Category: Society of Biology

Gain-of-function experiments: Putting meaning back into words

Professor Simon Wain-Hobson, professor of virology at the Institut Pasteur, will be speaking at Policy Lates on Thursday 20 November: Dodging a Biological Bullet: What can we learn from the US and Europe about biosecurity? The US pause and de facto moratorium on gain-of-function research on the influenza, SARS and MERS viruses provides a welcome opportunity for the virologists. It should not be wasted. First, we must put meaning back into words. Gain-of-function (GOF) was coined to efface the negative connotations of ‘Dual Use Research of Concern’. GOF is not a run of the mill experiment. It means deliberately selecting for viral variants so that the resulting strain is more dangerous for humans. This can mean stabilizing the virus making it more infectious, increasing its pathogenicity, or changing the transmission route of the virus. For example, the bird flu virus, H7N1, has been engineered so that it is very probably transmissible between…

Dual-use for Dummies

Dr Supatra Marsh, BBSRC Policy Fellow at the Society of Biology, is organising Policy Lates: Dodging a biological bullet – what can we learn from the US and Europe about Biosecurity? During my BBSRC science policy fellowship at the Society of Biology I have been organising the next Policy Lates event focussing on dual-use research. Just in case there are any of you out there that are asking the question ‘what is dual-use research?’ I have tried to write a beginner’s guide to dual-use and biosecurity; dual-use for dummies if you will! According to the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) in the United States, dual-use or dual-use research of concern (DURC) is defined as “research that, based on current understanding, can be reasonably anticipated to provide knowledge, products, or technologies that could be directly misapplied by others to pose a threat to public health and safety, agricultural crops and other…

Malaria control drains financial and human resources

Professor Robert Sinden is head of malaria cell biology at The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford. He will be speaking at the Biology Week Debate: ‘Malaria eradication – Can we do it? Should we do it?’ at the Royal Institution on Thursday 16th October. Together with HIV and tuberculosis, malaria imposes one of the highest health burdens on mankind. We must keep eradication as the key driver of our research. There are an estimated 25 species of malaria parasites described in primates. Around five of these species can infect humans, and all of these species are transmitted by 30-40 mosquito species. The majority of human disease and deaths are caused by just two species P.falciparum and P.vivax. In the 19th century half the world’s population were at risk of malaria and 1:10 died of the infection. In the 20th century, technologies targeting the mosquito vectors, such as housing improvements, bed…

Eradicating malaria: the evolution problem

Dr Tony Holder is Head of the Division of Parasitology at the MRC-National Institute for Medical Research, and has worked on malaria for nearly 35 years. He will be speaking at the Biology Week Debate: ‘Malaria eradication – Can we do it? Should we do it?’ at the Royal Institution on Thursday 16th October. There are many ways to try and combat malaria, and passionate arguments still rage around the pros and cons of targeting the mosquitoes that spread the malaria parasite, providing widespread and rapid access to drugs to treat the disease, or developing vaccines. Better housing and environmental improvements would also contribute to improving the lot of millions living in some of the poorest parts of the world where malaria is endemic. Indeed many of the arguments around control, as well as elimination and eventual eradication of malaria have a large political and economic component and…

What should we eat to save the planet?

Barbara Knowles is senior science policy adviser at the Society of Biology, and loves the landscapes, food and natural treasures created by traditional farming. Hardly a week goes by without another academic paper telling us to eat less meat, and to intensify agriculture sustainably to feed the growing population, protect biodiversity or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Almost invariably, these calls to save the planet irritate me because not all meat production systems harm the planet, some are an essential part of sustainable mixed farming systems. (I don’t single out this paper for criticism – it’s just the one that came to my attention this week.) When I read that we should eat less red meat, I want the author to explain the environmental, social, economic, health, welfare and ethical differences between different meat production systems. Yes, it’s complicated. But it isn’t helpful to over simplify this message….

Do you want the ‘best job in the world’? Consider science teaching

Sue Howarth, a senior lecturer in science education at the University of Worcester, talks about the challenges and joys of teaching, one of the career pathways that will be explored at Life Sciences Careers Conferences. I’ve been a science and biology teacher for most of my career and I’ve trained many graduates to become science teachers, so I’ve been there and got the t-shirt. Teaching can be the #bestjobintheworld (check this hashtag on Twitter and see how often teachers use it) as it brings numerous rewards. You get to influence young people and correct misconceptions, there will be many ways for you to engage in CPD (continuing professional development), which gives great opportunities to work with associations, such as the ASE, Society of Biology, and the Royal Society of Chemistry, in addition to using Twitter, blogs and teachmeets to find out more about teaching. Even as a trainee, you are likely to help look…

Pacifying Paxman

by Anthony Martinelli Over the course of my life, I have achieved a couple of things on which I reflect with a particular sense of pride. The most recent was an appearance on television last Monday evening, when I had the privilege of captaining my College’s team on University Challenge, a program I have watched for over a decade. Another took place back in 2008, when I was selected to represent the UK at the 19th International Biology Olympiad in India. These two formative experiences are not without their similarities: on both occasions I was part of a team of four students, both rewarded fairly esoteric knowledge and, most significantly, to me they both represented the joy of learning for sake of learning. Ultimately, despite the fact that I smiled quite rarely on camera, I can certainly claim that there are few feelings more satisfying than buzzing in…

Gulls acting strangely on flying ant day?

Gulls and other birds are often seen behaving strangely during flying ant season. Rebecca Nesbit (co-ordinator of the flying ant survey) discusses whether this could have anything to do with formic acid. Following the latest article in the Telegraph on gulls getting drunk on flying ants, it seemed time to share some of my research which never made it into the article. There are many reasons why gulls behaviour can be noticeable and, as I explained last year, they range from formic acid to botulism. There seem to be conflicting reports of gulls being ‘dozy’ and gulls being ‘boisterous’, which is a flaw in the drunk analogy: alcohol can induce both these behaviours in people, but it’s very unlikely that formic acid would be inducing both in gulls. There are lots of possible explanations for both behaviours. Boisterous is a common mind-set for gulls, and the feast that flying ant…

Sir David Hopwood – ‘designer’ of antibiotics

Gabriele Butkute, events and administrative assistant at the Society of Biology, writes about Sir David Hopwood, a scientist featured in the Biology: Changing the World top ten poll. Professor Sir David Hopwood, a British geneticist and microbiologist, carried out fundamental research into the genetics of the soil bacteria Streptomyces, an organism which gives rise to half the world’s antibiotics in use today. Ever since the discovery of penicillin in 1928, antibiotics have been one of the most widely used groups of drugs, and this has led to increasing antibiotic resistance. After graduating in botany from St John’s College, Cambridge in 1954, Hopwood chose to do a PhD in the Botany School at Cambridge in the field of microbial genetics, focusing on a group of soil bacteria called Streptomyces. This group of bacteria were known to be a very promising source of antibiotics as they had already been shown…