News 2018

Efforts to protect the UK's native honey bees could be helped by research that maps their entire genetic make-up.

Julie Welburn, Senior Research Fellow in the Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology at the School of Biological Sciences, is the recipient of an EMBO Young Investigator award.

Malaria parasites know good times from bad and plan their offspring accordingly, scientists have found, in a development that could inform new treatments.

Discovery of a gene that helps plants control their response to disease could aid efforts to develop crops that are resistant to infection, research suggests.

A new way of identifying potential cancer drugs could streamline the development of therapies, following a discovery by scientists.

Professor Aubrey Manning, a leading authority on animal behaviour, has died aged 88.

The extraordinary flying ability of dandelion seeds is possible thanks to a form of flight that has not been seen before in nature, research has revealed.

A University scientist has been honoured for her work in developing human eggs in the laboratory.

Research on plants grown outdoors has revealed new activity of a key gene that controls when flowers appear.

Two variants of an autoimmune disease that affects thousands but is hard to diagnose are relatively common among black Africans, research shows.

Applications are invited from early career individuals of the highest potential and attainment who have begun to establish a reputation for the excellent and innovative research and teaching at the forefront of their discipline.

Animals who share the task of parenting do a better job than parents who do so on their own, according to a study of insects.

Sir Adrian Peter Bird, Buchanan Professor of Genetics, and William Hill, Emeritus Professor of Animal Genetics have received prestigious medals from the Royal Society.

Animals that are inbred make mistakes in response to changes in their surroundings, which threatens their survival, research has found.

Plants make drastic changes to their biology to survive the changing seasons. Yet we know little about how they do this - despite the important clues it could give us on how plants adapt to harsh environments. It is only by studying a long-known anomaly in patterns of gene expression, that we discover one answer has been there all along.

A group of men who may be underestimating their HIV risk has been identified in a new study.

Jean Beggs, Professor of Molecular Biology in the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology at the University of Edinburgh, has been honoured with the RNA Society’s 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award

Scientists have shed light on a key aspect of healthy cell division, helping build a clearer picture of the complex mechanisms involved.

With iGEM season well underway, we again are supporting two teams to ask questions and find solutions in synthetic biology.

Keith Matthews, Professor of Parasite Biology, has been elected to join the prestigious Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

A Sci-Screen event provided a light-hearted backdrop for Centre members to engage the audience of Edinburgh Skeptics in a more serious dialogue about science, its representation and its communication. And what could have been more appropriate than the hilarious ‘Young Frankenstein’ (starring Gene Wilder) in what is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein.

If you want to control your parasite infection, the time that you eat may be the answer. A new study has found that the time of day that hosts eat affects the daily activities of their malaria parasites.

Many people of African heritage are protected against malaria by inheriting a particular version of a gene, a large-scale study has shown.

The hatching of woodland birds is falling out of sync with availability of insects on which they feed as springs become increasingly warmer, research shows.

A disease that has devastated ash trees across Europe developed from just one or two sources of fungus on imported ash trees, a large-scale genetic study shows.

Infants in some of the world’s poorest regions are vulnerable to a common worm parasite infection and their treatment should become a priority, according to a study.

Susan Rosser, Professor of Synthetic Biology, a joint appointment between the School of Biological Sciences and School of Engineering, is the recipient of a prestigious Chair in Emerging Technologies, designed to support global research visionaries.

It is perhaps one of the greatest health triumphs in modern history. In many parts of the world, our remarkable progress in eradicated intestinal parasitic worms has relieved millions from misery and chronic ill health.
But many societies that have been successful in eradicating parasitic worms have found themselves burdened with an increasing number of inflammatory disorders like hay fever, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease and eczema.

Seabirds may struggle to find food for their chicks as they are unable to shift their breeding seasons as the climate warms, a study suggests.

The development of a more versatile, simple and efficient DNA assembly kit will offer researchers unlimited ways of building complex molecular constructs by combining different DNA parts.

Funding to understand how bacteria swim to stay alive could lead to the development of bacterial ‘biosensors’ to help the U.S. Navy navigate at sea.

Animals that carry a physical impediment can work harder to rear their young as a result, a study of insects has shown.

Malaria infections might be brought under control by managing the eating habits of infected people or animals, according to a new study.

The University of Edinburgh is an exciting, vibrant, research led academic community offering opportunities to work with leading international academics whose visions are shaping tomorrow’s world.

Human eggs have been fully grown in a laboratory, in a move that could lead to improved fertility treatments.

Francisca Mutapi, Professor of Global Health Infection and Immunity in the School of Biological Sciences, has received the Chancellor’s Award for Impact.

New insights into the unusual way in which lice reproduce could be key to managing outbreaks of the common pest.

Scientists have discovered why some crows craft elaborate hooked tools from branched twigs.

It has been a biological mystery for over 100 years and stimulated fierce debate amongst scientists. How do cells package long, tangled strands of chromosomes into tightly compact structures before cell division. A remarkable new study published in Science has revealed the answer. Professor Bill Earnshaw explains how he tackled this problem and why collaboration was the key to success.

Exotic pine tree species planted next to native Scots Pine forests should be removed to limit the risk of disease to native trees, new research suggests.