News
Dr Matthew Jenner awarded BBSRC Future Leader Fellowship
Congratulations to Dr Matthew Jenner, Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry, who has been awarded a BBSRC Future Leader Fellowship. 
Full press release here
Alzheimer's discovery published in Science Advances
Peptide-mimetic metallohelices bind Alzheimer protein and extend life in an insect model
New Peptide Based "Antifreeze' for Cell Storage
The GibsonGroup report in a new macromolecular ‘antifreeze’ which improves the cryopreservation of cells
Timur Avkiran, a postgraduate researcher in the Department of Chemistry, has been awared an Industrial Fellowship by to design and synthesise small molecule drugs for improving Tuberculosis treatment.
GibsonGroup Science heads to Space!
On Saturday morning (east cost US time, Saturday night in UK), a team of students from Edgecombe Community College (Carolina, USA), in collaboration with NASA and NC space grant, will launch a student-lead high altitude baloon, including an experiment based on the innovative cryopreservation science.
The balloon will be launched to 60 to 100,000 feet, so high that the curvature of the Earth will be clearly visible. It will contain experiments to track movement, altitude humitity and more, but also 1 additional science experiment. The students, lead by Jillian Leary approached to ask if the GibsonGroup's unique ice-growth inhibiting polymers, inspired by Natures antifreeze proteins, could be included as an experiment to see how cells respond to the harsh high-altitude envirnoments. The polymers are design to stop ice crystals growing, and enables cells, which would otherwise need large volumes of toxic solvents to survive being frozen and stressed. This technology has the potential to revolutionise regenerative and transplantation medicine.
The launch will be streamed live on facebook
Read more here
EPSRC PhD Studentships
Several studentship opportunities for PhD study are available in the Chemistry Department of ÌÇÐÄTV University.
Collaboration with University of Virginia on blood plasma zinc dynamics
Collaborative work between the Blindauer group and the teams of Prof. Wladek Minor (University of Virginia), Dr Maksymilian Chruszcz (University of South Carolina) and Dr Alan Stewart (University of St. Andrews) has been highlighted in a press release entitled ““.
This relates to a recent joint publication which reports the first X-ray crystal structures of human and equine serum albumins bound to zinc. Serum albumin is the major carrier of zinc in the blood and is required for the effective systemic distribution of this essential nutrient. The new findings are published in the RSC journal Chemical Science. Full text of the open-access article is available .
Sensing Springtime
An antibody that senses one enantiomer of plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is characterised and by Marsh and Napier groups in Chemistry and Life Sciences in PLOS ONE.
with ÌÇÐÄTV Medical School and UHCW NHS Trust reveals new clues to widely prescribed therapeutics' actions in body. Simvastatin sodium salt and fluvastatin interact with human gap junction gamma-3 protein in Press coverage in
Insights on fibrils in Huntingtons disease
Collaborative work involving was published in . The study led (U. Pittsburgh) provides insights on structure and formation mechanism for huntingtin exon 1 fibrils implicated in Hungtington disease. Read more .