Latest Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Stories

ABINGDON, England, May 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- OBN, the trade association supporting and bringing together the UK's emerging life sciences companies, their corporate partners and investors, has welcomed the allocation thus far of GBP63m in funding awards to UK life science companies under the Biomedical Catalyst (BMC) scheme administered by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), during its first 12 months of operation. OBN now calls for the BMC's extension at the same level of...

A new technique will allow plant breeders to introduce valuable crop traits even without access to the full genome sequence of that crop. The technique, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, links important agronomic traits in crop plants with active regions of the genome. Instead of requiring knowledge of the crop's complete genome, it identifies only expressed genes. "For many crop plants, markers are still lacking because of the complexity of some plants' genomes and the...

PRESTON, England, July 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- - Plant Impact plc and Rothamsted Research - ("Plant Impact" or the "Company", "Rothamsted Research" or the "Institute") Rothamsted Research and Plant Impact today announce their intent to cooperate on agricultural technology and arable crop projects related to plant nutrition and the amelioration of the effects of environmental stress on crop quality and yield. In addition, on 1 September 2012, Plant Impact will relocate...

An international team of scientists, funded in the UK by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), has uncovered the structure of the protective protein coat which surrounds many bacteria like a miniature suit of armor. Their research, which is published today (Sunday 10 June) in Nature, has far ranging consequences in helping us understand how some pathogenic bacteria infect humans and animals, and could help us develop new vaccines. Until now, scientists have...

New research funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has shown that vitamin D3 supplements could provide more benefit than the close relative vitamin D2. The findings published in the June edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition could potentially lead to changes in the food industry when it comes to fortification. Vitamin D is important for bone and muscle health and there is concern that we don't get enough of the 'sunshine' vitamin...

Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have gained important new insights into how our sense of hearing works. Their findings promise new avenues for scientists to understand what goes wrong when people experience deafness. The team was led by Prof John Wood of UCL (University College London). Professor Wood explains: "As many people will already know, our ears are filled with tiny hair cells that move in response to the pressure of a sound...

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have discovered that maize crops emit chemical signals which attract growth-promoting microbes to live amongst their roots. This is the first chemical signal that has been shown to attract beneficial bacteria to the maize root environment. The study was led by Dr Andy Neal of Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire and Dr Jurriaan Ton of the University of Sheffield's Department of Animal and Plant...

Researchers from The University of Nottingham have demonstrated how a species of flatworm overcomes the ageing process to be potentially immortal. The discovery, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is part of a project funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) and may shed light on the possibilities of alleviating ageing and age-related characteristics in human cells. Planarian worms have...

Researchers from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Sustainable Bioenergy Centre (BSBEC) have discovered a family of genes that could help us breed grasses with improved properties for diet and bioenergy. The research was carried out by a team from the University of Cambridge and Rothamsted Research, which receives strategic funding from BBSRC. Their findings are published today (Tuesday 17 Jan) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...

Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have found that vitamin D reduces the effects of ageing in mouse eyes and improves the vision of older mice significantly. The researchers hope that this might mean that vitamin D supplements could provide a simple and effective way to combat age-related eye diseases, such as macular degeneration (AMD), in people. The research was carried out by a team from the Institute of Ophthalmology at University...