Latest News

Paul Allen gives $300 million to expand brain research

22 March 2012 | No comments

Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen has donated an additional $300 million to a foundation aimed at expanding research into how the brain works and how best to treat brain-related disorders.

Business Minister announces up to £100 Million life sciences investment fund for Wales

14 March 2012 | No comments

New project could herald cheaper and more efficient biotechnology

22 February 2012 | No comments

A team of chemists from the Universities of Southampton and Oxford have been awarded over £4 million to develop a new technique for ‘clicking’ DNA and RNA segments together.

Synthetic protein amplifies genes needed for stem cells

20 February 2012 | No comments

Scientists, partly funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have found a way to generate and maintain stem cells much more efficiently by amplifying the effect of an essential protein.

Genetic study offers clues to how intelligence changes through life

19 January 2012 | No comments

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council have estimated for the first time the extent to which genes determine changes in intelligence across the human life course.

£2m boost for Cardiff Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre

22 December 2011 | No comments

Quantum computer chip breakthrough in Bristol

14 December 2011 | No comments

A new quantum computer chip that could help us to learn of the quantum world and herald a new age in home computing, has seen an impressive breakthrough at the university of Bristol.

Scientists provide potential explanation for mechanisms of associative memory

14 December 2011 | No comments

Researchers funded by BBSRC at the University of Bristol have discovered that a chemical compound in the brain can weaken the synaptic connections between neurons in a region of the brain important for the formation of long-term memories.

Life sciences sector to receive £180m government funding boost

5 December 2011 | No comments

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a £180 million funding boost for the life sciences sector will come into effect.

Bone marrow cancer gene clues found

30 November 2011 | No comments

A gene defect increases the risk of a type of bone marrow cancer by 30%, the Daily Mail reported.

New research aims to shed light on how ageing affects immunity

29 November 2011 | No comments

Efforts to understand the effect of ageing on the immune system received a boost today as the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) announced investment in a new £3.6M research project.

Stem cells may aid heart repair

16 November 2011 | No comments

The Daily Telegraph reported that it may be possible for patients to use their own stem cells to repair the damage caused by heart attacks. The newspaper said that heart repair with stem cells could be the “biggest breakthrough in a generation”.

Technology breakthrough could speed up drug discovery – and reduce testing on animals

11 November 2011 | No comments

Parkinson’s stem cell research shows promise

9 November 2011 | No comments

New stem cell research may point to ways to replace the brain cells that die off in Parkinson’s disease, The Guardian has today reported.

More Facebook friends linked to bigger brain areas

19 October 2011 | No comments

Scientists have found a direct link between the number of “friends” a person has on Facebook and the size of certain brain regions, raising the possibility that using online social networks might change our brains.

Scientists create computing building blocks from bacteria and DNA

19 October 2011 | No comments

Scientists have successfully demonstrated that they can build some of the basic components for digital devices out of bacteria and DNA, which could pave the way for a new generation of biological computing devices, in research published today in the journal Nature Communications.