News http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-viewer/rss Aaron Crompton 2011-02-02T16:30:46Z Election of Prof Bill Richardson to the Royal Society http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/Richardson-RS-Election Many congratulations to Bill Richardson who has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and for the recognition of his work on CNS stem cells and their neuronal and glial progeny. Fiona Williamson 2013-05-03T15:37:45Z Viva success for Siobhan Cox http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/phd-siobhan-cox Congratulations to Siobhan Cox who successfully passed her PhD viva held at The Natural History Museum on Friday 5 April.  Her thesis is on Diversification and Molecular Systematics in African Zosterops (Aves: Passeriformes). This project was co-supervised with Dr Julia Day (UCL GEE) and Dr Robert Prys-Jones (NHM). Fiona Williamson 2013-04-15T15:57:28Z Jonathan Freedland talks to Adam Rutherford, Barbara Sahakian, Steve Jones and Susan Aldworth about life, decision-making and our sense of self. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/start-the-week-podcast On Start the Week, BBC Radio 4, Jonathan Freedland journeys from the origin of life to the possibilities of new life-forms with the geneticist Adam Rutherford. Steve Jones updates the Bible from the point of view of modern science and Barbara Sahakian looks at our ability to make decisions, and whether 'smart drugs' should be used to boost our reactions. The artist Susan Aldworth is inspired by neuro-scientific imagery to explore the relationship between mind and body in her portraits of those with epilepsy and in doing so asks how this material corresponds or contrasts with the subject's sense of self. Fiona Williamson 2013-04-15T15:51:59Z Steve Jones updates the Bible from the point of view of modern science http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/bible-retold-science The Bible was the first scientific textbook of all; and it got some things right (and plenty more wrong). Steve Jones' new book rewrites it in the light of modern science. Are we all descended from a single couple, a real-life Adam and Eve? Was the Bible's great flood really a memory of the end of the Ice Age? Will we ever get back to Methuselah given that British life expectancy is still rising by six hours a day, every day? Fiona Williamson 2013-04-12T14:50:05Z Obituary: Professor David Wilkie, born 6th August 1923, died 3rd March 2013 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/2013-03-03-David-Wilkie-Obituary Following training on Spitfires in South Africa David was transferred to Burma where he flew Hurricanes in the war against Japan. When the war ended he remained in the Far East where he flew Dakotas and DC3's and helped evacuate prisoners of war from the infamous Changi prison in Singapore. During this period David was the personal pilot to Air Officer Commanding (AOC) RAF Burma, Hugh Saunders (later Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Saunders). Pilot Officer Wilkie returned to Scotland in December 1946 saying that he had flown every day for four years and never wanted to fly again. He never did. Fiona Williamson 2013-04-04T15:39:29Z Exaggerated claims from genetic ancestry testing companies undermine serious research into human genetic history http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/genetic-ancestry You may have missed the latest genetic discovery. As reported by The Daily Telegraph on Friday: "One million British men may be directly descended from the Roman legions". The story reappeared on Sunday, at the Who Do You Think You Are – Live event at London's Olympia, when it was repeated by Alistair Moffatt, the managing director of BritainsDNA, the company behind the claims. Such stories are becoming increasingly common in newspapers, on television and radio. Last week on the BBC miniseries Meet the Izzards we were told that Eddie Izzard is a Viking descendant on his mother's side and an Anglo-Saxon descendant on his father's. Last year the Observer reported that Tom Conti has Saracen origins and is a relative of Napoleon Bonaparte. And for upwards of £150 you too can have your DNA "tested" by any of a number of direct-to-consumer ancestry companies. But how reliable are these claims? The truth is that there is usually little scientific substance to most of them and they are better thought of as genetic astrology. Fiona Williamson 2013-02-26T16:50:43Z Animal model of human evolution indicates thick hair mutation emerged 30,000 years ago http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/thick-hair-mutation “Thicker hair, tooth shape, more sweat glands … could have increased fitness, but for quite different reasons,” said Professor Mark Thomas (UCL Genetics, Evolution & Environment). Read: UCL News Fiona Williamson 2013-02-15T17:06:25Z Pascale Gerbault PhD Success http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/20130211c The Department and Pascale's PhD supervisors, Prof Mark Thomas and Prof Dallas Swallow, warmly congratulate Pascale on the successful defense of her thesis entitled 'Modeling demographic and evolutionary history: Integrating genetic and archaeological data' at her viva exam on Friday, 8 February.  Fiona Williamson 2013-02-11T12:15:39Z Congratulations Liz Harley on the successful completion of her PhD http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/20130211b Our warmest congratulations to Elisabeth Harley who successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled 'Reproductive quality and mating strategy in stalk-eyed flies', supervised by Professor Kevin Fowler and Professor Andrew Pomiankowski. Fiona Williamson 2013-02-11T12:03:51Z Matt Piper on diet and ageing http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/20130211 How does what we eat affect how we age? Is it a question of quantity, or is quality the key? With the global population getting older and many of the world's most devastating diseases linked to the process of ageing, answering these questions could be essential to a healthy future. Matt Piper, from the Institute of Healthy Ageing at UCL, talks to Benjamin Thompson about the science behind a healthy diet. This packed lunch event was recorded live on 5 December 2012 at Wellcome Collection. Fiona Williamson 2013-02-11T11:51:26Z Orgin of life emerged from cell membrane bioenergetics http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/2012-12-21 A coherent pathway which starts from no more than rocks, water and carbon dioxide and leads to the emergence of the strange bio-energetic properties of living cells, has been been traced for the first time in a major hypothesis paper in Cell this week. Fiona Williamson 2012-12-20T12:01:41Z More than 200 hundred genes identified for Crohn’s Disease by the Maniatis group at GEE http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/maniatis-crohns-disease-gene-id Published in The American Journal of Human Genetics, Nik Maniatis and colleagues (PhD student Heather Elding,  post doc Winston Lau and Prof Dallas Swallow) have now used their gene mapping strategy for a genome wide association study.  Using this method  which more precisely maps gene locations and uses fewer samples than current meta-analyses, they have been able to identify a large number of additional genes for Crohn’s Disease, making a total of more than 200.  Notably some of these  appear to have a much stronger effect in a clinical subgroup of patients--another step towards personalised medicine. UCL's Press Release here . Fiona Williamson 2012-12-14T20:13:40Z Prof Max Telford awarded ERC Grant http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/20121108 Congratulations to Professor Max Telford on the success of his recent ERC Advanced Grant application.  ERC Advanced Grants allow exceptional established research leaders of any nationality and any age to pursue ground-breaking, high-risk projects that open new directions in their respective research fields or other domains.  The award (Euro2.1m) will be used to exploit and develop further studies in the Telford lab on Xenacoelomorpha ( see the abstract ).   Fiona Williamson 2012-11-09T14:33:36Z Congratulations to Prof Roger Wotton recipient of UCL Research Frontiers prize http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/201208Nov We congratulate our colleague, Prof Roger Wotton (Genetics, Evolution & Environment), who, along with four other colleagues has been awarded a UCL Research Frontiers prize for An imaginary interview between a New Academic and E Ray Lankester, Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at UCL from 1875-1890 . Jane Dempster 2012-11-08T14:38:40Z Prof Jürg Bähler publishes lead article on Fission Yeast in Cell journal http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/20120112 Quantitative Analysis of Fission Yeast Transcriptomes and Proteomes in Proliferating and Quiescent Cells Jane Dempster 2012-11-01T17:00:46Z Prof Steve Jones and Dr Nick Lane feature in BBC documentary on the secret life of the cell http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/201230ct There is a battle playing out inside your body right now. It started billions of years ago and it is still being fought in every one of us every minute of every day. It is the story of a viral infection - the battle for the cell. Jane Dempster 2012-10-30T16:39:46Z Prof Kate Jones's and the Bat Detective project launched plus interview on BBC World http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/201203Oct 3 October 2012 Jane Dempster 2012-10-03T17:12:45Z Exciting developments from the IHA's contribution at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/20122609-4 The IHA recently took part in the hugely successful Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition with a stand explaining current research on healthy ageing.  As a consequence of this, further invitations were received to participate in other events and the team has therefore already exhibited in Bangkok, Thailand at the invitation of The British Council and are due to take part shortly in the more local Bloomsbury Festival to be held on  20/21 October as well as a Science Exhibition in Brighton in the New Year.  Congratulations to Dr Matt Piper and his team from the Partridge, Piper, Gems and also Bahler labs for an excellent piece of public engagement. Jane Dempster 2012-09-26T11:16:10Z Dr Ivana Bjedov awarded an ERC Starting Grant for her cancer research http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/20122609-3 Congratulations to Dr Ivana Bjedov of the Partridge lab in the IHA who has been awarded 1,453,219 euros as part of an ERC Starting Grant to study cancer in Drosophila. The 5 year project will be conducted at the UCL Cancer Institute. Jane Dempster 2012-09-26T11:08:26Z IHA awarded major Wellcome Trust grant http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/20122609-2 Congratulations to Professors Linda Partridge and David Gems on their recent award of a £4.7m Wellcome Trust Strategic Award.  The project, entitled 'Biological determinants of ageing and late life health, and their pharmacological manipulation' will build on an earlier WTSA awarded in 2007. Jane Dempster 2012-09-26T11:03:24Z EMBO grant awarded to Prof Jurg Bahler http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/20122609 GEE's Prof Jurg Bahler has been awarded an EMBO grant of Euros 30,000 to fund a conference which he is organizing on 'Fission Yeast: Pombe 2013:  7th International Fission Yeast Meeting' which will be held at UCL 24-29 June 2013. Jane Dempster 2012-09-26T10:46:15Z Is DNA the future of large-scale digital storage? http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/20122509-3 20 August 2012 Jane Dempster 2012-09-25T15:12:34Z Launch of Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Research http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/20122509 GEE is proud to announce the launch of the Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Research (CBER) ,  a vibrant research centre bringing together UCL researchers from a range of departments across UCL including Life, Earth, Social, Computational and Mathematical Science directed by Prof Georgina Mace . Jane Dempster 2012-09-25T09:39:18Z Academic promotions: Congratulations to Prof David Gems http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/201208Aug Warmest congratulations from everyone in GEE/IHA to David Gems who will officially become Professor of Biogerontology as of October 2012.   Jane Dempster 2012-08-09T11:08:17Z Prof Linda Partridge in top 30 of most cited authors in ageing research http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gee/gee-news-publication/20129Aug-2 Using analysis from Web of Science , 'Lab Times' shows GEE's Prof Linda Partridge  in top 30 of most cited authors in ageing research. Jane Dempster 2012-08-09T11:04:48Z