WISB-Admin – Page 3

Slime Mold, Mazes and Microscopes

WISB was part of the University of Warwick’s Faculty of Science stand at the Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair, 16-19 March 2016.

Held at the NEC, The Big Bang Fair is an award-winning combination of exciting theatre shows, interactive workshops and exhibits, as well careers information from Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) professionals.

Alongside University of Warwick staff and students from Physics, Life Sciences, Engineering and Chemistry, WISB members have been at the Big Bang Fair talking to children, young people, parents and teachers about the fascinating life of a slime mold.

Visitors were able to view the slime mold under a microscope and see how its external memory enables it to respond to light, heat, gravity and chemical (food) stimuli. It’s so adept at finding food, it will even solve a maze to reach a target nutrient!

Our stand volunteers also gave out more than 100 ‘grow your own’ kits to schools so that they can set up their own experiments to test the slime mold’s external memory abilities.

WISB @ The Big Bang Fair

Slime mold, mazes and microscopes..

WISB is part of the University of Warwick’s Faculty of Science Stand at this years national ‘Big Bang Fair’ held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

Visit our outreach page to find out more about the event and other activities.

WISB Microscopy Suite Now Operational

The arrival of two new widefield fluorescence microscopes heralds the launch of the WISB microscopy suite. The further addition of a spinning disk confocal laser microscope later this month will complete the suite and means that our researchers can undertake live cell imaging and time-lapse microscopy.

Discussion Meeting: How safe is pathogen research?

John McCarthy gave an invited presentation at a Discussion Meeting of the Parliamentary & Scientific Committee in Westminster on February 23rd 2016. The overall theme of the meeting was ‘How safe is pathogen research?’. The presentation considered whether synthetic biology could influence the potential risks associated with pathogen research. A summary of his talk will be published in the journal Science in Parliament later this year.

The event is described on the Royal Society of Biology blog

Synthetic Biology, From Standard Biological Parts to Artificial Life

Speakers at the Barcelona conference on Synthetic Biology, From Standard Biological Parts to Artificial Life. This took place at the International Centre for Scientific Debate (CaixaForum) in Barcelona, September 17-18 2015, and was supported by the “la Caixa” Foundation.

Four members of WISB (McCarthy, Jaramillo, Bates, Asally) took part in this international conference, which also featured representatives of four of WISB’s international partners:
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, University of Sao Paulo Biomass Systems & Synthetic Biology Centre (BSSB), Boston University Biological Design Centre, Tartu University Institute of Technology.

Gold Medal for Warwick iGEM Team

Congratulations to the 2015 Warwick iGEM Team who were awarded a gold medal at this year’s international iGEM Jamboree. The The team worked hard during the Summer to develop their idea for a new synthetic biology tool for use in bioengineering and travelled to Boston in September to present their project alongside over 250 other student teams. Please visit the iGEM page to read more about the iGEM competition and the Warwick 2015 ‘Brixells’ project.

Development of WISB Technology Platforms

The past few months have seen significant changes to the WISB laboratories. Dr Sarah Bennett, WISB Facilities Manager, has overseen the purchase and installation of several state-of-the-art equipment including cell sorter, Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and Surface Plasmon Resonance instruments. This provides a fantastic opportunity for WISB Academics and Post-Doctoral researchers to develop both their research and skills.

Funding to Build on Existing WISB Partnerships with São Paulo, Brazil

Funding announced in July 2015 by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) will enable WISB researchers to develop existing collaborations with the Biomass Systems and Synthetic Biology (BSSB) center in Brazil. The funding will facilitate research exchanges and workshops between the two Centres over the next 2 years. The project is one of 21 to receive funding under the FAPESP ‘Sao Paulo Researchers in International Collaboration’ funding call.

Major Research BBSRC/EPSRC Funding Award for WISB

In January 2015, Vince Cable, the Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills announced a five-year £12 million grant funding award for Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology centre (WISB). This investment comes from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under the Research Councils’ Synthetic Biology for Growth programme.

“We are delighted to receive this strategically important UK Synthetic Biology Centre Award. Synthetic biology has huge potential to generate valuable processes and products for biotechnology and medicine, as well as new understanding of the fundamental principles that underpin living systems. WISB is building a globally recognized presence as a centre of excellence in research and training in Synthetic Biology, and this grant from BBSRC and EPSRC will help us enormously in achieving our goals.” John McCarthy, WISB Director

Photo: Left to Right – Professor Jamie Davies, SynthSys Edinburgh; Professor John McCarthy, WISB; Rt. Hon. Dr Vince Cable, Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills; Professor Nigel Scrutton, SYNBIOCHEM Manchester.