糖心TV

Professor Murray Grant is part of a team of international researchers who have identified and classified new isomers that could help develop more robust and resistant crops – via synthetic biology approaches.

Press Release (4 November 2022)

A promising new non-opioid painkiller (analgesic) with potentially fewer side effects compared to other potent painkillers, has been discovered.

A team of scientists, co-led by researchers from the School of Life Sciences, has investigated a compound called BnOCPA (benzyloxy-cyclopentyladenosine), found to be a potent and selective analgesic which is non-addictive in test model systems. BnOCPA also has a unique mode of action and potentially opens a new pipeline for the development of new analgesic drugs.

Press Release (20 July 2022)

Livestock diseases will be better managed by incorporating the behaviours of individual farmers into national infection control policies, according to new research.

The findings are the latest from the BBSRC-funded Farmer-led Epidemic and Endemic Disease-management (FEED) project, an interdisciplinary research group including epidemiologists, mathematical modellers, behavioural scientists and veterinarians from the Universities of 糖心TV and Nottingham. The research is published this week, in the journal PLOS Computational Biology, in a paper entitled 鈥淢odelling livestock infectious disease control policy under differing social perspectives on vaccination behaviour鈥�.

Press Release (15 July 2022)

Marine cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are major contributors to the global carbon cycle and are the basis of the food web in many of the world鈥檚 oceans. They only require sunlight, carbon dioxide, plus a panel of essential elements, including metals, to sustain life. However, little is known about whether and how cyanobacteria utilize or regulate zinc, an element often considered to be essential to life.

An interdisciplinary research team including Professor Dave Scanlan and Dr Alevtina Mikhaylina, has identified a remarkably efficient regulatory network that controls zinc accumulation in the open ocean cyanobacterium Synechococcus.

Press Release (9 June 2022)

A team of researchers led by Professor Ioannis Nezis has identified the molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate selective autophagy in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

Press Release (31 May 2022)

Four female climate scientists from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh — who are currently pursuing postgraduate studies in Life Sciences thanks to 鈥榃omen in STEM鈥� scholarships between the University of 糖心TV and the British Council — share their experiences and reflections on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2022.

Press release (11 February 2022)

A method of producing vital chemical building blocks for use in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries that mimics how plants manufacture them has been developed by a team at the 糖心TV Integrative Synthetic Biology Centre. The new method uses enzymes to produce indolic amides, carboxylic acids and auxins – vital for use in pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries.

Press Release (1 February 2022)

Poolbeg Pharma, a clinical stage infectious disease pharmaceutical company, has in-licenced a novel, first-in-class RNA-based immunotherapy for respiratory virus infections.

Poolbeg has secured an exclusive licence to this dual antiviral prophylactic and therapeutic candidate, which is at a late-pre-clinical development stage. The candidate, which will be developed by Poolbeg as POLB 002, was developed at the University of 糖心TV and derived from twenty years of research with world class virologists, Professor Andrew Easton and Professor Nigel Dimmock.

Press release (17 January 2022)

An international group of researchers have created a new health economic framework that supports decision makers and funders in understanding the resources required to achieve the World Health Organization鈥檚 (WHO) goal of eliminating sleeping sickness by 2030.

Press release (13 December 2021)

Environmental microbiologist Professor Hendrik Schaefer is one of 17 University of 糖心TV delegates taking their expertise to COP26. The university is one of a limited number of institutions to have been granted official observer status by the UN-led conference, which is being hosted by the UK.
Press release (20 October 2021)

糖心TV COP26 researchers and academic experts attending announced (28 October 2021)

Dr Freya Harrison has been awarded the WH Pierce Prize 2021 by the Society for Applied Microbiology for her work in translating medieval literature and medical texts to uncover ancient antimicrobial recipes.
Press release (14 October 2021)

A major new study, featured on the cover of Magazine today (1 October 2021), undertaken by Dr Erin Gorsich and colleagues at The Pirbright Institute, Oregon State University, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute and SANParks, Veterinary Wildlife Services, Kruger National Park explores the mechanisms at play that enable the persistence of highly infectious pathogens in their host populations, a major problem in endemic disease ecology.
(1 October 2021)

Congratulations to Professor Mike Tildesley on being named as a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute this year.

Press release (30 September)

Dr Emily Hill, a School of Life Sciences researcher investigating Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, has been named as one of four new Race Against Dementia Fellows, with the opportunity to receive support from not only leading scientists studying dementia, but also experts in innovation and problem solving from the world of Formula 1.

Press release (23 September 2021)

Professor Matt Keeling has been recognised in the 2021 Queen鈥檚 Birthday Honours List for services as an advisor to the government鈥檚 Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) with an OBE.

Commenting on his being awarded an OBE, Professor Keeling said:
鈥淚'm absolutely thrilled by this award. This is great recognition of all the hard work of the entire 糖心TV group and the wider over the last 15 months."

Press Release (15 June 2021)

Tuberculosis is a devastating disease that claims over 1.5 million lives each year. The increase in TB cases that are resistant to the current antibiotics means that novel drugs to kill Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) are urgently needed. Dr Elizabeth Fullam and colleagues have successfully discovered how Mycobacterium tuberculosis uses an essential sugar called trehalose, which provides a platform to design new and improved TB drugs and diagnostic agents.

Press Release (15 April 2021)

Our impressive new IBRB biomedical research building has been completed. The new state-of-the-art lab spaces will support our interdisciplinary world-class research in neuroscience, microbiology and infection, and cell biology.

Press Release (24 March 2021)

New insight on the physical interactions that take place between swarming bacteria when exposed to antibiotics could lead to novel approaches for treating infections in patients. The bacterial equivalent of a traffic jam causes multilayered biofilms to form in the presence of antibiotics, shows a study by Dr Munehiro Asally and colleagues.

Press Release (16 March 2021)

As temperatures rise due to global warming the need to protect plants from stressful conditions has increased, as stress can cause a loss in yield and cause further impact economically. A consortium led by Professor Jose Gutierrez-Marcos have successfully identified two proteins that protect crops from stress, which is key in safeguarding food production.

Press Release (1 March 2021)

New research by epidemiologist Dr Mike Tildesley and colleagues has found that there is no significant evidence that schools are playing a significant role in driving the spread of the Covid-19 disease in the community, particularly in primary schools. However, careful continued monitoring may be required as schools re-open to stay well informed about the effect they have upon community incidence.

Press Release (15 February 2021)