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SynthSys professor swaps lab bench for backbench

Submitted by efletch2 on Wed, 04/12/2013 - 10:14

Dec 2, 2013  Professor Andrew Millar of SynthSys is visiting the House of Commons this week. His visit takes places as part of a pairing scheme run by the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science. During his stay, he is shadowing civil servant Steven Lovegrove, Permanent Secretary of Department of Energy and Climate Change. He will also attend Prime Minister’s Question Time and meet Professor David MacKay, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

The visit will provide a behind-the-scenes insight into how science policy is formed as well as an understanding of the working life of politicians.

Also taking part is Dr Stuart Gilfillan, of the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh, who is partnered with Ian Murray MP.

£10M boost for synbio enterpises

Submitted by efletch2 on Wed, 06/11/2013 - 14:57

Nov 6th 2013: The BBSRC has invested £10M in a fund to support synthetic biology companies. The fund, launched today, will be managed by private investment specialists Midven through its association with the long-established Rainbow Seed Fund, which provides kick-starting finance to technology start-up companies that evolve (or 'spin-out') from publicly-funded research.

The investment has been allocated to the fund by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) in response to the 2012 Synthetic Biology Roadmap, which sets out plans to harness opportunities in this area.

For further information on Midven www.midven.co.uk

BBSRC news item

Link: 
http://ht.ly/qxGyU

Strategic Partnership between University and National Physical Laboratory

Submitted by jfyffe on Wed, 06/11/2013 - 13:45

The University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NPL, the UK's national measurement facility.

Scientists at the University will benefit from the formal partnership and synthetic biology is one area where joint opportunities may exist.

For the full press release visit http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2013/npl-051113

U.S.A Student Visit

Submitted by jfyffe on Tue, 29/10/2013 - 14:01

Dr Sarah Martin of SynthSys recently hosted a group of 22 visiting students from the USA on a study program on biotechnology. They enjoyed a packed afternoon (with tea and biscuits!) touring the labs and enjoying talks on exciting and varied research carried out at the Centre.

Three PhD students gave talks about their research interests: Roy Walker (Patrick Cai lab) on synthetic DNA technology; Gemma Mudd (Manfred Auer lab) on systems approaches in drug screening; and Elco Bakker (Peter Swain lab) on the stochasticity of kinase signalling in yeast. The Centre manager explained a little about the wider funding environment for synthetic biology and the drive for translation and commercialisation of research.

The feedback was great with praise heaped on all the talks. The student felt it provided greater insight into the materials they are studying at university in the USA, making it “real” and providing new perspectives on academic research.

SynthSys wins China Partnering Award

Submitted by efletch2 on Tue, 22/10/2013 - 14:05

October 16, 2013  SynthSys Principal Investigators Dr Louise Horsfall (lead), Chris French, Alistair Elfick and Jane Calvert are one of only five UK groups winning funding to carry out collaborative research in synthetic biology with researchers in China through an innovative Synthetic Biology China Partnering Award.

Dr Horsfall will collaborate with Professor Pingsheng Liu at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Biophysics to research the potential of lipid droplets as tools for synthetic biology and test the enzymes of a bacterium called Rhodococcus opacus for their ability to degrade plant materials. The partners will also examine the ethical, legal and social implications of synthetic biology in an applied context and within international partnerships.

Link: 
BBSRC News Item

SynthSys on the record about synbio impact on biodiversity

Submitted by efletch2 on Tue, 08/10/2013 - 11:11

Members of the Centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology (SynthSys) recently submitted feedback on a consultation document commissioned by the Convention on Biological Diversity on the potential impact of synthetic biology on biodiversity.

SynthSys was just one of nine independent contributors alongside others including EMBO, the Biotechnology Industry Organisation (the US biotech trade body), J Craig Venter Institute, the ETC Group and Wilson Institute. It was the only contributor from the UK! All the submissions, and the original document, can be read at http://www.cbd.int/emerging/.

Franco-British symposium:scientific exchanges on synthetic biology

Submitted by jfyffe on Fri, 27/09/2013 - 13:19
Date of the event: 17-18 October 2013

Location: Residence of France, 11 Kensington Palace Gardens, W8 4QP

The science and technology department of the French Embassy in the United Kingdom would like to invite British, French and European stakeholders to a 2-day symposium on synthetic biology, in London, free of charge.

 

The symposium will aim to:

*       bring together all stakeholders from academia, public institutions (policy makers, funders, regulatory agencies...) and the private sector

*       learn about all stages of translational research landscapes in each country

*       share views on underpinning ethical and societal questions

*       explore possibility of drafting new theme-specific bilateral cooperation

Stochastic Biology: from Cells to Populations - May 2014, Austria

Submitted by jfyffe on Thu, 26/09/2013 - 15:04

 

An exciting interdisciplinary meeting will be held next Spring:

Stochastic Biology: from Cells to Populations
May 4-7 2014
IST Austria
http://ist.ac.at/stochastic-biology/

 

 

 

The objective is to bring together researchers with diverse backgrounds, in particular in physics, biology, mathematics, and computer science, to address the most challenging questions arising from stochasticity in biology. This event is particularly aimed at young PIs, postdocs, and PhD students. Participants will be able to present their work in talks or posters. Registration will open in November 2013.

Introductory courses in synthetic biology (UK) - SynBioBeta

Submitted by jfyffe on Wed, 28/08/2013 - 18:26

SynBioBeta have just launched two UK synthetic biology courses. They are one day introductory courses aimed at people who are interested in synthetic biology but perhaps have not taken biology since high school or do not know how a gene relates to a protein.The Cambridge course is directed more towards those coming from a computer science background whilst the course in London is more general. Importantly both are suitable for beginners.  Follow the below links for full details.

If there is sufficient interest locally, SynBioBeta would be willing to run a course here in Edinburgh later in September. Please contact Julie Fyffe at j.fyffe@ed.ac.uk if this would be of interest.

Andrew Goryachev, Marcin Leda newly published paper featured on BBSRC website

Submitted by jfyffe on Tue, 30/07/2013 - 14:16

Congratulations to Andrew Goryachev, Marcin Leda and co-authors (Satoshi Okada, Julia Hanna, Natasha S. Savage, Erfei Bi) for their recently published paper in Developmental Cell.

‘Daughter Cell Identity Emerges from the Interplay of Cdc42, Septins, and Exocytosis,' has shed light on a critical stage of cell fate differentiation. In collaboration with Colleagues in the United States they demonstrated that a structure called a septin ring was crucial in the process of cell division and differentiation in budding yeast.

BBSRC have now featured this paper on their website with Dr Andrew Goryachev directly quoted.  The full article can be viewed through the below link.

Link: 
BBSRC News Article
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