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BBSRC/RSE Enterprise Fellowship for Dr Neil Dixon (September 2010)
Dr Neil Dixon has received a BBSRC/RSE Enterprise fellowship to exploit the commercial potential of work he developed during his postdoctoral studies within the laboratory of Professor Jason Micklefield. This fellowship based in the MIB will support the development of the gene expression control technology, allow further consultation with identified industrial partners, and support the commercial developments.
more..BIogeochemical Gradients and RADionuclide transport - BIGRAD (September 2010)
Dr Nick Bryan and Professor Francis Livens from the School of Chemistry are partners in a major £3M consortium project, recently funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, and led by Professor Kath Morris with Professor Jonathan Lloyd from the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences at the University of Manchester. This new research initiative in radioactive waste disposal is a joint project between the Universities of Manchester, Leeds, Loughborough and Sheffield, the British Geological Survey (BGS), the ANKA KIT Synchrotron, Karlsruhe, the UK DIAMOND Synchrotron and industry /regulators including the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Radioactive Waste Management Directorate (NDA-RWMD).
more..Materials World Programme (August 2010)
Professor Robert Dryfe (School of Chemistry) and Dr Sven Schroeder (School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science) have been awarded an EPSRC grant (£320k) to collaborate with Professor Mark Schlossman of the University of Illinois, under the auspices of the US NSF ‘Materials World’ programme, which seeks to develop US/overseas collaborations.
The project will look at the in situ growth of nanoparticles. These materials have come to the fore of late, and are finding numerous applications from energy storage to security, but our knowledge of how they form is actually quite primitive.
The research will use of synchrotron X-ray methods to probe the evolving nanoparticle structure. Some preliminary x-ray absorption experiments have already been performed by the Manchester academics at the UK Diamond Light source.
more..The University of Manchester is leading a £2.2 million (€2.56 Million) project to develop new green chemical processes: (19 Feb 2010)
The ‘Amine synthesis through biocatalytic cascades’ (AMBIOCAS) programme brings together microbiologists, enzymologists, chemists, engineers and process development experts involved in research to develop the next generation of green manufacturing methods for the chemical industry.
Led by Professor Nick Turner, Director of the Centre of Excellence for Biocatalysis, Biotransformations and Biocatalytic Manufacture (CoEBio3), the three-year project involves six partners from academia and industry.
Funded by the European Union FP7 programme, the project is expected to make a major contribution to efforts to replace traditional chemical manufacturing – reliant on highly toxic chemicals and solvents – with so-called ‘white biotechnology’, which employs the power of natural biocatalysts and modern manufacturing techniques to deliver safer and less environmentally damaging industrial methods.
White biotechnology is a term used mainly in Europe for the application of nature’s catalysts, such as enzymes and cells, in biotechnology for industrial purposes. The use of the world ‘white’ distinguishes it from other biotechnologies such as ‘red’ (medicinal) and ‘green’ (plant) biotechnology.
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Researchers in Manchester have successfully carried out the first rewire of genetic switches, creating what could be a vital tool for the development of new drugs and even future gene therapies.
A team of scientists from the School of Chemistry, the Faculty of Life Sciences and the Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre (MIB) at The University of Manchester have found a way of hijacking so-called ‘riboswitches’ and directing gene activity.
Working within cells of bacteria, chemical biologist Professor Jason Micklefield and his team have rewired these genetic switches so they are no longer activated by small naturally occurring molecules found in cells – but through the addition of a synthetic molecule.
The work builds on the recent discovery that these naturally occurring molecules can turn genes on and off by triggering riboswitches found within a large molecule called ‘messenger RNA’.
The research was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Selective Chemical Intervention in Biological Systems Initiative.
In the latest research, when Manchester researchers added synthetic molecules, they bound to the riboswitches and caused the genes to spark into life.
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A Chemistry post graduate from The University of Manchester has scooped a prestigious scholarship.
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Professor Paul O'Brien and his research team in the School of Chemistry at The University of Manchester are joining forces with Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd, a Japan based manufacturer, to form a new research collaboration.
Scientists at The University of Manchester have developed an experiment that sheds new and fascinating light on how life on Earth might have begun.
The University of Manchester will play a key role in a new 'virtual' £30 million Knowledge Centre for Material Chemistry at Daresbury.
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