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“Sorry James, this is not my cup of tea”

Guest post by Dr James Revill, Research Fellow with the Harvard Sussex Program, SPRU, University of Sussex. The issues raised in James’ post will be discussed at our ‘Bioscience to Bioweapons’ Policy Lates event next Thursday, and on Twitter with the hashtag #PolicyLates. The strategic use of disease in warfare has been subject to a long standing and cross-cultural taboo that condemns the hostile exploitation of biology as the act of a pariah. In short, biological weapons are simply not cricket. However, such disapproval is not fixed but context dependent and remains malleable to engineered erosion by governments and other groups . This is a particular concern in light of the twin challenge posed by the changing capacity and geography of bioscience and the evolving perceptions of security, including the perceived rise of terrorism and new wars in the 21st Century, on the other. Such circumstances have been converging to once again…

Not by good intentions alone

Guest post by Tatyana Novossiolova, a Wellcome Trust doctoral candidate studying the governance of biotechnology in post-communist Russia at the Division of Peace Studies, University of Bradford. The issues raised in Tatyana’s post will be discussed at our ‘Bioscience to Bioweapons’ Policy Lates event next Thursday. In May this year, Science reported the creation of a hybrid between the H5N1 avian influenza virus, which has 60% mortality rate in infected humans but does not easily spread from person to person, and the H1N1 virus, which caused several thousand deaths during the 2009 global pandemic. In light of its limited practical utility, the experiment was denounced as ‘appalling irresponsibility’. Back in 2011, similar concerns were raised following the announcement that two teams working independently in the Netherlands and the US created contagious H5N1. Far from being isolated cases, those experiments epitomise the worrying trajectory that some bioscience research has taken over the…

Weird and wonderful species adapted to their hostile habitats

By Amy Whetstone, Qualifications and Skills Officer at the Society of Biology The yeti crab and axolotl are two bizarre but brilliant species that are rarely in the limelight, but I believe deserve to be. So broaden your animal lexicon and spread the word about these peculiar aquatic species, who have adapted to cope in the harsh and inhospitable conditions they inhabit. Yeti crab, Kiwa hirsuta. This pale eerie-looking crab is so named because of its long hairy arms. It has good reason, however, for its strange appearance, not least the inhospitable environment in which it lives. The yeti crab was first discovered in 2005 at a depth of over 2200 meters which explains it pale appearance; no sunlight penetrates this depth so there is no need for fancy colours. So deep in fact that it can only be reached by using an unmanned submersible. The next…

For better or worse: the dual use of biology

Guest post by Piers D Millett, Deputy Head of the Implementation Support Unit for the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) Unfortunately, biology has huge potential to be used as a weapon, most likely by deliberately instigating disease. As yet we have no sure fire way to maximise the benefits of biology whilst minimising any risks. I believe you are going to hear a great deal more about ‘dual use research of concern’ (DURC) over the next few years. In January this year, members of the international influenza research community ended a year-long self-imposed ban on research designed to make a bird flu virus spread from mammal to mammal. It is the most high profile recent example of DURC. The moratorium had been put in place “to explain the public health benefits of this work, to describe the measures in place to minimise possible risks, and to enable organizations…

Inspiring future generations (and feeding them)

People will fight passionately for medical advances, and indeed science has done a huge amout to save lives and reduce suffering caused by health problems. But the point was made at UK PlantSci 2013 that, ultimately, this is only valuable if we can feed people. I don’t think there is a single delegate at PlantSci who doesn’t have concerns about lack of funding for agricultural research, but there was an uplifiting session about tackling some of the problems facing plant science. I don’t mean climate change and population growth, but lack of skills, funding and understanding. If people don’t understand what plant scientists do or what they achieve, how can they be expected to value plant science? The UK Plant Sciences Federation was founded so we can work together on this kind of issue, and education is very high up the agenda. School children learn lots of facts, but…

No single answer – messages from PlantSci

This week I’m lucky enough to be at UK PlantSci 2013 in Dundee – the 2nd conference of the UK Plant Sciences Federation. The conference opened this morning with a keynote talk from Professor Charles Godfray, who spoke very convincingly about the need for food production to become radically more sustainable. At the moment, our food production system is compromising our future capacity to grow food. Professor Godfray, who is Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food at the University of Oxford, explained that we have to address the challenges of feeding 10 billion people in a new way. Not only will we have more people to feed, but also they will be richer. They will expect more varied diets, which require more resources to produce. Population growth and changing diets were a focus of his talk and he believes that these are both important…

MPs’ thoughts on academic career paths

From a potential ban on neonicotinoids to the importance of the EU, there were some provocative questions at last week’s Voice of the Future. There were many times when I had my preconceptions challenged by the MPs’ answers, and many issues I hadn’t stopped to consider. This Storify (below) sums up the debate brilliantly, and you can watch the entire event here, but I’ve taken the opportunity to share some of my thoughts, and look forward to your comments. Unsurprisingly, a major issue raised by young people was the career structure in academic science. Unlike most commercial settings, aspiring academics must do multiple short-term contracts after which many will never get permanent jobs in research. Universities and Science Minister David Willetts MP was keen to explain that there are reasons for the high number of PhD students relative to senior staff, including that the structure shouldn’t be too top…

Opening up policy

James Lush, Policy Manager at the Biochemical Society, discusses whether policy making is becoming more open The question “do we know what is desirable in open policy making?” was one of the opening gambits at the Experts, publics and open policy event held at the House of Lords on 15 January. Sir Roland Jackson, Chief Executive of the British Science Association (until April), said that broad participation is vital for openness in policy-making. But how can this be incorporated into the current processes without relying on anecdotes? And how do we know that the views of the people who are asked (or, more problematically, put themselves forward) are representative? There is, of course, more than one public. There are signs that government is becoming more open. For example, the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee is to start live tweeting some of its evidence sessions. Stephen McGinness, the Committee Clerk, has…

In praise of apprenticeships

by Rebecca Nesbit I was interested to hear an interviewee on the Today programme worried about the reluctance amongst many parents and schools to recognise the true value of apprenticeships. As someone who graduated prior to top-up fees, I often ask myself ‘if I was 18 now, would university still be the right thing?’, so I was curious to learn more about what apprenticeships are on offer in the life science sector. The range of biological science that apprenticeships cover includes environmental sciences, nanotechnology, genetics and the immune system. Opportunities include laboratory technicians, working on everything from environmental and medical science to fermentation. The ‘on the job’ training for these apprentices may include collecting and analysing samples, preparing cultures or specimens, managing laboratory supplies and equipment, setting up experiments, and recording data. Apprenticeships are clearly an excellent way to learn the practical skills employers need and the attitude needed…

Podcast: views after the #policylates debate

At the first #policylates debate, held on the 29th November at Charles Darwin House, the panel discussed whether or not the UK Parliament could do with more scientists. With the online poll initially showing 96% ‘yes’ votes, this was reduced to about 60% ‘yes’ amongst audience members by the end of the debate. The debate became rather heated at times, perhaps unsurprisingly between the Liberal Democrat Dr Evan Harris and the Conservative Dr Phillip Lee. Labour’s Chi Onwurah remained a professional chair throughout, only revealing her own views after the debate had closed. Haralambos Dayantis has produced a brief podcast from interviews with panellists and selected audience members, which will give you a flavour of the evening’s proceedings. Podcast credits: Haralambos Dayantis is the man behind the curtain, responsible for producing the podcast and helping co-ordinate the first #policylates event with the Society of Biology. Kaz Janowski…