bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Four journals and a hypothesis: The birth of biochemistry
Authors: Manchester Keith
Published: October 2019

The separation of the zymase system from yeast cells by Eduard Buchner in 18971, by showing that such a ‘vital’ process as fermentation could be studied in a cell-free system, opened new vistas for biochemistry. The pioneering work of Emil Fischer on carbohydrates, peptides and proteins moreover suggested many new avenues of exploration in the discipline2. An increasing number of investigators into biochemical topics thus began looking for new outlets for publication in journals less dedicated specifically to physiological, chemical or clinical studies – a circumstance which perhaps explains the sudden explosion of new titles in 1905–1906.
Success and challenges: Women in bioscience
Authors: Goodfellow Julia M.
Published: October 2019

As someone with early training in the physical sciences and a career-long interest in the participation of women in science, I think we should celebrate the changes that have occurred in the biosciences over the last 20 years and recognize the strong contribution that women now make across the biosciences. In comparison with the physical sciences, women are progressing and their participation is increasing at senior levels. This is not a reason to be complacent about the challenges that are still there for women, but to recognize that there has been progress, and to recognize that we should continue to collect and monitor data on women's participation in science so that we can focus on the barriers that still exist.
Making (big) numbers count
Authors: Trehearne Andrew
Published: October 2019

The eminent scientist the late Sir Richard Doll embarked 56 years ago on a project to find out what caused lung cancer. In a seminal piece of research, he followed the lives and the deaths of 40 000 doctors, and was able to prove the link between smoking and this terrible disease. Since then, this finding has saved many millions of lives around the world.
The governor: Protein phosphorylation
Authors: Zeqiraj Dario R. Alessi and Elton
Published: October 2019

At first glance, the odds that the introduction of a diminutive and unsuspicious phosphoryl group on to a hydroxycontaining side chain of a much larger protein molecule would be selected by Nature as the most widely deployed mechanism to control biological processes, and be responsible for many major diseases, seems unlikely. However, this process termed protein phosphorylation is a vital regu lator of almost all events that take place in eukaryotic organisms. In this review we will outline what phosphorylation is, how it is regulated and why disruptions of the network of enzymes and proteins that regulate the phosphorylation are a principal cause of many maladies. We will also discuss how advances are leading to exciting strategies to develop drugs to treat diseases caused by disruptions of protein phosphorylation.
New light on protein structure: Macromolecular crystallography
Authors: Wagner Armin
Published: October 2019

X-ray diffraction is the method of choice to determine structural information from biological mac romolecules to atomic resolution. This technique depends on the availability of single crystals of protein, which are notoriously difficult to produce. It can take months or even years to find crystal lization conditions capable of producing crystals with sufficient diffraction quality. During the last few years the field of MX (macromolecular crystallography) has undergone considerable change and most of the steps from protein expression to structure solution have been automated, speeding up the process significantly. Facilities such as Diamond Light Source, the new UK synchrotron radia tion source in Oxfordshire, have been developed to incorporate new automation technologies and Diamond will provide an important user resource for XRD (X-ray diffraction) experiments on crystals of biological macromolecules. Furthermore, in collaboration with Professor So Iwata (Imperial College and Diamond Light Source) and funded by the Wellcome Trust, Diamond Light Source is developing a laboratory dedicated specifically to solving the structure of membrane proteins, the crystallization of which poses a particular problem to the crystallographer.
Protecting your inventions: Intellectual property
Authors: Jones Steve
Published: October 2019

Few subjects are as crucial to modern business, yet so often misunderstood, as intellectual property (IP). In an increasingly knowledge-based economy, innovators cannot afford to overlook any opportunity to secure their market position through effective IP rights, nor to ignore the IP of their competitors.
The Grid revisited
Authors: Sansom Clare
Published: October 2019

When Cyberbiochemist first looked at the Grid, 4 years ago, the term will not have entered the vocabulary of most bio chemists. It was the more numbercrunching disciplines, such as highenergy physics and fluid dynamics, which first em braced this much hyped ‘secondgeneration Internet’; career bioinformaticians were not far behind. Most biochemists and molecular biologists, however, whose experience of the computational side of their discipline is restricted to the occasional BLAST run or simple molecular visualization, have unsurprisingly been slower to see what these new developments might have to offer them. Now, 4 years on, it is useful to look into what practical use the Grid can be to the majority of Biochemist readers, who will never design a Hidden Markov Model or run a multinanosecond Molecular Dynamics simulation.
Science, morals and politics
Authors: Smith Rebecca
Published: October 2019

The ongoing passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill through Parliament has been dividing opinion among MPs, the medical profession, clerics of various denominations and the general public. Although many have voiced their opinion, the nature of journalism today ensures that coverage has most frequently focused on the most hyperbolic and inflammatory remarks.
Water bears and water loss: Tardigrades and anhydrobiosis
Authors: Kinchin Ian M.
Published: October 2019

The Phylum Tardigrada consists of about 900 known species of microscopic animals that are often referred to by their endearing popular names, water bears or moss piglets (translated from the German expressions Wasser Bär and Mooschweinchen). The group is considered a sister group to the arthropods, with animals typically less than 0.5 mm in length1. As tardigrades are of no direct medi cal or agricultural importance, their study is confined to a small, but highly productive, international community of researchers.
Sorting the diverse: The sequencebased classifications of carbohydrateactive enzymes
Authors: Davies Gideon J. , Sinnott Michael L.
Published: October 2019

Carbohydrates offer a structural and chemical diversity unrivalled in Nature: two glucose residues can be joined together in 30 different ways, and, with six different sugars, the number of possible isomers exceeds 1012 [1]. This huge diversity is reflected in the diverse roles for carbohydrates in Nature. Mono, di, oligo and polysaccharides and glycoconjugates play myriad roles in biology, in addition to wellknown ones such as energy storage (starch, glycogen) and maintenance of structure (cellulose, chitin, alginate). The diversity of what is sometimes called the ‘glycome’ also provides for a subtle means of cellular communication in higher organisms: carbohydrates are the language of the cell. Sugarmediated interactions not only are important for the communication of healthy cells, but also play crucial roles in disease, viral invasion and bacterial attack and malignancy. Sharon [2] has termed the challenge of carbohydrates as “the last frontier of molecular and cell biology”. There is thus considerable interest in the enzymes whose job it is to modify and cleave carbohydrates [GHs (glycoside hydrolases) and lyases] and those involved in their biosynthesis, GTs (glycosyltransferases). Typically, these enzymes make up approx. 1–2% of the genome of any organism [3]. Thus, at the time of writing, there are around 70000 ORFs (open reading frames) known which potentially encode GHs or GTs. A major goal for the scientific community is to extract useful informa tion on the enzymes encoded by these ORFs from sequence alone. This is an enormous challenge, one complicated by the modular nature of the enzymes themselves [4].
Definitely maybe: Senescent cells cause aging:
Authors: Faragher Richard G.A.
Published: October 2019

The accumulation of ‘senescent’ cells has long been proposed to act as an aging mechanism. Senescent cells display a radically altered transcriptome compared to their growing counterparts and thus have a profoundly altered and degenerative phenotype. Tremendous progress has been made in recent years in understanding the molecular pathways underlying entry into the senescent state, but attempts to determine whether senescent cells can act as causal agents of mammalian aging have been limited. However, exciting new improvements in senescent cell detection render the area ripe for detailed experimental investigation.
Science and ethics
Authors: Sulston John
Published: October 2019

In thinking about science ethics, we should bear in mind that the most important thing is to do science – and do good science. That is the root of everything. We should learn about ethics and make it a part of our thinking, but not let it get in the way. We don't want to be endlessly saying no, you can't do that and you must worry about this – rather we should integrate ethics smoothly into routine practice. We can think about scientific integrity on three levels: personal integrity, collective integrity and institutional integrity.
The golden age of fraud
Authors: Gratzer Walter
Published: October 2019

The pre-eminent Newton scholar, Richard Westfall, had this to say about his man's calculations of the precession of the equinoxes: “[t]he correction of a faulty lemma in edition one [of the Principia], imposed the necessity of adjustment of more than 50% in the remaining numbers. Without even pretending that he had new data, Newton brazenly manipulated the old figures on precession so that he not only covered the apparent discrepancy but carried the demonstration to a higher degree of accuracy”. Neither was this the only piece of blatant chicanery of which Newton was guilty, and similar practices have been imputed to Galileo, to Dalton and to other giants of the past. Should great geniuses, then, be accorded wider latitude than the foot soldiers of science? Did their improprieties impede progress? One thing at least is certain: no science correspondents were on hand to shower them with obloquy and ridicule in the public prints.
Q&A
Authors: Kell Professor Douglas , Reece Richard
Published: October 2019

Douglas Kell was Professor of Bioanalytical Science at the University of Manchester and Director of the BBSRC-funded Manchester Centre for Integrative Systems Biology before taking over as Chief Executive of the BBSRC in October 2008. He studied at the University of Oxford and then did research at Aberystwyth University. He joined UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) in 2002. (UMIST merged with the Victoria University of Manchester to form The University of Manchester in 2004.)
Tackling the science and ethics of embryonic stem cell technology in school: Sciberbrain: The Biochemical Society's new resource for science at Key Stages 3 and 4: Sciberbrain: The Biochemical Society's new resource for science at Key Stages 3 and 4
Authors: Baker Hannah , Thomson Jane
Published: October 2019

In early 2007 the Monsanto Fund (www.monsantofund.org) awarded the Biochemical Society a grant to support a range of science education initiatives within the UK schools community. The project is called SciberBrain and, in the same vein as our other Sciber resources, it aims to create new teaching aids and bring together the best quality information online to support the science syllabus.
The islands' story: Genomics and adaptive radiation on remote islands
Authors: Croucher Peter J.P. , Gillespie Rosemary G.
Published: October 2019

“…the very close relation of the distinct species which inhabit the islets of the same archipelago, -- and especially the striking relation of the inhabitants of each whole archipelago or island to those of the nearest mainland, -- are, I think, utterly inexplicable on the ordinary view of the independent creation of each species, but are explicable on the view of colonisation from the nearest and readiest source, together with the subsequent modification and better adaptation of the colonists to their new homes.”
Letter to Darwin
Authors: Newbury John
Published: October 2019

2009 is a special year as it is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and 150 years since the first publication of On the Origin of Species, which rocked science and society. This article is written as a ‘Letter to Darwin’ and attempts to define and discuss some of the biological discoveries in which he would surely have had a great interest. In fact, because of the difficulties associated with explaining the processes, structures, terminologies and technologies, this is the second letter written to Darwin by the author. Readers interested in a longer initial letter that reviews relevant material up to 1960 are referred to www.biochemistry.org/education.
The future is bright, the future is good information provision
Authors: Hide Branwen
Published: October 2019

Creating, using, sharing and accessing information is an integral part of the research process. How scientists use information has changed dramatically in recent years as a result of technological innovations. Research funders, including Research Councils UK (RCUK), universities and the Wellcome Trust, have policies that encourage innovation in services to make sure the results of research are spread as widely and quickly as possible. Ensuring that research information provision and policies continue to develop with researchers' needs in mind is a central focus of the Research Information Network's (RIN) work.
The dangers of itchy feet: Parasitic infections imported by returning travellers
Authors: Chand Meera
Published: October 2019

One of the patients seen recently at our tropical disease clinic complained of a lump in the groin. He had just returned from a fishing holiday in the Okavango delta of Botswana, where he had swum in the river and eaten self-made sushi from freshly caught bream. Over the next few days, the lump moved to his knee and ankle and then chest, leaving a red itchy track in its wake. After a dose of trial treatment, it appeared on his neck, moved on to his face and was felt inside his nose. A day later, a small, white larva popped out of the skin of his face. This was a larva of Gnathostoma spinigerum, a parasitic nematode, which he had probably consumed in the raw fish (Figure 1)1. Although his disease was relatively mild, this larva can also use its sharp hooked head to burrow through the viscera, including the eye or brain, leaving a haemorrhagic track which can be fatal.
Special roles for special lipids: It's not just fat
Authors: Harwood John L.
Published: October 2019

Lipids have four main roles in Nature: storage materials, major membrane components, surface coverings and signalling molecules. Triacylglycerols (‘fats’) are the usual storage form, but they have a multitude of molecular forms. In many cases, the nature of their fatty acids is critical for their use. This article describes how different triacylglycerols are made by plants and then why particular fats (containing ω-3 (or n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids) are valuable in our diet.
Lipid rafts: The enigmatic membrane microdomain
Authors: Taylor David R. , Hooper Nigel M.
Published: October 2019

In the field of membrane biology, perhaps one of the most controversial concepts in recent years has been the enigmatic membrane microdomain, the cholesterol- and glycosphingolipid-rich lipid raft.
Venom-based medicines: Advancing drug discovery with reptile and amphibian venom peptides
Authors: Shaw Chris
Published: October 2019

Amphibian skin has long been known by humans to possess intriguing biological properties and scientific examination of these secretions has revealed that their components possess a range of medical properties. In Japan and China, toad venom has been used as an expectorant, anti-haemorrhagic, diuretic and cardiac stimulant, and some peptides in the secretions of South American frogs and toads have antibiotic and anticancer properties. In fact, the pharmaceutical industry was built upon the realization of the healing and therapeutic potential of many lead compounds used in ethnic or traditional medicines (e.g. morphine, quinine and aspirin).
The unplanned discovery of monoclonal antibodies: The basic work of two successive postdoctoral scientists
Authors: Cotton Richard G.H.
Published: October 2019

The early work on the somatic cell genetics of mouse myeloma which laid the practical and theoretical foundation, and finally first production, of monoclonal antibodies by cell fusion was performed by two postdoctoral scientists aiming at answering three basic questions. Apparently it was not realized, until the data were given at a seminar, that a major new technology had been created. Thus this story illustrates the importance of basic questions being pursued rather than applied topics.*
Esther Haines: scientist or woman in science?
Authors: Cox Amy
Published: October 2019

In her speech to Cambridge AWiSE (Association for Women in Science and Engineering) in September 2009, Esther Haines opened with a response to a Natural History Museum questionnaire:

“Being a woman has had little negative impact on my life as a scientist, but being a scientist has had a seriously detrimental effect on my life as a woman”1
Electron microscopy: More than just a pretty picture
Authors: Warley Alice
Published: October 2019

In the 1990s, it might have been thought that, for biological sciences, electron microscopy (EM) was a technique that had had its day. The majority of cellular ultrastructure had been described, and many EM units were closed. However, new developments in instruments, including computer control of microscope columns and stages, the introduction of digital cameras with freely avail able software for image processing and manipulation and improvements in specimen prepara tion techniques have led to a resurgence in the use of EM and wider applicability in the biological sciences. This article aims to show how, even in its routine use, EM can provide further insight into cell biology studies, to show how EM is being used to provide fundamental information about the localization and relationships of molecules within cells through the technique of immuno cytochemistry and to introduce techniques such as EM tomography that are providing unrivalled information about structure–function relationships within cells.
The Semantic Biochemical Journal: Navigating the data wilderness
Authors: Sansom Clare
Published: October 2019

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”
The impact of impact
Authors: Smith Rebecca
Published: October 2019

The proposed introduction of impact into research funding assessments has been controversial. The current proposals for the new quality-related research (QR) framework contribute to a very tense environment which also includes looming cuts to higher education budgets. There are widespread concerns about how the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) will allocate the resulting budget.
“It's got a virus!”
Authors: Sansom Clare
Published: October 2019

Few people who use computers regularly can have completely escaped the threat of computer viruses. For the careless or unlucky computer user, a machine's infection with the malicious piece of code known as a virus can wipe out months, if not years, worth of work in an instant.
Supporting teachers to explore science and ethics at the chalk face: SciberBrain: The Biochemical Society's exciting resource for science at Key Stages 3 and 4
Authors: Garrett Gemma , Thomson Jane
Published: October 2019

In early 2007 the Monsanto Fund (www.monsantofund.org) first awarded the Biochemical Society a grant to develop a range of science education initiatives for UK schools under the banner of ‘SciberBrain’. Monsanto have continued to provide their support ever since and, in June 2010, we were delighted to discover that our request for a subsequent year of funding was successful, allowing the project to continue and develop throughout 2011.
Building capacity: Science in the developing world
Authors: Smith Rebecca
Published: October 2019

On 15 June 2010 Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto was launched at the Royal Society in London. This manifesto was written by the Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability (STEPS) Centre. The STEPS Centre is based in both the Institute of Development Studies and the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex. The new manifesto, as its name suggests, builds on the work of an ‘old’ manifesto known as the Sussex Manifesto. Commissioned by the United Nations as part of its Plan of Action for Science and Development for the ‘Second UN Development Decade’, i.e. the 1970s, the Sussex Manifesto was published in 1969.
Thalidomide and its analogues in prostate cancer therapy: A scientific update
Authors: Cooper Carlton R. , Poindexter Cliff , Rohe Benjamin , Sikes Robert A.
Published: October 2019

Thalidomide (Figure 1) was derived from alpha-phnthaloylisoglutamine, a derivative of glutamic acid1 by Chemie Grünenthal GmbH, a West German Company in 1954. Thalidomide has a low level of toxicity and no LD50 could be established. Indeed, high doses of thalidomide did not cause respiratory or cardiac failure, suggesting that accidental death or suicide with this compound was highly unlikely. As a matter of fact, 17 patients, including small children and one suicide attempt, survived ingestion of excessive amounts of thalidomide. In 1957, thalidomide was approved for commercial use in West Germany as a sedative and sold under the brand name Kevadon. About this time, the anti-emetic (anti-nausea) activity was discovered and the drug was prescribed to counteract morning sickness in pregnant women. Unfortunately, the teratological effects of thalidomide were not revealed through studies in rodents and approximately 12,000 children were born deformed before thalidomide was banned for clinical use in March 1962 by the Canadian Food and Drug Directorate2. In 1998, thalidomide was approved to treat erythema nodosum leprosum, a painful inflammatory dermatologic reaction of leprosy. In 2006, the FDA approved thalidomide under the brand name Thalomid (Celgene Corp) for treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma As a result of these approvals, the interest in thalidomide as a chemotherapeutic agent for other cancers, including prostate cancer (Figure 2), has emerged.
A bioinformatics rookie's guide to DNA methylation
Authors: Sansom Clare
Published: October 2019

With this issue of The Biochemist focusing on epigenetics, Cyberbiochemist has chosen to explore one particular type of epigenetic change, DNA methylation, and the bioinformatics tools that are used to analyse patterns of methylation in DNA.
Selenium: Essential micronutrient and controversial supplement
Authors: Stoedter Mette , Schweizer Ulrich , Schomburg Lutz
Published: October 2019

The story of selenium (Se) in medicine is a story of surprise, excessive generalization, sheer prejudice, lingering uncertainty, triumphant breakthroughs and mere errors1, and this tradition has still been carried on in recent years. Initially, Se was recognized as a poisonous element, closely linked to its well-known and badly feared neighbour on the periodic table, arsenic. With the demonstration of its essentiality in the late 1950s by Klaus Schwarz2, its general appreciation changed dramatically.
Understanding the languages of cells: Network modelling in metabolic systems biology and biotechnology: why, how and whither
Authors: Kell Douglas B.
Published: October 2019

Let me start by saying what I am not going to do, and that is to seek to define systems biology! However, it is widely recognized that the chief differences between Systems Biology and traditional molecular biology are (i) the concentration of systems biology (and systems biologists) not on the molecules involved, but on the dynamics of their interactions, and (ii) that systems biology should involve a judicious interplay between modelling, theory, experiment and technology development1. As the modelling element is really the key, it is this aspect that I stress here.
UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology loses funding
Authors: Brook Michelle
Published: October 2019

Just before Christmas, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) published The allocation of Science and Research Funding 2011/12 to 2014/15: Investing in world-Class Science and Research1. In the document was the sentence “From April 2011, funding for the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (UKRC) will not be renewed.”
Setting the boundaries: Primary cell wall synthesis and expansion
Authors: Fry Stephen C. , Franková Lenka , Chormova Dimitra
Published: October 2019

Mature plant cells typically have two-layered walls: a first-formed thin outer primary wall layer enclosing a later-formed thick inner secondary wall. The surface area of the primary wall limits the size of the cell and thus the maximum amount of biomass that can potentially be accumulated in the secondary wall. By controlling the shape and size of the cell, the primary wall therefore imposes the limits on the amount of inedible biofuel a plant cell can make.
Hypes, hurdles and hopes: Energy and biofuels from biomass
Authors: Karp Angela
Published: October 2019

The world is heading towards a crisis in providing sufficient food, water and fuel for a rapidly expanding population, while also conserving biodiversity and mitigating climate change. Through photosynthesis, plants could provide multiple solutions, helping to secure future supplies of not only food, but also energy, chemicals and materials. These roles have to be balanced to reduce conflict over the limited land resources available for cultivation. In particular, the current use of some food crop products for fuel should be superseded by the use of non-food biomass. To achieve this, the recalcitrance of lignocellulose to break down needs to be overcome and improvements in crop composition and cell walls are required to provide more optimized feedstocks for processing and conversion though biological or thermochemical routes. Research should also focus on improving energy yields of biomass crops on resource-limited land that is less suitable for food-based agriculture. Finally, the exploitation of high-value products is also needed to extract maximum value from biomass through the development of integrated biorefinery systems. In this article, brief highlights are provided of progress already achieved towards some of these goals. Such endeavours provide opportunities for biochemists to join forces with crop geneticists, biotechnologists and engineers to provide more sustainable fuels and chemicals for the future.
The seeds of green energy: Expanding the contribution of plant oils as biofuels
Authors: Ohlrogge John , Chapman Kent
Published: October 2019

Plant oils represent one of the most energyrich sources of renewable fuels available in Nature. Most of these oils occur in the form of triacylglycerols (TAGs) that can be transformed into biodiesel by conversion of their acyl chains into fatty acid methyl esters. In 2009, 14 billion litres of biodiesel were produced worldwide from plant oils (largely in the EU). This compares with 70 billion litres of ethanol (largely from Brazil and the USA). Both of these fuels now depend on land and crops (e.g. oil seeds, palm trees, maize and sugar cane) that are also used for foods. To meet growing demand and avoid competition with food, major expansion of biofuel production and development of new sources of biofuel are required. In this article, we outline how plants synthesize oils and describe some ways in which supplies of oils from plants could be increased to provide a larger contribution to renewable energy supplies.
Celebrating the Centenary with a new collaboration: Meetings News
Authors: Miller Kay
Published: October 2019

Since moving into a shared building in 2009, the Biochemical Society (BS), British Ecological Society (BES) and Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) have worked together on a portfolio of joint ventures. The first joint Society conference took place in January at Charles Darwin House, London, and proved to be a great start to 2011 and the Biochemical Society Centenary celebrations. Organizing a joint conference between Societies can be a challenge and a workable model for joint events takes time to agree. Publication rights need to be discussed and budgets approved. In addition, the operational aspects of running joint events often mean that each Society must amend its practices, procedures and culture. On top of that, to keep the event truly joint, care must be taken at every stage of the planning process to ensure the science is cross-disciplinary, and that sessions are not biased towards one of the organizing Societies. Undeterred, the three Societies committed to running a joint conference, and agreed that maintaining communications every step of the way was the key to success. Regular planning meetings were helped in no small part by the fact that we can now holler over our shared office space at Charles Darwin House!
Science and the Budget
Authors: Smith Rebecca
Published: October 2019

The 2011 Budget brought good news for UK science with the Chancellor announcing £100 million of capital investment in science1. While widely welcomed by the scientific community, this news is set against a backdrop of the 43% reduction in capital spending at Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) over 4 years as set out under the terms of the Comprehensive Spending Review2, and arrives amid what has been a challenging start to 2011 for the life sciences sector.
Young Life Scientists': A joint event in Birmingham
Authors: Hime Alexa
Published: October 2019

The Young Life Scientists' Symposia are a collection of scientific conferences organized by students, or postdocs, in the early stages of their career, and attended by their peers. The aim of the conferences is to provide a unique learning experience for the organizing committee, and the opportunity for young scientists to present their work and network with others working in their field.
A degree of choice
Authors: Sharpe Eva
Published: October 2019

Students choosing courses in chemistry, physics and engineering can opt for degrees that are accredited by the relevant professional body. With the exception of biomedical science courses, students who are choosing biological science degrees don't currently have that option.
New life in the laboratory: Can synthetic biology bring sustainable development to China?
Authors: Pei Lei , Schmidt Markus , Wei Wei
Published: October 2019

Synthetic biology (SB) is an emerging research field in China with growing interest from the scientific community and (to a much lesser extent) from the public. This interest is not only in the research itself, but also in the societal issues. This article presents the results of interviews with 20 Chinese scholars and looks at the current research activities of SB and the related ethical, legal and social implication (ELSI) studies.
Kick-start your career: internships and placements
Authors: Hime Alexa
Published: October 2019

Leaving university and applying for jobs can be a difficult time for all graduates. Where do I start looking? How do I know whether it's the right job for me? How can I stand out from the crowd? Relevant work experience can help you make these important decisions after your degree, and an internship is the great way to do this. It not only allows you to gain valuable skills, but also takes you a step closer to understanding what sort of job is right for you. Internships are normally long enough for you to work on specific projects, compared with shorter work experience periods.
The Bioinformatics of the Sense of Smell
Authors: Sansom Clare
Published: October 2019

All mammals share the five senses we all learned to recite in early childhood: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. However, whereas we humans perceive the world largely through the first two of these, most mammals have more sophisticated senses of taste and smell. This inferiority has been immortalized in a famous poem by G.K. Chesterton, written in the voice of a dog, which begins: “They haven't got no noses These fallen sons of Eve…”
The academic model: Drug discovery in the academic environment
Authors: Shepherd Peter R. , Denny William A.
Published: October 2019

The second half of the 20th Century was a golden age for the pharmaceutical industry, as ever increasingly sophisticated scientific methods were applied to the process of discovering new drugs and then developing them through the pre-clinical and clinical phases. This was very fruitful, scientifically and financially, with a wide range of highly successful new drugs being developed. These included blockbusters such as the very effective cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Lipitor®, which contributed significantly to the reduced rates of mortality from cardiovascular disease, through to drugs such as Viagra® that treated less life-threatening, but socially important, conditions. In the 1970s and 1980s, the pharma industry employed a high percentage of biochemistry graduates and provided jobs that paid well and seemed to have good security. Inevitably, however, as the older blockbusters began to come off patent, a technological ‘arms race’ broke out as companies searched randomly further and further into chemical space to find chemical structures that might be the elusive new blockbuster drug. Companies built bigger and bigger libraries of drugs, in many cases containing more than a million compounds. These required impressive assay technology and massive robotic screens to sift through. At the same time, the cost of getting drugs to market was increasing due to ever-tightening safety regulations, and, despite the application of ever more technology, the failure rate in (and after) clinical trial remained stubbornly high.
Correcting Nature: Targeting dysfunctional carbohydrate processing
Authors: Horne Graeme
Published: October 2019

The pharmaceutical industry has experienced remarkable growth over the last few decades fuelled by sales revenues of blockbuster drugs such as Lipitor® (Pfizer), Plavix® (BMS/Sanofi-Aventis) and Advair® (GlaxoSmithKline). However, as these drugs approach patent expiries, the era of the blockbuster drug can be considered to be coming to an end.
Bringing chemistry to life using real-life science stories
Authors: Leaback David H.
Published: October 2019

It is vital that we now engage young people in science to ensure a strong supply of scientists in the future. Evidence shows that the earlier you can capture their imaginations, the better, to avoid students being turned off science by secondary school. This article describes the strategies I've developed to help bring chemistry to life for everyone – even young under-privileged children.
A 21st Century perspective on the contributions of Michaelis to enzyme kinetics
Authors: Gutfreund Herbert
Published: October 2019

Leonor Michaelis (1875–1949) made some of the most important contributions to the application of physical chemistry to biological systems during the first half of the 20th Century. Like many young men interested in using basic physics and chemistry to study biomedical problems at that time, Michaelis was advised by no less a person than Paul Ehrlich to qualify in medicine to be able to earn a living. He followed that advice, and the work I am concerned with here was carried out after he completed his medical studies. For about 5 years before the outbreak of World War I, Michaelis's principal research interests centred on enzyme kinetics and the importance of hydrogen ions in biological systems. He carried out his basic research in clinical laboratories side by side with his medical work.
Science Communication Competition
Authors: Yadav Vikramaditya
Published: October 2019

After the success of the first Science Communication Competition, launched in the Society's Centenary year, it was decided that the competition would run as an annual activity. It aims to find young talented science writers and give them the opportunity to have their work published, both online and in The Biochemist. The competition attracted lots of entries, and the overall winner for 2012 was Vikramaditya Yadav, a postgraduate student studying Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose article Winning the drug lottery follows.
Voices of Science Policy Future
Authors: Lush James
Published: October 2019

Two recent events highlight the power of human capital in UK science to challenge government and produce world-class research.
Getting stuck into summer: Accounts from students funded through our Summer Vacation Studentship scheme
Authors: Hime Alexa
Published: October 2019

While studying at university, the thought of what to do after graduating can be daunting. With the changing job market and so many career choices available to bioscience graduates, it can be confusing to know where to start and whether it's the right path for you. Work experience while at university plays an essential part in making these decisions and bolstering your CV (résumé) to maximize your employability. For those who are keen to pursue a career as a scientist, such as carrying out a PhD and moving on to postdoctoral positions, work experience in a laboratory is essential.
News
Authors: Sharpe Eva
Published: October 2019

Society of Biology's new HE teaching website promotes Open Education Resources
Why eating crap could save your life
Authors: Antonio Nicole
Published: October 2019

Sadly, I don't mean eating crap like pizza and chips, washed down with a fizzy drink and a deep-fried Mars bar – that will certainly not save your life. I'm talking about poo. Real, stinking, human excrement. Your faeces is composed not only of what you had for dinner last night – don't pretend you haven't seen the unnervingly whole-looking pea or piece of sweetcorn floating in the toilet bowl – but also consists of other organisms, microbes to be precise. It may surprise you to learn that over half of the dry weight of your faeces is actually microbial. The average adult human is made up of approximately 10 trillion cells, yet is associated with over 100 trillion bacteria, collectively called your ‘microbiome’. Therefore by number (but fortunately not by mass), you're actually more microbial than human! Bacteria cover every inch of your skin and every orifice, but the vast majority live in your gut. These bacteria help digest your food, protect against nasty, disease-causing, bacteria and in return get a nice, warm, nutrient-rich environment in which to live. Until they come out the other end that is.
In the heavens as it is on Earth
Authors: Vranckx Stephane
Published: October 2019

The Science Communication Competition, launched in the Society's Centenary year, is now an annual event. It aims to find young talented science writers and give them the opportunity to have their work published, both online and in The Biochemist. The competition attracted lots of entries, and the second and third prize winners follow.
Sleep, Nature's soft nurse*: Is sloth unavoidable?
Authors: Miller Michelle A.
Published: October 2019

Every day over six billion people and innumerable animals on earth succumb to the need for sleep. However, many fundamental questions such as ‘What is sleep?’ ‘How is it controlled?’ ‘How can we measure it?’ ‘Why do we need it?’ ‘How much is required?’ and ‘What happens if you do not get enough?’ are still to be fully answered. This article will briefly examine these and some related questions. It will examine some of the factors that are known to regulate sleep, how it is measured and how much is considered ‘normal’. It will discuss the consequence to an individual or society of insufficient or poor quality sleep. In turn, it will consider whether individuals who ‘sleep for excessive periods’ of time, who are ‘slow at doing things’ or who appear to be ‘lazy’ are willingly complicit to committing the deadly sin ‘sloth’ or whether their ‘abnormal’ sleeping patterns or observed ‘excessive daytime sleepiness’ (EDS) may be ‘normal’ for their age, caused by different sleep needs, the result of underlying sleep disorders and/or other health problems.
An Ancient Mariner: Biological implications of the coelacanth genome
Authors: Amemiya Chris T.
Published: October 2019

The coelacanth is an iconic species that has captured the public's imagination owing to its unusual appearance and its special history. The fish possesses paired fins resembling limb-like structures and other features that have placed it in an outgroup position to the terrestrial vertebrates. The recent sequencing of the coelacanth genome has enabled insights into the fin–limb transition and the origin of terrestriality. Here, I discuss some of the more salient findings and interpret them in an evolutionary context.
Science policy and our database of expertise
Authors: Ball Catherine
Published: October 2019

Science policy can often seem like a rather obscure part of the scientific landscape. However, widespread understanding and engagement within the science community are vital as it relies on a steady supply of scientific evidence and advice.
Lab on a shoestring: Saving research money by switching to free software
Authors: Mellor Harry
Published: October 2019

With the current squeeze on research budgets, we are all looking for ways to make grant money stretch further. One significant recurring cost is the price of licences for basic software. I don't mean the exciting specialist software developed specifically for your research. I am talking about the dayto-day software that is essential but unexciting. This is the software that changes little over time, but needs updating every 2 or 3 years. The cost of this software can add up to thousands of pounds across a laboratory, but it is often ineligible for inclusion on research grants. Luckily, much of this commercial software can be replaced by free substitutes. In this article, I suggest a package of free alternatives to the typical contents of a laboratory computer.
Social amoeba and dementia: Dictyostelium as an animal replacement model for research into Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Otto Grant P. , Williams Robin S.B.
Published: October 2019

Getting older usually means becoming increasingly forgetful, but for some of us it will mean much more than simple absent-mindedness. For millions of older people worldwide, advancing age can also mean the beginning of a steady decline in mental faculties that is characteristic of the devastating neurodegenerative deterioration in Alzheimer's disease. This form of senile dementia is a burden not only for the patient, because of the debilitation that the condition causes, but also for the families of sufferers, who must dedicate increasing time and resources to caring for their affected loved ones. The cost to society is also staggering, currently about £23 billion in Britain annually, and projected to rise to £50 billion by 20381. Thus understanding what causes the neurodegeneration and how to treat it is a major priority for biomedical researchers. This research is dominated by the use of animals to study changes in the brain during development of the disease.
Toxicity testing: Non-animal approaches and safety science
Authors: Reynolds Fiona , Westmoreland Carl , Fentem Julia
Published: October 2019

New informatics capabilities and computational and mathematical modelling techniques, used in combination with highly sensitive molecular biology and mechanistic chemistry approaches, are transforming the way in which we assess the safety of chemicals and products. In recent years, good progress has been made in replacing some of the animal tests required for regulatory purposes with methods using cells and tissues in vitro. Nevertheless, big scientific challenges remain in developing relevant non-animal models able to predict the effects of chemicals which are absorbed systemically. The greatest breakthroughs in non-animal approaches for chemical safety assessment will most likely result from continued multi-disciplinary research investment in predictive (integrative and systems) biology. Some of our current research in this area is described in the present article.
Flying out of danger: The new National Curriculum for England
Authors: Oates Tim
Published: October 2019

“Crisis in science education avoided…” is hardly a front-page headline, but this is exactly what occurred with the National Curriculum in 2010. The revised National Curriculum for England is implemented in schools from this coming September. The version prior to this, a new secondary curriculum, was introduced in 2007. It is this 2007 version which represented a serious threat to science education, and addressing its limitations was a key part of the 2010 review.
The scent of danger: Volatile-mediated information transfer and defence priming in plants
Authors: Morrell Kimberly , Kessler André
Published: October 2019

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are constantly emitted by plants, and play a major role in information transfer between plants and other organisms. One of the consequences of VOC-mediated information transfer is that plants ‘warn’ neighbouring plants when they are attacked, enabling these neighbours to prime defence responses in anticipation of future attack. Priming refers to a memory effect in which previous exposure to a stimulus (i.e. VOCs) enables plants to respond faster and more strongly when presented with a future stimulus (i.e. herbivory, pathogen infection). In recent years, our knowledge of how VOCs are perceived by plants, and the broad-scale phenotypic changes they induce, has grown dramatically. Multiple plant species seem to prime defence responses following exposure to herbivore-induced VOCs. However, the mechanisms underlying priming remain speculative. In the present article we highlight recent advancements in our understanding of stress perception by plants and discuss hypotheses of what might be happening on a molecular level in primed plants. Furthermore, we discuss ecological consequences of priming responses such as consequences for plant competitive interactions, and interactions with mutualistic and antagonistic animals.
Carrion-based plant aposematism: Do plants use visual carrion-based aposematism to deter herbivores?
Authors: Lev-Yadun Simcha
Published: October 2019

Insect carrion and trapped live insects are attached to the surfaces of many plant species that have sticky or hooked trichomes or are sticky following the exudation of latex or resin when wounded. Direct physical/chemical defences by trichomes, resins and latex are well known. In addition, such attached carrion is known to attract predators that indirectly defend the plants against further insect attacks. I propose that, in addition, the attached dead or trapped living insects may serve as billboards: (i) cueing visually to other herbivores that the plants are already occupied; and (ii) cueing and signalling them both visually and by rotting carrion or stress volatiles emitted from trapped insects that such plants are dangerous and even deadly. This is a type of an extended phenotype (via insect bodies and volatiles), ‘second-hand’ plant aposematism, based on non-self but still plant-associated signals.