is rather profitable, and its products are widely recognised as having considerable health benefits. The application of modern biology to understanding and improving horticultural crops can only assist this continuing process.