News

News: June 2014

First class degree for Zoology graduate Emilie

Despite facing some criticism about her decision to pursue with her studies, a Bangor University student will be graduating with a first-class degree this week.

Publication date: 24 June 2014

Bangor University scientists take part in world-wide ocean health check

Scientists at Bangor University will be joining forces with marine scientists across the world on 21 June to take part in an ambitious global research project – Ocean Sampling Day . 80% of all life on Earth comes from the World Ocean which covers more than 70% of the Earth surface. Marine microorganisms are responsible for a smooth functioning of global elements’ cycles, however less than 1 % of them are known. The School of Biological Sciences will join 150 research organisations from Iceland to Anatartica and from Moorea (French Polynesia) to South Africa to study and health check the world’s oceans.

Publication date: 18 June 2014

Identifying the mechanisms that affect changes in snake venoms

Every year, snakebites kill up to 90,000 people, mostly in impoverished, rural tropical areas. This statistic is surprising when one considers that antivenoms are available, however, the truth is that the efficacy of antivenom is largely restricted to the snake species that was used in manufacture, and they are often ineffective in treating snakebite by different, even closely related species. Writing in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United states of America doi.10.1073/pnas. 1405484111 ) Dr Nicholas Casewell and Wolfgang Wüster of Bangor University and colleagues identify the mechanisms by which the variations in venom occurs between related snake species and also the significant variations in venom toxicity that occurs as a result.

Publication date: 10 June 2014

Cancer Cells do it the “quick-and-dirty way”

The hallmark of cancer is uncontrolled cell growth directed by a cell cycle engine gone into overdrive. The centrepiece of this engine is the enzyme Cdc2 kinase. While Cdc2 kinase is tightly regulated in normal cells, this control is lost in cancer cells. Cutting-edge research conducted at Bangor University in the North West Cancer Research Institute discovered now that hyperactive Cdc2 kinase not only forces cells into uncontrolled growth but also reprograms the repair of broken chromosomes.

Publication date: 10 June 2014

Biomedical Science PhD student wins the Carl Singer Foundation Prize

The Carl Singer Foundation, which supports scientific education in the field of yeast genetics, organized for the first time a special presentation session at the recent British Yeast Group meeting. This high profile scientific conference took place between the 7 th and 9 th of April 2014 at Exeter University. Thirteen students from across the United Kingdom were selected based on the quality of their submitted abstract to present their research work. The winner of the top prize for the best presentation was Mrs Jessica Fletcher from the School of Biological Science at Bangor University. Jessica, who is also a post-graduate teaching assistant in Biomedical Science, researches how a novel variant of the oncogene Chk2 affects the ability of cells to responds to DNA damage.

Publication date: 6 June 2014