BioScience Today 21

SCIENCETODAY

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ISSUE21

FISHING FOR ANSWERS TO THE COVID CONUNDRUM medical research • women in science • innovation • covid-19 • drug treatments • bioprocessing • intellectual property

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| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

| welcome |

foreword Helen Compson Editor in chief

Editor Helen Compson helen.compson@distinctivegroup.co.uk

Design Distinctive Publishing, 3rd Floor, Tru Knit House, 9-11 Carliol Square, Newcastle, NE1 6UF Tel: 0191 580 5990 www.distinctivepublishing.co.uk

Advertising Distinctive Publishing, 3rd Floor, Tru Knit House, 9-11 Carliol Square, Newcastle, NE1 6UF Tel: 0191 580 5990 e: tony.stephenson@distinctivegroup.co.uk www.distinctivepublishing.co.uk

SOME OF THE GREAT SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES OF OUR AGE So, has the fishing vessel American Dynasty, which sailed out of Seattle in May with 122 people on board, provided the first real evidence outside of a lab that antibodies do offer protection against Covid reinfection?

Three had already had the virus, pre-trip blood tests revealed, and possessed significant levels of neutralizing antibodies. Subsequently they were among the few to escape when 85% of their fellow crew members came down with it.

The jury’s still out, but ‘interesting!’ said Prof.

Peter Openshaw, daily chairman of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, advisor to the Chief Medical Officer and the Scientific Advisory Group in Emergencies (SAGE).

“The key questions we are all waiting answers to at the moment are what type of immunity and what level of immunity protects against infection and, importantly, for how long?” he said. “Getting those answers is the number one priority.”

Prof. Ruth Plummer’s priority is identifying the most likely treatment that will prolong the lives of the cancer patients that come through her doors.

Distinctive Publishing or BioScience Today cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies that may occur, individual products or services advertised or late entries. No part of this publication may be reproduced or scanned without prior written permission of the publishers and BioScience Today.

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The consultant oncologist is head of both Cancer Research UK’s Newcastle operations and the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Research Trials Centre nearby.

The latter is a designated unit for the administration of first in human experimental cancer drugs, meaning she and her team take innovative new drugs from lab to clinic.

They have earned themselves a world-class reputation in the process.

Meanwhile, Sonia Houghton, chief executive of biological sample storage specialist Cryoniss, is interested in another great challenge of our age – that of reproducibility in relation to scientific experiments.

In 2016, Monya Baker, editor of the highly respected Nature magazine, asked 1576 scientists if they had ever had trouble reproducing results.

Over 70% said yes, they had been unable to reproduce another scientist’s experiments, and more than half admitted they had failed to reproduce their own.

Just how do scientists begin to turn that around, to restore some of the credibility that has been lost along the way? Sonia, an experienced research scientist herself, knows where she would start.

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features

Fishing for answers to the covid conundrum

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10 Stronger surveillance of joint implant failures called for World class research fuels war on cancer

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| contents |

contents

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/ www.biosciencetoday.co.uk / issue 21 /

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Foreword

4-5

Contents

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Industry Contributors

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intellectual property Is your IP Strategy fit for purpose? – Five questions to ask yourself

10-13

medical research Stronger surveillance of joint implant failures called for.

10-13

women in science In this, the second in a three-part series, HELEN COMPSON talks to Prof. Ruth Plummer, professor of experimental cancer medicine at Newcastle University’s Northern Institute for Cancer Research, consultant oncologist at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and director of the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre.

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innovation How different funding models are driving research towards commercialisation.

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covid-19 The eyes of the scientific world have been on a Covid-stricken fishing vessel that seems to have provided the first real evidence outside of a lab that antibodies do indeed protect against reinfection.

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bioprocessing Teesside University’s £22m National Horizons Centre opened last September with two objectives, to drive research into bioprocessing and to plug the yawning skills gap. We hear from co-author of the UK’s National Industrial Biotechnology Strategy to 2030, Dr Jen Vanderhoven who took the helm of the National Horizons Centre on September 1st.

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36 Study sheds light on killer fungus

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drug treatments Scientists have identified an “Achilles heel” that could help in the fight against a killer fungus. Candida auris, which first surfaced in 2009 and kills 30-60% of people who become infected, is hard to diagnose and is resistant to many antifungal drugs.

| industry contributors |

Alex Bone Patent Attorney, Partner, AA Thornton

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Peter Openshaw Professor of Experimental Medicine at Imperial College London

Alex is a UK and European qualified patent attorney with extensive experience in identifying and protecting innovations, and has spent many years working in-house in the medical device and diagnostic field.

Through his work with big corporates and multinationals Alex is able to bring a wealth of knowledge to his work with SMEs and start-ups to provide leading strategic IP advice.

Peter Openshaw is Professor of Experimental Medicine at Imperial College London and an Honorary Physician in the Department of Respiratory Medicine at the St Mary’s Campus of the Imperial College NHS Trust. He was appointed as an NIHR Senior Investigator in 2013 and became President of the British Society for Immunology in 2014, the first clinician to lead the organisation.

Jen Vanderhoven Director, National Horizon Centre

Dr Anne Lane CEO, UCL Business

Jen is the Director of the National Horizon Centre, where she is responsible for leading its establishment and development as a centre of excellence for the biosciences sector, representing the NHC nationally and regionally.

She works with industry to ensure that provision is driven by current and planned needs for skills, research, innovation and talent and to ensure the commercial success of the NHC.

Anne has a PhD in medicine from UCL and an Executive MBA from Molson Business School, Montreal. After research at UCL and Harvard Medical School, Anne worked for RTP Pharma Inc in Montreal, out-licensing and preparing valuations of the company’s portfolio for public listing. Anne joined UCL Ventures in 2000 and acted as consultant for the National Transfer Centre in the US. She is now CEO of UCLB, acts as Director and interim CEO on several of UCLB’s spinout companies and oversees the company’s licensing activity. Anne is also a member of the Licensing Executives Society (LES) and is on the committee for the Intellectual Property Lawyers Organisation (TIPLO).

Previously to this, Jen has been a senior leader at Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB), a Biologics Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation, sitting on their Global Leadership Team, where she was responsible for the execution of the FDB growth strategy and business change portfolio, ensuring the company meets its global vision, mission and our challenging business objectives.

Before joining FDB Jen spent four years as Network Manager of a UK Government (BBSRC) funded industrial biotechnology network made up of academia and industrialists.

Prior to this Jen has worked in the bioscience industry in business development, sales and marketing, and lab management roles after gaining her doctorate from Sheffield University in metabolomics in 2007.

Sonia Houghton CEO Cryoniss Sonia is the CEO of Cryoniss, a contract service organisation providing next day delivery of qualified cell lines to global research institutions, pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Cryoniss is able to offer holistic support to customers including the acquisition of quality, ethically and legally sourced reagents, regulatory support, endto-end premium logistics management solutions and coordination of quality control testing of mammalian cell line reagents.

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| intellectual property |

Is your IP Strategy fit for purpose? – Five Questions to Ask Yourself As a result of the lockdown due to the global pandemic there is a greater need and renewed focus on using innovation to kick-start the economic recovery. The result is significant investment in R&D focussed on creating new products.

Alex Bone

Patent Attorney, Partner, AA Thornton

In the bio- or med- tech space there are many things to think about when creating a product, but overlooking your IP strategy could mean that not only could you not be making the most of the R&D investment, but you could also leave yourself wide open to expensive and time consuming legal issues. IP includes patents to protect the technology, trade marks to protect the brand, designs to protect the look of a product, and confidential information/trade secrets to protect knowhow. In the biotech and pharma space IP protection which can provide a period of market exclusivity can be crucial to the future of the business due to the time and money required to develop, test and get to market.

While businesses without IP can thrive, having appropriate protection for key elements of a product can be crucial to success in some areas, particularly when it comes to gaining investment or funding in the early stages. Identifying what sort of business you want to build, and implementing an appropriate strategy, could be vital.

WHEN CREATING AN IP STRATEGY THERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS THAT SHOULD BE ASKED: 1: What is your business plan?

IP rights are business assets and your IP strategy should support your business plan. What aspects of your business and products need protection? Do you intend to license any of your IP to generate a revenue, or for other reasons? Is the IP intended to secure an exclusive position for your product, and what happens if it cannot? Are there further products, improvements or brands to come?

2: What IP rights do you potentially already have?

If you have created a product or way of doing something, or developed a brand, you may already have more automatic IP rights than you know. Carrying out an IP audit can identify those rights you already have, such as trade secrets, copyright, unregistered designs and the like and ensure that they are appropriately captured. An audit can also identify inventions, brands or designs that can be protected if desired. Some form of regular audit should be included in an IP strategy to ensure that potentially valuable rights are not overlooked.

3: What do you want to be protected, and where?

Just because something can be protected, does not mean that it should be. The investment in securing IP can be substantial and, as most innovators have a limited budget, that investment needs to be justifiable financially and tactically. Considering the IP portfolio from the perspective of an external investor, what value is that right expected to bring to the business, and is that greater than the expected costs?

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4: What are the potential IP risks?

Different IP protection strategies can bring with them different risks, and third parties may have rights that directly affect your ability to carry out your business plan.

An IP strategy should consider third party activity and could include conducting focussed searches at appropriate times to try to identify problematic third party rights. Once identified, those rights can be analysed and a mitigation plan created to avoid them unduly restricting your activities.

Regular, broader, IP searches can also provide valuable competitor intelligence by identifying areas in which competitors are active.

5: How will IP interactions with Third Parties proceed?

An IP strategy can include how you plan to defend yourself against third parties challenging your IP or using their rights against you and how you will challenge third parties.

The strategy can also include how you will carry out, or prepare for, IP due diligence which might take place when monetising or otherwise exploiting IP assets.

Working with an IP attorney when developing your IP strategy can help to ensure that it is fit for purpose, supporting your business plan with the protection you require without unnecessary spend. While you may feel that developing your new product and commercialising it is critical, not protecting your IP could be the biggest mistake you make.

If you have any queries regarding this topic, or would like assistance creating or implementing an IP strategy, please contact Alex Bone at amtb@aathornton.com or visit aathornton.com

| medical research |

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

STRONGER SURVEILLANCE OF JOINT IMPLANT FAILURES CALLED FOR With the major failings of several joint implants already a matter of international record and the details of another starting to emerge, a more comprehensive system of surveillance is long overdue, says one expert.

David Langton, a surgical researcher at the University Hospital of North Tees, launched spinoff business ExplantLab, so disconcerted was he by his findings.

His aim, to help pave the way to a cost-effective means of analysing the problems caused.

Well-known prosthesis failures include the 3M Capital hip of the 1990s and then, in the noughties, the ASR (articular surface replacement) ‘metal on metal’ hip made by DePuy, a subsidiary of American healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson.

While the 3M scandal triggered the creation of the UK’s National Joint Registry, the accompanying system has two potential weaknesses, said David Langton.

“Manufacturers themselves are consulted prior to the release of the registry and it is possible this may impact on the wording of a report,” he said.

Far from being critical of those behind the implant failures, he is instead calling for the introduction of a more robust system of surveillance.

That would begin with requiring surgeons to send failed devices for analysis.

If regulation required an answer, the use of a potentially problematic prosthesis could be nipped in the bud sooner rather than later - before thousands of patients’ lives were blighted by it.

Acting on reports the metal on metal wear was producing metal debris that could destroy soft tissue around the joint and, in some cases, release ions of cobalt and chromium into the blood and cerebral spinal fluid, DePuy withdrew the ASR hip joint in 2010.

But by then, it had already been implanted in more than 93,000 people worldwide.

He said: “We experienced this again with the Pinnacle metal on metal device. We knew the products were not performing as well as expected and when the explanted components were analysed, we found that they were not manufactured correctly.

“In Australia, there is a Chinese wall between manufacturers and medics.”

“A significant percentage should not have left the factory. We found that out 10 years ago, it made the front page of a national newspaper, yet the NHS has not acted on it.

The second weakness is the fact that failing implants are not sent off for analysis after they have been removed.

“Patients actually lost their product liability cases in court as no one backed our findings up.

“Here is the critical thing,” he said, “it is standard clinical practise throughout the world, including in the UK, for a surgeon to remove a device and, even when it has happened much earlier than expected, it is just thrown in the bin.

“Literally this year, a DePuy funded retrieval centre finally published evidence to substantiate ours, but it’s several years too late.

“Patients usually give consent to upload their details to the national database, so there should be millions of records now providing a clear picture of what’s going on.

“But one, there is a time-lag of year between something going wrong and the indication of that appearing on the National Joint Registry, and two, there is little or no investigation of the root cause of the problem.”

“It seems to have dodged the issue until the heat had died down. This is an example of why retrieval centres must be outside the financial influence of manufacturers.”

The NHS had to start clawing back the money it lost as a result, said David. “There is never any attempt at financial recovery by the NHS, when a hospital has been sold a batch of defective products.

“If a joint goes wrong and has multiple infections and

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| medical research |

operations as a result, the NHS just picks up the bill every time - the manufacturers should be made to pay.If a product is proven to be defectively designed or manufacture, rather than having patients dragged through the courts to seek compensation. .”

David was a trainee orthopaedic surgeon when he was asked, in 2007/8, to carry out a clinical review of patients at his hospital trust fitted with the DePuy ASR hip joint. The more he saw and heard, the more alarmed he became.

His ultimate response was to establish ExplantLab, a fully independent research facility with no links to any prosthesis manufacturer.

His team’s collective expertise in the fields of surgery, medicine and bioengineering is employed in assessing the reasons for implant failures, protecting patients from defective devices currently in use and crucially, improving the performance of medical devices in the future. www.explantlab.com

“Patients usually give consent to upload their details to the national database, so there should be millions of records now providing a clear picture of what’s going on.”

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| women in science |

WORLD CLASS RESEARCH FUELS WAR ON CANCER A Women in Science event held in Newcastle upon Tyne earlier this year demonstrated that women are certainly coming into their own in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths.

In this, the second in a three-part series, HELEN COMPSON talks to one of those present, Prof. Ruth Plummer, Professor of Experimental Cancer Medicine at Newcastle University, consultant medical oncologist at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and director of the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre.

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| women in science |

B

y the time a cancer patient meets Professor Ruth Plummer’s team, he or she has few options left.

The 300 or so people referred to the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre each year are living on borrowed time and, indeed, it is a race against time to try to find a solution that, while it might not necessarily cure them, will at least give them a bit more time.

“We focus on early phase and precision medicine trials in relation to solid tumours here at the Sir Bobby Robson Centre, with another team doing similar trials in haematological malignancies such as leukaemia,” said Prof.

Plummer.

“We frequently profile the patient’s tumour, to find out what’s gone wrong and then aim to find a medicine that will target that tumour specifically.

“We’re very honest with patients. They know where they stand when they go on a trial – to ensure they understand what the unknowns are both in terms of chance of response and possible side effects.

“We’re always very clear with patients, this is early phase research work, but our aim is to help them.”

Cancer research caught her attention right at the very beginning of her professional journey, when she was studying pre-clinical medicine at Cambridge University. “I did a lab research project in my final year and absolutely loved it!” she said.

So much so, her supervisor suggested she put her medical training on hold for three years to do a PhD, which she did.

The Medical Research Council funded the programme.

Afterwards, she completed her medical degree, but at Oxford.

By then, very interested in oncology, not least because it is an ever changing discipline, and having found the six months she’d spent in palliative care very rewarding, she accepted a job offer from Prof. Hilary Calvert, then the senior oncologist at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

“Hilary led cancer drug development in early phase trials and I guess I ended up following in his footsteps,” she said.

The Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trial Research Centre, based in the Northern Centre for Cancer Care at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, opened in 2009.

Part and parcel of the world-class Newcastle Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and funded by the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, Cancer Research UK and the Department for Health, its raison d’être is the discovery of new anti-cancer drug therapies.

It is a designated unit for the administration of first in human experimental cancer drugs, meaning her team takes innovative new drugs from lab to clinic.

Indeed, Prof. Plummer was the first clinician in the world to write a prescription for the PARP – or Poly (ADP-ribose)

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polymerase - inhibitor Rucaparib, in 2003. The drug was given accelerated approval in the USA in 2016 and sanctioned for use across the EU in 2018.

She also led another new type of drug, an ATR (Ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3) inhibitor, through early-stage clinical trials. Some cancer cells rely on ATR to survive.

Prof. Plummer said: “Cancer cells are human cells that are dividing out of control. Modern cancer drugs are designed to target whatever has gone wrong and use that vulnerability to kill the cancer cells, without harming the patient too much.

“Basically, we are trying to kill human cells inside a human, so in doing trials, we are working out the correct dose and the side effects.

“You usually do that in the patients themselves, because you can’t test a cancer drug on a cancer-free person, so we really rely on the commitment of our patients to help us deliver trials and better treatments.

We explain our research to them and ask if they are prepared to go down the cancer trial route. The people I see and treat have run out of the standard options but they take the risk of toxicity with a new drug which may not help them.

“For many patients we then look at their tumour cells, trying to work out what’s going wrong and would this potential treatment work or perhaps that one?”

It has always been the puzzle-solving aspect of cancer research that has appealed to Prof. Plummer, the chance to get to the bottom of each individual mystery.

“I do also like the human side of it too!” she said. “My excellent research team see more of the patients on a day to day basis, but I do enjoy being in the clinic.”

Asked if the sadness she must see ever got her down, she answered: “There are success stories, but yes, there are checks and balances.

“One of the things I say when I’m teaching medical students, when I’m talking about my job, is that in some ways it would be a bad thing if from time to time a patient didn’t strike that particular chord, if I didn’t get upset.

“Then I would be thinking ‘I’ve been doing this too long’.

You do still need to have the empathy there.”

Huge advances had been made in the treatment of cancer, particularly over the past two decades, and that in itself was a source of comfort and satisfaction. “People are living longer and better with cancer,” she said. “We’re able to keep them feeling well and alive for longer.”

There were still tremendous challenges in the field, of course. While some cancers were becoming ever more treatable, pancreatic cancer, for example, remains a difficult one that has so far defied any real solution.

Hepatocellular carcinoma, or liver cancer, too is on the rise against an increasing background of obesity, diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

“We’re very honest with patients. They know where they stand when they go on a trial – they know what the chances are of the different outcomes and they understand what the unknowns are. We’re always very clear with patients, this is early phase research work, but our aim is to help them.”

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| women in science |

Prof. Ruth Plummer

In 2010, Prof. Ruth Plummer was awarded a Translational Cancer Research Prize by Cancer Research UK for her work on PARP inhibitors.

In 2018, she was elected a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences for her outstanding contribution to experimental cancer medicine. The citation read that she had “a world-leading reputation in the design and delivery of early phase clinical trials. She has taken many new cancer drugs into the clinic to determine their optimal dose, which have then become standard treatments with proven patient benefit.”

She said: “In childhood cancers there is a 70% survival rate generally, but we haven’t been able to achieve that in adult cancers, so yes, there is still a lot to do.

“An interesting field of research is how our own bodies deal with cancer. The benefits of immuno-therapy, which harnesses the body’s own ability to tackle cancer, is an emerging discipline.”

Prof. Plummer also leads Cancer Research UK’s Newcastle Cancer Centre, is a member of its national Clinical Research Committee and Research Careers Committee as well as the MRC Experimental Medicine Panel and NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation board.

Of the 18 experimental medicine centres for adults Cancer Research UK has nationwide (there is also a paediatric

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network), Newcastle’s is one of the top five most active units in terms of early phase drug trials.

The close-knit group includes the Royal Marsden in London, The Christie in Manchester and the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Care Centre in Glasgow.

Staff from one can nominate patients for a trial at another, if appropriate. “We have an internal website where we share all the trials going on,” she said, “so if we have a patient with a rare tumour type or rare changes in the tumour, we can look up what opportunities are available right across the UK.” www.newcastle-hospitals.org.uk/services/cancer_services_ sir-bobby-robson-cancer-trials-research-centre.html

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How different funding models are driving research towards commercialisation Taking innovation forward can be a complex process, and university commercialisation offices help academics with specialist support to bring their research to market.

UCL Business (UCLB) is a leading commercialisation office and a part of University College London’s department of Innovation & Enterprise. UCLB has several unique funding models designed to help world-class researchers to successfully commercialise more research.

Every breakthrough is different and requires the right support to progress from lab all the way to market.

By operating several tailored funding models, UCLB can maximise the chances of generating commercial breakthroughs from leading research, with the greatest potential for economic and societal impact.

Its different models include the UCL Technology Fund, Apollo Therapeutics, and a fund for social ventures. UCLB also has the Portico Ventures commercialisation model.

Chief executive Dr Anne Lane said: “UCL is home to world-class researchers working on a diverse range of exciting projects with the potential to make a major impact, both in terms of their commercial success and societal transformation.

“Having different funds and funding models means that UCLB has the tools required to support each opportunity in the right way, whether it’s funding to develop a proofof-concept, licensing technologies and IP to established businesses, or establishing an entirely new spinout company to take it forward.

“UCLB’s business managers maintain close and trusted relationships with departments, institutes and researchers.

It’s vital to our managers that they can identify the best possible way to help them.”

The UCL Technology Fund (UCLTF) is an example of how academics have successfully partnered with businesses and venture capitalists to commercialise research from universities.

UCLTF is managed by AlbionVC in collaboration with UCLB. Its focus is on physical and life sciences and they are actively investing in IP that can provide societal and market impact.

The fund works with the relevant academics to support their application for investment, whether that’s proof-ofconcept, development or funding for spinouts to take their innovations to market.

It has proven highly successful, with the £50m first fund resulting in NASDAQ public listings for gene therapy spinouts Freeline Therapeutics, Orchard Therapeutics and MeiraGTx, tackling lifelong chronic conditions.

However, it’s not just early stage investment that UCTLF looks at. With its roots in venture capital, the Funds can support later funding rounds, supporting spinouts right throughout the commercialisation process.

“By partnering with AlbionVC, we’re able to provide more than just funding. It means that researchers benefit from the experience, market knowledge and networks that a successful and established VC like AlbionVC can provide.” said Dr Lane.

Apollo Therapeutics is a drug development vehicle that is funded to develop assets to pharma standards from worldleading academic research.

An advantage Apollo has over other translational funding resources is the projects are managed by its drug discovery team in collaboration with the lead researcher. Apollo supports this with the aim of having a successful, approved asset ready for licensing.

It recently secured its first out-licensing deal with Deerfield, a leading US healthcare investment firm, to take forward a novel gene therapy programme developed at UCL. Portico Ventures is a new model of commercialisation for UCLB that helps researchers to become academic entrepreneurs and commercialise ideas where there isn’t patentable intellectual property. This includes areas such as algorithmic methods, know-how and software.

It gives academics the opportunity to access UCLB’s more than 25 years of commercialisation expertise, while offering greater independence and a greater share of the reward.

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Dr Anne Lane

“Having different funds and funding models means that UCLB has the tools required to support each opportunity in the right way, whether it’s funding to develop a proof-of-concept, licensing technologies and IP to established businesses, or establishing an entirely new spinout company to take it forward.”

In 2019, Odin Vision – a spinout that takes AI technologies originally developed for space applications to detect bowel cancer – became the first Portico Ventures spinout to receive external investment.

“In addition to the success of UCLTF, our work with Apollo Therapeutics and our Portico Ventures model show how important it is to give researchers the tailored support they need at every step along the way.” said Dr Lane.

In November 2019, UCLB launched another significant fund designed to support new social ventures emerging from UCL’s research community. By providing proof-of-concept funding, researchers can explore how a new commercial enterprise can generate the maximum possible benefit for society at large.

UCLB worked with HeLP Digital, a social venture spinout emerging from research and clinical practice led by Professor Elizabeth Murray, to create a new digital platform

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for helping type 2 diabetes patients to self-manage their condition through education and advice.

“We know that many academics want to explore the wider potential of their research to bring benefit to society, and that is an important part of UCLB’s mission too. The introduction of this early-stage fund allows us to support even more social venture projects in their journey.” said Dr Lane.

Each of the different models that UCLB operates demonstrates the importance of providing trusted, tailored support to researchers with promising opportunities www.uclb.com

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New online tool pinpoints HIV health inequalities in England The rate of late HIV diagnosis, which is associated with a tenfold increase in mortality, varies from 25% to 69% across England with black African heterosexual men being disproportionately likely to be diagnosed late*.

A new web-based interactive tool, using the latest HIV surveillance data from Public Health England, is launched today by HIV information charity NAM aidsmap, in partnership with Watipa and Gilead Sciences Ltd. The charity hopes that the tool, HIV Lens (https://www. hiv-lens.org/), will lead to improved HIV outcomes for all communities and populations in England and help put an end to health inequalities within HIV. HIV Lens has been developed to help maintain the progress made against HIV in England. HIV prevention and care in England is among the best in the world, but not all communities are benefiting equally, and there is considerable variation by region. HIV Lens visualises the impact of the HIV epidemic on communities, in a bid to help improve prevention programmes and to focus commissioning efforts.

The goal of eliminating HIV transmission by 2030 depends upon sustaining HIV screening and prevention efforts and expanding them to reach all those at risk. There is substantial variation in sub-populations experiencing late HIV diagnosis rates in England, the highest of which are black African men (65% diagnosed late); white men who acquired HIV heterosexually (59% diagnosed late); people aged over 50 years (59% diagnosed late) and people who inject drugs (58% diagnosed late). Black African men, women and heterosexual non-black men living outside London have twice the rate of undiagnosed HIV infection compared to those living in the city. It is these kinds of health inequalities that need to be addressed to reach our 2030 goal.

Early access to treatment not only dramatically reduces the risk of ill health or death, but also helps prevent new HIV infections, as someone with HIV who is virally suppressed on treatment cannot pass the virus on to sexual partners.

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This is frequently referred to as U=U (Undetectable means Untransmittable).

HIV Lens illustrates how regions and localities compare with others across a range of HIV measures, including proportions of people with HIV who are diagnosed, on treatment and virally suppressed. Accessing HIV Lens, the user can personalise, share or download data of interest to them.

Matthew Hodson Executive Director of NAM aidsmap said: “New cases of HIV may be decreasing but the gains we have made have not been evenly distributed. Black men in particular are most likely to be diagnosed late. In order to win the battle, it is crucial that we make sure that everyone who has HIV is diagnosed and treated as soon as possible. We need to make sure that all groups are taken into consideration when commissioners are planning services. HIV Lens will help achieve this. No one should be left behind. Understanding that HIV treatment prevents transmission underlines the importance of ensuring that HIV is detected and treated. We must seize this opportunity to reduce HIV-related illness and deaths and to end the epidemic.”

Although 97% of people with diagnosed HIV in the UK are receiving treatment, an estimated 1,800 people with HIV are not in care, including 1,500 people who are not recorded as accessing care for at least 18 months. Reducing late diagnoses and ensuring that all who are diagnosed are treated is key to ending the epidemic.

Matthew Hodson said: “As COVID-19 illustrates, capturing and sharing data rapidly is crucial to an effective response.

The goal of ending all new cases of HIV infection and HIV related deaths by 2030 is within our grasp but we will not get there unless we direct our efforts appropriately. It is crucial that HIV is diagnosed quickly and that all groups affected experience the benefits of treatment.”

NAM aidsmap would like to acknowledge the support and guidance of Dr Valerie Delpech and Dr Alison Brown of Public Health England in the development of HIV Lens, as well as Watipa and Gilead Sciences Ltd. Visit the website to start using the tool or to find out more: www.hiv-lens.org

| NETPark |

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

Bioscience companies find The North East Technology Park in County Durham the perfect place to grow their businesS The North-East Technology Park, or NETPark, provides science, technology and engineering companies with the type of world-class laboratory, clean room and office space that can take businesses from a small start-up to a global AIM listed company by providing the on-site facilities, infrastructure and expertise to scale up, prototype and manufacture on-site.

NETPark is the only science park in the UK with two Catapult Centres, in addition to three national innovations centres on the County Durham site, which is home to more than 32 innovative companies employing around 450 highly skilled personnel.

Here you will find a cluster of highly progressive businesses developing their innovations at NETPark, technologies that they hope will improve the lives of people across the globe.

We chatted to two of those companies to find out more about their business and why NETPark is the perfect place for their business to grow.

Twelve months ago, High Force Research, an independently owned chemical research and development company, took over 3800sq.ft of office and laboratory space in NETPark’s Discovery 1 building.

The move made sound common sense for its research team, which had expanded out of the company’s main headquarters just down the road at Bowburn. Their HQ is Bowburn. They moved their operations at Wilton to NETPark.

Department head Dr Neil Sim said: “One of the main attractions was that NETPark could offer us as much room as we wanted, allowing us to design and build a laboratory which was fit for purpose.”

“In addition to our headquarters at Bowburn, we also had a base at the Wilton Centre, for a while, but NETPark has much more of a science/technology park feel to it, with like-

minded companies that are a good fit with the technology and expertise we offer.”

Those other companies include Northumbria Pharma, whose strong track record in formulation sits well with High Force’s expertise in synthetic chemistry, and CPI’s printable electronics, with whom High Force have done a lot of work with over the years.

NETPark is quickly gaining an enviable reputation as a hub for BioSciences businesses to thrive

When High Force Research was established, in 1988, the bulk of its work was the manufacture and supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

While it does still operate in that field – the company is MHRA certified for the supply of materials for both phase one and phase two clinical studies – much of its business today is focused on the development and production of low-volume, but high-value materials used in technologies such as diagnostics and medical devices.

Helping new enterprises bring their ideas to market is key. “Often new technology products don’t require a lot in the way of physical chemical material, but the synthetic route to these compounds is generally very complex,” said Dr Sim. “We tend to get involved at an early stage, becoming their partner and supporting them throughout their journey to manufacture.’

“Much of what we do is about ensuring quality, compliance and sharing the risk in order to accelerate routes to market.”

Durham University spin-out Magnitude BioSciences moved to NETPark in May of this year

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| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

| NETPark |

“The facilities here have allowed us to be productive at a time many companies aren’t and to put the delivery of our service on a very professional footing.”

Dr David Weinkove - Chief executive, Magnitude BioSciences

“We are getting our data back quickly and relatively cheaply, while being able to control the conditions in which the experiments are carried out very carefully.”

Significant investment over recent years means NETPark is able to offer 120,000 sq ft of high-spec laboratory, office and clean room space including over 43,000 sq. ft of dedicated incubation space in NETPark Plexus to accelerate the success of knowledge-based companies into global markets.

Growing businesses will find no shortage of room to expand. Buildings include Discovery 1 & 2, in addition to the most recent additions on-site NETPark Explorer 1 & 2 offering grow-on space.

High Force Research moved in twelve months ago

“One of the main attractions was that NETPark could offer us as much room as we wanted, allowing us to design and build a laboratory which was fit for purpose.”

High Force Research

Magnitude Biosciences, a Durham University spin-out, moved into its new suite in NETPark’s Plexus 2 building, in May of this year, in the middle of lockdown.

For companies looking to develop bespoke premises, NETPark Phase Three provides 26 acres of land for development speculative buildings perfect for businesses that need larger space to prototype, scale-up and manufacture on site.

The pandemic had proved decisive for the company that specialises in providing a Caenorhabditis elegans research service for scientists working in academia and industry alike.

County Durham itself is a great place to base your business.

The air, rail and road infrastructure in the region ensure excellent access across the UK, Europe and rest of the world. The closest airports are Newcastle International and Teesside International Airport.

Chief executive Dr David Weinkove, who is also Associate Professor in the university’s Department of Biosciences, said: “We had long thought about moving to NETPark or somewhere similar, to give us the space and facilities to expand – we are pretty ambitious in that respect.

High speed trains run frequently between London and Edinburgh stopping at Durham. Travel time to Durham by rail is less than 3 hours from London and only 2 hours from Edinburgh.

“The facilities here have allowed us to be productive at a time many companies aren’t and to put the delivery of our service on a very professional footing.”

“Moving from the University has been a really good decision for us, in particular due to NETPark remaining open during the COVID-19 lockdown which allowed us to continue operating.

At the university, the C. elegans Research Laboratory studies a model system of nematode worms in pursuit of greater understanding of basic human biological processes.

Over at Magnitude Biosciences, the resultant knowledge is used to facilitate drug discovery research into ageing and neurodegenerative disorders and in the fields of microbiome and toxicity.

“We are looking for signs of middle-age decline in movement, so by using C. elegans, we can conduct our research within a couple of weeks.”

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The A1M and A19 provide the main north-south routes to the rest of the UK and commute times are among the lowest in the UK. County Durham is an excellent launch pad to the EU and the UK, in addition to being in a time zone wellpositioned to do business with the rest of the world.

To find out more about NETPark visit www.northeasttechnologypark.com (+44) 01740 625250 enquiries@northeasttechnologypark.com @NETParkUK netparkuk

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

| covid-19 |

Work begins on UK system for estimating COVID-19 cases from wastewater Scientists will develop a standardised UK-wide system for detecting coronavirus in wastewater, in order to provide an early warning of future outbreaks and reduce reliance on costly testing of large populations.

The majority of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease – are believed to shed the virus in their faeces, even if they are asymptomatic, so sewage surveillance is widely seen as a promising way of identifying future disease hotspots.

The new £1m research programme will see experts develop sampling, testing and scientific modelling methods that will be adopted by government agencies and scientists across the UK. The work will inform the UK national surveillance programmes recently announced by Defra, Scottish and Welsh Governments.

The researchers will also determine whether there is a possibility for SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and sludge to be infectious, and how environmental factors such as sunlight and temperature reduce infectivity. This will enable them to confirm that current guidance is protective of workers at sewage plants, and also assess the risk to people and animals as a result of treated and untreated sewage discharge in rivers and seas.

The research programme, which is now under way and will last until October 2021, is being led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH). It also involves researchers from the universities of Bangor, Bath, Edinburgh, Cranfield, Lancaster, Newcastle, Oxford and Sheffield, plus the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Dr Andrew Singer of UKCEH, principal investigator of the new National COVID-19 Wastewater Epidemiology Surveillance Programme (N-WESP), says: “Several studies have shown that the RNA of SARS-CoV-2 – the genetic material of the virus - can be detected in wastewater ahead of local hospital admissions, which means wastewater could effectively become the ‘canary in the coal mine’ for COVID-19 and other emerging infectious diseases.

“The research will be centred on wastewater-based epidemiology – the concept is based on analysis of wastewater for markers of infectious disease, illicit drugs

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or pharmaceuticals in order to better inform public health decisions.

“By sampling wastewater at different parts of the sewerage network, we can gradually narrow an outbreak down to smaller geographical areas, enabling public health officials to quickly target interventions in those areas at greatest risk of spreading the infection.”

Professor Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern of the University of Bath, one of the programme’s co-investigators, explains: “Wastewater-based epidemiology offers a promising method for monitoring a pandemic, particularly for infectious diseases such as COVID-19 where asymptomatic cases play a significant role in transmitting the virus. Given the financial and logistical challenges of testing large numbers of people, and then trying to isolate those infected, this represents a potentially low-cost, anonymous and immediate mechanism for predicting local outbreaks and helping to contain the spread of infection.”

The researchers will also work with Defra, environment agencies, public health bodies and water companies across the UK. They will undertake sampling of wastewater at several major cities as part of their study.

Professor Gideon Henderson, Defra Chief Scientific Adviser, says: “It is heartening to see the scientific community continuing to combat coronavirus through this project, alongside the government.

“We are already working with researchers, water companies and devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and NI to monitor for fragments of coronavirus genetic material in wastewater in the hope that it will help us detect new outbreaks.

“Though the science is still in its infancy, this new project will help us to develop the methods that we are applying.”

The research programme is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), as part of UK Research and Innovation’s rapid response to COVID-19.

| covid-19 |

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

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| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

| covid-19 |

FISHING FOR ANSWERS TO THE COVID CONUNDRUM

By HELEN COMPSON The eyes of the scientific world have been on a Covid-stricken fishing vessel that seems to have provided the first real evidence outside of a lab that antibodies do indeed protect against reinfection.

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| covid-19 |

B

efore the factory trawler FV American Dynasty set off from Seattle in May, blood samples collected from its 122 crew members showed that three of them had at some point had Coronavirus and displayed robust levels of neutralizing antibodies.

During the following few weeks, as the trawler fished off the Washington coast, 104 (85%) of the people on board went down with the virus - but not the three concerned.

Interesting! said Prof. Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London and honorary physician in the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Imperial College NHS Trust.

A specialist in viral lung disease and the immunepathogenesis of viral disease, he is the daily chairman of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), which advises the Chief Medical Officer and the Scientific Advisory Group in Emergencies (SAGE).

“The key questions we are all waiting answers to at the moment are what type of immunity and what level of immunity protects against infection and, importantly, for how long?” he said. “Getting those answers is the number one priority.

“Linked to that is ‘what type of immunity will vaccines generate’ and will it be a more or less durable immunity than that provided by natural infection?

“So, yes, it is interesting none of the three became infected in this high-incidence infection environment.”

Information was scant as yet, the scientific community at large knew only what been published in an article by Seattle epidemiologist Alexander L. Greninger.

Little was known generally about the conditions on board ship, what the sleeping arrangements and work patterns were, nor what type of symptoms the presumably young and relatively fit crew members had experienced.

However, said Prof. Openshaw, “this article has been interpreted as being hopeful in terms of indicating a level of antibody-assisted protection.

“But when the same three individuals were followed up a month later, there had been a significant decline in their antibody levels – two of them had come down to a level that might not be protective.

“So while it is interesting, I don’t think we should bring out the trumpets yet. It’s too early to estimate how long protection will last.

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

“There are big, big questions that still need answering and in terms of getting back to normal, I think we are all agreed the only way that’s going to happen is by the development of vaccines that can be rolled out on an enormous scale.

“But it is unlikely, even if that does happen, this virus is going to be eliminated in perpetuity.”

It was difficult, for starters, to eliminate viruses that were highly transmissible by people who were otherwise asymptomatic. They simply weren’t aware they were spreading it.

While it was comparatively easy to eradicate something as visible as smallpox – “not least because you can see somebody is infected and you can back off”, he said – with coronavirus, the infected often didn’t even feel unwell.

“Added to that, the fact the PCR test (the polymerase chain reaction test carried out via nose or throat swab) for virus detection is not 100% accurate means we are failing to diagnose it in some people who definitely do have Covid,” he said.

“PCR might only be about 70% accurate, so the mainstay of diagnosis is not wholly reliable, and the antibody tests that have been developed are still being refined, and then we don’t know which one of these tests is the most reliable in confirming if somebody has been infected.”

Around 15% of common cold strains are caused by common coronaviruses and studies have shown they offer a degree of immunity for up to 80 days, after which people can be re-infected with the same strain.

If that was true of SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind Covid-19, then it would be reasonable to estimate the antibodies would give two to three months’ protection.

“But that’s not necessarily the case,” said Prof. Openshaw.

“Those coronaviruses have adapted to control the host immune system in a way that enables reinfection, while this is a novel coronavirus that has jumped species and might not have that adaptability.

“So, it could be a virus that the host could develop immunity to, for a minimum of two to three months, but perhaps for much longer.

“It could be possible to develop life-long immunity, but this virus hasn’t been in the human population long enough for us to know.

“We are in uncharted territory.”

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AROUND 15% OF COMMON COLD STRAINS ARE CAUSED

BY COMMON CORONAVIRUSES AND STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THEY OFFER A DEGREE OF IMMUNITY FOR UP TO 80 DAYS, AFTER WHICH PEOPLE CAN BE RE-INFECTED WITH THE SAME STRAIN.

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

| covid-19 |

“The key questions we are all waiting answers to at the moment are what type of immunity and what level of immunity protects against infection and, importantly, for how long? Getting those answers is the number one priority. Prof. Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London

Prof. Peter Openshaw

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| storage and logistics |

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

STRIVING TO IMPROVE RATES OF REPRODUCIBILITY Experts in biological sample storage and logistics management, CRYONISS offers a comprehensive storage service at ambient, +4°C, -20°C and -80°C, as well as vapour phase liquid nitrogen.

The Cheshire-based Cryoniss team has a wealth of experience in supporting drug discovery projects, from early stage target identification through to clinical trials and life cycle management.

What the company prides itself on most is enabling its clients to carry out exceptional science by ensuring samples remain of the highest quality.

Researchers must be able to have confidence in the data they are producing, said chief executive Sonia Houghton, alluding to the debate that has been raging behind the scenes for years now.

Reproducibility – or the lack of it – is perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing the research community, and our reputation as scientists, today.

In 2016, Monya Baker, editor of the highly respected Nature magazine, asked 1576 scientists if they had ever had trouble reproducing results.

Over 70% said yes, they had been unable to reproduce another scientist’s experiments, and more than half admitted they had failed to reproduce their own.

“We provide co-ordination services for the quality control testing of research cell lines too, using key contract research organisations who, in our experience, provide the most sensitive and reliable screening assays.”

Screening is available for that bugbear of research, mycoplasma, as well as human and murine viruses, and cell sterility.

Cryoniss also offers the most robust of cell line authentication services for human, mouse, rat, dog and interspecies contamination testing – the best starting point for the grassroots revolution needed to begin righting the wrongs of widespread un-reproducibility.

Sonia said: “Essentially, we have aligned ourselves with the International Cell Line Authentication Committee and its ethos, namely that researchers and departments need to take matters into their own hands by publishing their own internal reagent quality policy.

3%

No, there is no crisis

That’s not hard to do. The University of Colorado has published a draft reagent policy online, so a template is available.”

IS THERE A

REPRO DUCIB ILITY CRISI S? A Nature survey lifts the lid on how researchers view the ‘crisis’ rocking science and what they think will help.

B Y M O N YA B A K E R

52%

Yes, a significant crisis

38%

Yes, a slight crisis

M

1,576 RESEARCHERS SURVEYED

ore than 70% of researchers reproduce another scientist’s have tried and failed to Failing to reproduce results experiments, and is a rite of than half have failed to reproduce their own more biological psychologist at the Universitypassage, says Marcus Munafo, a experi- standing interest ments. Those are some of Bristol, UK, who has a longof the telling figures in scientific reproducibility. emerged from Nature’s that When he was a student, survey of 1,576 researchers he says, “I tried to replicate what looked who took a brief online simple from the literature, questionnaire wasn’t able to. Then I and had a crisis of confidence, The data reveal sometimes-contr on reproducibility in research. and then I learned that my experience wasn’t adictory attitudes towards uncommon.” ibility. Although 52% reproducof those surveyed agree The challenge is not that there is a significant ‘crisis’ of reproducibility, to eliminate problems with reproducibility less than 31% think that published work. Being in published results means at the cutting edge of failure to reproduce science means that somethat the result is probably times results will not be that they still trust the robust, wrong, and most say published literature. new things but not generating says Munafo. “We want to be discovering Data on how much of too many false leads.” the and generally bleak. The scientific literature is reproducible are rare best-known analyses, THE SCALE OF REPRODUCIBILITY cancer biology2, found from psychology1 and rates But sorting discoveries survey respondents were of around 40% and 10%, respectively. Our from false leads can be discomfiting. Although more optimistic: 73% said that they think that the vast majority of researchers in our survey at least half of the papers had failed to reproduce in an experiment, less than chemists generally showingtheir field can be trusted, with physicists and 20% of respondents said been contacted by another the most confidence. that they had ever The results capture a confusing snapshot of (see ‘A ‘crisis’ in numbers’). researcher unable to reproduce their work attitudes around these issues, says Arturo Casadevall, online survey of nearly Our results are strikingly similar to another a microbiologist at Bloomberg School of 900 members of the Public Health in Baltimore, the Johns Hopkins Cell Biology (see go.nature.com/k American Society for current time there is no Maryland. “At the bzs2b). That may be consensus on what reproducibility conversations because such be.” But just recognizing is or should researchers are difficult. If experimenters reach out that is a step forward, to the original for help, they risk he says. “The next step may be identifying what is the problem and to revealing too much about appearing incompetent or accusatory, or get a consensus.” their A minority of respondents own projects.

4 5 2 | NAT U R reported ever having E | VOL 533 | 2 6 M AY 2 0 tried to publish 16 . ed rv se re ts gh ri l Al d. te mi Li s er sh li ub P an ll mi ac M 6 01 2 ©

Sometimes un-reproducibility can be due to the over-generalisation of the original results. Or, it can be because of methodological faults such as poor experiment design or technique.

Just having a policy in place would provide the parameters needed to begin tackling the ills of flawed research. This is not just a problem for the cell biology community, antibodies and other reagents also need qualifying.

Sonia said: “Large pharmaceutical companies are well aware of the impact of the use of incorrect reagents and have excellent measures in place to guarantee the quality of research undertaken. . ed rv se re ts gh ri l Al d. te mi Li s er sh li ub P an ll mi ac M 6 01 2 ©

In conclusion, 90% of the survey sample said there was either a ‘significant’ or at least an element of crisis in terms of reproducibility.

7%

Don’t know

with the most up-to-date guidance on sample handling and best practice documentation.

“They simply cannot afford to invest up to $2 billion on a drug discovery project, based on poor quality data.”

“At Cryoniss, we believe that reagent quality is the cornerstone of research excellence,” said Sonia.

However, as Fusenig et al. from the International Journal of Cancer highlighted in 2017, institutions, industry journals and research funding bodies have had to step up to the plate too, she said, by reinforcing the requirements for scientists to submit high quality controlled data.

“So, besides ensuring samples are stored in optimal conditions, we also endeavour to provide our customers

“Fusenig and the team explained the apathy they faced from industry peers, alongside the challenges implementing

But depressingly, it often comes down to the use of substandard reagents in the first place.

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| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

| storage and logistics |

“Essentially, we have aligned ourselves with the International Cell Line Authentication Committee and its ethos, namely that researchers and departments need to take matters into their own hands by publishing their own internal reagent quality policy.” a due diligence process confirming the validity of reagents used prior to article publication,” she said.

“Granted other journals are signing up to this, however there is so much more we should be doing as a community.”

Take the lack of accountability for the problems caused by mycoplasma, for example. Considered a plague in tissue culture circles, in one study, conducted by Anthony O. Olarerin-George and John B. Hogenesch, mycoplasma was found to have infected 11% of the 9395 data sequences analysed.

And yet, the reports on the contaminated series were published in a slew of top, peer-reviewed journals and these articles were subsequently cited – two of them hundreds of times over - suggesting their importance in their respective fields. The majority have not been retracted.

But to begin at the beginning, the only way scientists in this field can guarantee the quality of data is to take ownership of their research, and their reagents. For example, maintain a mycoplasma-free lab, and the only way to do that is to use qualified starting cell lines, adhere to best practice tissue culture techniques and employ a routine mycoplasma screening assay.

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Sonia said: “Fundamentally, we need to change the culture in the scientific community to encourage scientists to publish negative data and to retract articles if they have found inaccuracies in their research.

“Only by acknowledging the negative as well as the positive data do we really begin to understand the full context of the problem being investigated.

“To truly galvanise a grass-roots revolution, we need those departments, companies and institutions who are doing great science to proudly publish their own reagent quality policy. When scoping out a new contract research organisation to work with, or a new collaborator, why not ask a basic qualifying question, how do you ensure the quality of your reagents?”

“Whilst at Cryoniss we are not going to be able to rectify this global challenge on our own, we can do our part by providing a high-quality, easily accessible service. Our customers just need to email us to coordinate a QC test, and they get their results back the following week. It is that simple!” www.cryoniss.com

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

| news |

RARE TICK-BORNE INFECTIONS DIAGNOSED Public Health England has confirmed the diagnosis of a case of babesiosis and a probable case of tick-borne encephalitis in England.

This is the first record of a UK-acquired case of babesiosis and the second case of TBE being acquired in the UK. Babesiosis is caused by a parasite which infects red blood cells, whilst TBE is a viral infection that affects the central nervous system. Both are rare infections spread by the bite from an infected tick.

Diagnosed in July, both patients were treated in hospital.

PHE regularly undertakes work to understand the potential risks of tick-borne infections in England.

It surveyed sites in Devon close to where the person with babesiosis lives, collecting and testing hundreds of ticks – all tested negative for the parasite which causes babesiosis.

PHE has tested deer blood samples from Hampshire in areas near to where the person with probable TBE lives and they have shown evidence of likely TBE virus infection, which matches similar results found in 2019.

“It is important to emphasise that cases of babesiosis and TBE in England are rare and the risk of being infected remains very low.

Lyme disease remains the most common tick-borne infection in England.”

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PHE said the risk of catching babesiosis or TBE in England was very low, but it advised members of the public to seek medical attention should they experience the adverse effects of a tick bite.

Most people with babesiosis will have either no symptoms or mild symptoms of infection. However, those with weakened immune systems can become very ill and present with flu-like symptoms, such as fever, chills, muscle ache, fatigue and jaundice.

Around two-thirds of people with TBE infections will have no symptoms either. For those that do, there are often two phases.

The first is associated with flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache and fatigue. This can then progress to a more serious second phase that involves the central nervous system and meningitis, encephalitis and paralysis.

People with flu-like symptoms after being bitten by a tick are advised to visit their GP, but advised to go straight to hospital if they develop a stiff neck and severe headache, experience pain when looking at bright lights, have a seizure, experience sudden confusion and/or develop weakness or loss of movement in any part of the body.

Dr Katherine Russell, Consultant in the Emerging Infections and Zoonoses team at PHE, said: “It is important to emphasise that cases of babesiosis and TBE in England are rare and the risk of being infected remains very low. Lyme disease remains the most common tick-borne infection in England.

“Ticks are most active between spring and autumn, so it is sensible to take some precautions to avoid being bitten when enjoying the outdoors. Seek medical advice if you start to feel unwell after a tick bite.”

| bioprocessing |

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

NEW DIRECTOR TAKES THE HELM Teesside University’s £22m National Horizons Centre opened last September with two objectives, to drive research into bioprocessing and to plug the yawning skills gap.

Co-author of the UK’s National Industrial Biotechnology Strategy to 2030, Dr Jen Vanderhoven took the helm of the National Horizons Centre on September 1st.

Educated to PhD level in biochemistry and uniquely experienced in defining strategic vision for the commercialisation of biotechnological advances, Dr Vanderhoven’s career straddles both business and higher education – and the interface between the two.

After completing her PhD, she wanted to stay in bioscience, but not in the lab. She said, with a laugh: “I’d done three years of pipetting and that was enough for me!”

She discovered the true measure of her skills when she joined Swiss company Metrohm, renowned designer of chemical lab instruments and process and specialists in titration, ion chromatography, electrochemistry and spectroscopy.

Two years running, she won the coveted Sales Person of the Year title after smashing Metrohm’s UK-wide sales targets by more than 200%.

It was while she was working at Sheffield University, managing one of 13 UK-wide BBSRC funded networks in industrial biotechnology, that she set off down the track to national policy authorship.

“Initially my role as network manager was about encouraging academia and industry to work together in applying the fundamental science that academics are doing in the lab, to solve real-life challenges in industry,” she said, “and that’s what I’ve really enjoyed doing throughout my career.”

She said: “There used to be a pot of Government money, the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst Fund, to which academics and industrialists could apply to fund development of new products such as medicines, fuels and feed-stocks, but it was discontinued a few years ago.

“The manager of another Industrial Biotechnology Network, Dr Mark Corbett, and I petitioned for the resurrection of the fund and that evolved in to us commissioning a full analysis of what the industrial biotech sector needed to be

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| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

| bioprocessing |

successful in the UK, which in turn led to us writing the UK National Industrial Biotechnology Strategy to 2030.”

They worked with RSM International consultancy, and with more than 150 bioscience companies and academics across the UK in doing so, something that has stood Dr Vanderhoven in good stead – she has an enviable contacts book.

Their findings confirmed what they already knew.

Government funding is crucial to taking ideas from laboratory to production line.

“Academics are providing key solutions that industry needs to get hold of,” she said, “but there is a lot of risk in taking up new ideas.

“Product and process development can cost millions, so Government funding is certainly needed to bridge that gap.”

Another career highlight was at international contract development and manufacturing organisation Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, where she jointly led the integration management office during the acquisition of an $870m bio-manufacturing business, along with the company’s CFO. She then proceeded to develop and implement a global strategic business change portfolio worth in excess of £500M to ensure the company achieved its global vision, and established the company’s international Science and Innovation Portfolio.

She also refreshed how the company engaged with universities and external agencies and, as a result, led on the development of Fujifilm’s Centre of Excellence in Bioprocessing 2.0, a five-year research and innovation programme in which the company and universities addressed the challenges of manufacturing biologics.

She says now, “It’s really Fujifilm that cemented my passion for the commercialisation of novel scientific ideas.

“It also spurred me on to seek this even bigger challenge, because it took me back to that industryacademia interface that is my sweet spot – it’s where I enjoy working most.”

Dr Vanderhoven intends to be very visible as Director of the National Horizons Centre and as such is keen to “get out there”, to hear directly from scientists and business leaders about the challenges they face.

She also wants to know what it is they need for and from their workforces.

While NHC’s first objective is to help surmount the obstacles to commercialisation, the very close second is paving the way to apprentices, graduates and postgraduates emerging work-ready, along with upskilling current workforces.

The world class facilities housed within the National Horizons Centre are already used for professional development programmes and apprenticeships, as well as a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the disciplines of biosciences.

Having work-ready workforces is more critical than ever at the moment, as the world races to produce a Covid vaccine. Vaccine manufacturing and the production of other biotherapuetics requires in depth bioprocessing knowledge and skill sets.

“Bioprocessing sits between fundamental biological science and engineering,” she said, “but there aren’t many courses that combine biology and engineering - they are two such separate disciplines.

“However, we do need to get people trained in the arts of biotechnology and bioprocessing, so Teesside University and NHC are busy designing two new courses, a degree and a masters.

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Dr Jen Vanderhoven

“The next few years are set to be truly transformative and exciting for the NHC - we will further the centre as a truly global partner for digital and technological innovation for the bioscience and bioprocessing manufacturing community, being a primary source of high quality graduates and the partner of choice for industry training and collaboration.”

“The NHC also has a host of shorter courses that will enable the upskilling of the existing life sciences sector and those from more traditional chemical engineering and manufacturing backgrounds to retrain for the growing bioprocessing sector.”

The exigencies of Coronavirus have now brought another of the NHC’s strengths to the fore, as a niche provider of virtual reality training. Students can be taught processes and equipment-use in the comfort of their own homes.

Dr Vanderhoven said: “The whole Covid situation has highlighted the fact the UK needs more capacity to be able to manufacture vaccines at speed, for Covid and any future pandemics.

“Now the Government is pumping millions into new sites to manufacture vaccines and with that comes the need for a skilled workforce - thousands of people will be required.

NHC can jump in to fill that gap.

“The next few years are set to be truly transformative and exciting for the NHC - we will further the centre as a truly global partner for digital and technological innovation for the bioscience and bioprocessing manufacturing community, being a primary source of high quality graduates and the partner of choice for industry training and collaboration.” www.tees.ac.uk/nhc

The National Horizons Centre (NHC) is a new ÂŁ22.3m purpose-built research, education and training facility for the biosciences sector, located in Central Park, Darlington.

Collaborating with industry partners, the NHC is playing a pivotal role in tackling sector challenges, delivering outstanding technical, leadership and digital skills, world-class research and innovation, and excellence in teaching.

CONTACT US

E: T:

business@tees.ac.uk 01642 384068

CAG 11584

W: www.nationalhorizonscentre.org.uk

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

| news |

BRITISH BIOSIMILARS ASSOCIATION HAS NEW CHAIRMAN The British Biosimilars Association, the trade body representing the interests of biosimilar manufacturers, welcomed Dr Andrew Ellis as its new chairman earlier this year.

Dr Andrew Ellis

Dr Ellis, Director of Secondary Care at Teva UK, was already an existing member of the BBA’s steering group.

He succeeded Kavya Gopal, from Sandoz.

The BBA is an expert sector group of the British Generic Manufacturers Association.

It works together with patient groups, healthcare professionals, regulators and policy makers to increase understanding of biosimilars and to drive a sustainable environment for the development, production and continuing use of these critical medicines across the UK. Dr Ellis, a graduate from the University of Liverpool, began his career as a research scientist specialising in the development of agents to treat ischaemic heart disease.

Since then, the vast majority of his career has focused on marketing and sales roles within the pharmaceuticals and medical devices sectors.

He joined Teva in 2007 as marketing manager for the Hospitals Business Unit and has also worked across branded (specialty) medicines in therapy areas, including oncology, pain, mental health, urology, immunotherapy, women’s health and neurology.

In his current role as Director of the Secondary Care business, he focuses on issues of market access, while leading the commercial and marketing teams.

“We are already seeing the real potential of biosimilars to transform the lives of patients with long term and complex conditions, such as cancer.”

to advertise or contribute to the next edition – just get in touch advertising: tony.stephenson@distinctivegroup.co.uk editorial: helen.compson@distinctivegroup.co.uk

33

Andrew said: “We are already seeing the real potential of biosimilars to transform the lives of patients with long term and complex conditions, such as cancer.

“I am looking forward to chairing the British Biosimilars Association as we continue our work to ensure access to quality, safe and effective biosimilar medicines for UK patients.”

Warwick Smith, Director General of the British Biosimilars Association, said: “Andrew is already a valued and active member of the BBA and we are very much looking forward to having someone of his depth of experience and enthusiasm as the chair of the group.

“I would also like to thank our departing chair Kavya Gopal for her strong and effective leadership over the past years during an important time in the UK industry.”

| bio-decontamination |

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

PRIORITY RESPONSE PLAN (PRP) FOR BIO-DECONTAMINATION OF A BIOPHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTION FACILITY MULTINATIONAL BIOPHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY, SINGAPORE - CASE STUDY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

of a contamination incident. Procedures have already been mapped, increasing the speed to mobilise and reducing the risk of unforeseen challenges for both the client and the Bioquell RBDS team. The facility has already been surveyed, allowing swift deployment of Bioquell RBDS equipment to pre-defined locations dependent on where the contamination event has occurred. A rapid response in this instance is made possible due to Bioquell’s presence in Asia along with a dedicated, local RBDS team and equipment.

A multinational biopharmaceutical company in Asia, was looking to introduce a rigorous plan to ensure high-level bio-decontamination of their manufacturing facility in the event of contamination.

The customer chose Bioquell’s Rapid Bio Decontamination Service (RBDS) to produce a Priority Response Plan (PRP) that enables swift mobilisation of RBDS personnel and equipment and reduces the risk of unforeseen challenges thus minimising downtime of the manufacturing facility. Bioquell RBDS perform hydrogen peroxide vapour decontamination that achieves a rapid 6-log sporicidal reduction on all exposed areas within an enclosed environment. The process is scalable in order to cover various needs should a contamination event occur.

In the event of a decontamination incident, the hydrogen peroxide vapour technology offered by Bioquell’s RBDS generates a 6-log sporicidal kill on all exposed surfaces and is validated against Geobacillus stearothermophilus Biological Indicators (BIs), considered the industry standard validation benchmark for determining hydrogen peroxide vapour decontamination efficacy.

Every deployment is fully documented with detailed results verified through the use of biological and chemical indicators, ensuring a successful decontamination, as well as covering any regulatory and auditing concerns.

OUTCOMES Approach The Global RBDS Manager and the client’s Account Manager carried out a full and thorough site visit. This included a review of the full production process including the raw material flow, the HVAC systems, pressure regimes and cleaning and gowning protocols. A detailed discussion with all pertinent stakeholders was critical to ensure all practical aspects of performing an emergency bio-decontamination were adequately covered. Conducting this site survey was vital to enable the Bioquell RBDS team to map the equipment setup and derive the target cycle parameters for the hydrogen peroxide vapour decontamination cycle.

USING BIOQUELL TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A ROBUST CRITICAL RECOVERY PLAN The facility required a complete contamination recovery plan that would achieve a 6-log sporicidal reduction in the event of a viral contamination incident Bioquell was commissioned to create a comprehensive proposal the Priority Response Plan (PRP) The equipment setup was mapped and the target cycle parameters derived for the H2O2 vapour decontamination cycle A comprehensive site assessment including all production processes was carried out by the RBDS team in conjunction with the client

The PRP was created on a zone by zone basis based on the survey of the facility. The plan had to be modular to allow one or more zones to be treated at once if required. After the site survey was completed, Bioquell RBDS prepared the PRP document and presented it for approval.

Having a robust PRP enables the client to contact Bioquell RBDS immediately, to contain the contamination event quickly and limit the spread of it

“Having a Priority Response Plan (PRP) in place offers a number of additional benefits over and above using the RBDS service.”

The PRP reduces the risk of unforeseen challenges and provides a guaranteed rapid response to contamination events

RESULTS

REQUIREMENTS AND SET-UP

Bioquell RBDS produced a comprehensive PRP document that establishes a robust process to allow a rapid bio-decontamination deployment in the event of contamination at the client’s facilities.

Background A leading multinational biopharmaceutical company in Singapore required a complete contamination recovery plan that would achieve a 6-log sporicidal reduction in the event of a contamination incident within its state-of-the-art biomanufacturing facility. Although there was no active contamination incident to deal with, the company understood the importance and impact that a bio-decontamination recovery plan could provide as a precautionary measure should a viral contamination event be discovered.

The plan enables trained Bioquell RBDS personnel to read the file and perform a complete decontamination process that will achieve a 6-log reduction in bioburden in one area or the whole of the biomanufacturing facility. The PRP also enables the company’s personnel, who may have no prior knowledge of a decontamination process, to be able to prepare the areas for decontamination.

Having a robust PRP enables the client to contact Bioquell RBDS quickly, to contain the contamination event, prevent the spread of contamination and allow the facility to be back into service as quickly as possible.

Challenge Efficacy: A full PRP was required to enable an effective decontamination process which could be validated by the client to remove any potential bioburden within the manufacturing areas being targeted.

A Programme to Decontaminate up to 4200m3 A 6-log sporicidal reduction can be achieved with Bioquell RBDS equipment

Documentation: The PRP documentation is a vital part of the client’s business continuity planning, giving them a robust list of procedures should a contamination emergency arise. In the event of a contamination incident, the Bioquell RBDS process is fully documented for auditing and regulatory inspections.

A PRP providing rapid bio decontamination is now in place Use Bioquell products safely. Always read the label and product information before use.

SOLUTION The biopharmaceutical company was impressed by Bioquell’s expertise in writing PRP plans for clients in Europe and the United States and, after reviewing the other bio-decontamination options in the market, Bioquell was commissioned to create the comprehensive PRP. For the client, having a PRP in place offers a number of additional benefits over and above using the standard RBDS service in the event

34

BIO -D ECO NTA M INATIO N P HA RM AC EU TICA L

ENSURE PEACE OF MIND

ENSURE BUSINESS CONTINUITY WITH BIOQUELL RAPID BIO DECONTAMINATION SERVICE (RBDS) Bioquell has data from over 50 peer-reviewed publications related to bacteria, viruses, spores and more.

Scalable from a single room to an entire facility, Bioquell RBDS offers a proactive approach to limit the impact of a contamination event and minimise the extent of any downtime when included in business continuity plans.

There are two business continuity options with Bioquell: PRIORITY RESPONSE PLAN

CRITICAL RESPONSE PLAN

ensuring a rapid response

providing a pre-agreed response time of 24, 36 or 48 hours

Both plans ensure a rapid return to production minimising lost manufacturing time.

To find the right plan for you and learn more, visit:

bioquell.com/StayOpen

© 2020 Ecolab USA Inc. All rights reserved. 27AUG20/EU

10456.2

USE BIOQUELL PRODUCTS SAFELY. ALWAYS READ THE LABEL AND PRODUCT INFORMATION BEFORE USE.

| drug treatments |

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

36

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

| drug treatments |

Study sheds light on killer fungus Scientists have identified an “Achilles heel” that could help in the fight against a killer fungus. Candida auris, which first surfaced in 2009 and kills 30-60% of people who become infected, is hard to diagnose and is resistant to many antifungal drugs.

immune system, but also that they are indispensable to the fungus,” said Professor Alistair Brown, deputy director of the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Exeter.

Published courtesy of University of Exeter A research team, led by Radboud university and including staff from the University of Exeter, has discovered that the human immune system actually recognises the fungus well.

Specific unusual components of the cell wall of the fungus play an essential role in this recognition – and this provides a possible route to effective drug treatments.

“Our research not only shows that these cell wall components are important for the detection by the

37

“Drugs that selectively block the production and operation of these components are currently being investigated for safety and effectiveness.

“Perhaps one of these is the ideal candidate to tackle the fungus.”

Since these cell wall components are indispensable to C. auris, the risk of resistance to such a new drug is small.

In order to develop resistance, the fungus must at least remain alive so that it can gradually adapt to the new drug.

| drug treatments |

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

HOSPITAL CONTROL Last year, the New York Times published an alarming article about the growing problem of C. auris.

The authors cited the example of a man infected with C. auris who died after 90 days at Mount Sinai Hospital.

The fungus, which in the meantime had settled in the mattress, curtains, walls, telephone, basically everywhere in the hospital room, could only be disinfected with a lot of effort.

Only after special cleaning and removal of part of the ceiling and the tile floor did the hospital control the fungus.

REDUCED IMMUNITY “We started to investigate C. auris with international colleagues because there was virtually nothing known about this fungus,” said Mariolina Bruno of Radboud university medical center’s Department of Internal Medicine.

The research results have now been published in Nature Microbiology.

The study shows that the fungus is especially dangerous for people with compromised immunity.

“A well-functioning immune system recognises the fungus clearly and can control it well,” Bruno said.

Professor Alistair Brown

DIAGNOSIS AND MONITORING C. auris is related to the much better-known Candida albicans, which can cause vaginal fungal infections as well as potentially fatal infections when it invades the whole body.

In the study, C. albicanshas therefore served as a comparator fungus.

Bruno said: “On the one hand, we see that C. auris evokes a better immunity reaction than C. albicans.

“On the other hand, C. auris appears less pathogenic, but once in the bloodstream, both fungi are usually lifethreatening.”

What makes the problem even worse is that C. auris is not so easy to identify.

This makes it easy to confuse with other fungi, which can lead to a delay in treatment.

“Our research not only shows that these cell wall components are important for the detection by the immune system, but also that they are indispensable to the fungus.

Drugs that selectively block the production and operation of these components are currently being investigated for safety and effectiveness.”

Jacques Meis, a physician-microbiologist at the CanisiusWilhelmina Hospital, said: “You should determine the fungi type on a molecular level, enabling you to immediately see which fungus you are dealing with, but not every laboratory has the facilities for that.”

Professor Alistair Brown, deputy director of the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Exeter

Earlier this year, he and Paul Verweij (Radboud University medical center) called for the nation-wide monitoring of serious fungal infections to gain a better understanding of the burden of disease and mortality rates.

Most fungi thrive at relatively low temperatures, but due to an increase in the average temperature, it is conceivable that a fungus breaks through its thermal restriction and can suddenly colonise the human body.

GLOBAL WARMING?

Bruno called this an “interesting point of view”, but added: “Without further evidence, it is as yet highly speculative.

The question why C. auris suddenly appeared in 2009 has still not been answered.

The fungus was not found in stored patient material from previous years, so it seems to be a new fungus that has quickly spread across the world.

Perhaps global warming plays a role, suggests American microbiologist Arturo Casadevall in TIME.

“Apart from the actual origin history or ‘birth’ of C. auris, the article in Nature Microbiology provides information on how the interaction between humans and the fungus C. auris occurs: how the fungus stimulates the immune system, what C. auris’ pharmacological Achilles heel is and what the opportunities for immunotherapy are.” www.exeter.ac.uk/medicalmycology

38

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

| news |

NEW SERVICE TACKLES PULMONARY DISEASE The introduction of a new service that could help thousands of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease manage their condition has been supported by UK Research and Innovation’s Digital Health Technology Catalysts.

COPD affects approximately 120,000 people in Scotland and is the second most common reason for emergency hospital admissions.

“We’re really pleased to be able to offer this to all patients in order to improve their care and management of this condition.”

The service and linked website, Dynamic Scot, helps patients more accurately predict and manage flare-ups and is now being offered to 2000 patients across Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GG&C).

Chris Geary, DHTC innovation Lead at UK Research and Innovation, said: “When we announced a £35 million investment in Digital Health Technology Catalysts projects like Dynamic Scot were exactly the sorts of innovations we hoped would result.

It allows secure messaging between patients, their doctor and the community respiratory response team, meaning that routine care can continue.

If results from this scale-up in NHS GG&C are positive the service will be offered to other health boards.

The service is the brainchild of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde working with digital transformation firm Storm ID and has also attracted funding from the Scottish Government, the West of Scotland Innovation Hub and Digital Health and Care Institute Scotland.

Dr Chris Carlin, Consultant Respiratory Physician, NHS GG&C said: “At the moment, NHS management of COPD is reactive.

“We’re aiming to predict what will happen with this condition so we can be much more proactive, without having to bring patients up and down from hospital. This is so important now with changes that have need to be made because of COVID-19.

39

“This, and other projects that bring the NHS and digital companies together, will both help to grow and support a more innovative digital health sector and improve patient outcomes and access to treatment.”

Operating across the whole of the UK with a combined budget of more than £8bn, UK Research and Innovation brought together the existing seven Research Councils, Innovate UK and Research England when it was formed in 2018.

It works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities and government departments with the aim of creating the best possible environment in which research and innovation can flourish.

It aims is to foster the expansion of the frontiers of human knowledge and understanding, while at the same time making a positive economic, social and cultural impact.

POSTGRADUATE STUDY FOR POSTGRADUATE STUDY FOR LIFE SCIENCES GRADUATES LIFE SCIENCES GRADUATES WHERE NEXT WITH YOUR DEGREE? If you have studied a life science subject such as biomedical science, microbiology, genetics, anatomy or biology then the University of Birmingham may offer the perfect postgraduate programme to help you take your next step.

WHERE NEXT WITH YOUR DEGREE?

We offer a variety of programmes to suit your individual needs and interests, backed up by the academic If you havefacilities studied and a lifeinfluence science subject such as biomedical microbiology, or events. biology expertise, of a global university.

To findscience, out more get in touchgenetics, at one ofanatomy our online then the University of Birmingham may offer the perfect postgraduate programme to help you take your next step.

We offer a variety of programmes to suit your individual needs and interests, backed up by the academic At the University of Birmingham we offer expertise, facilities and influence of a global university. To find out more get in touch at one of our online events. a wide range of over 30 postgraduate programmes suitable for recent life science graduates including: At the University of Birmingham we offer a wide range of over 30 postgraduate programmes suitable for recent life science n Bioinformatics graduates n Clinicalincluding: Neuropsychiatry

MASTERS PROGRAMMES n

Clinical Trials

Dental Materials Science MASTERS PROGRAMMES n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n

Genomic Medicine Bioinformatics Health Economics and Health Policy Clinical Neuropsychiatry Health Research Methods Clinical Trials Immunology and Science Immunotherapy Dental Materials Microbiology and Genomic MedicineInfection Molecular Biotechnology Health Economics and Health Policy Physician Associate Health Research Methods Public Healthand Immunotherapy Immunology Toxicology Microbiology and Infection Trauma Science Molecular Biotechnology

Physician Associate n Public Health n n Toxicology Cancer Sciences n Trauma Science n Clinical Health Research n

STAY IN TOUCH

MASTER OF RESEARCH PROGRAMMES n

Biomedical Research: Cardiovascular Sciences Molecular and Cellular Biology Cancer Sciences Molecular Mechanistic Toxicology Clinical Health Research

STAY IN TOUCH

MASTER OF RESEARCH PROGRAMMES n n n n

Biomedical Research: We Cardiovascular also offer a wide range of Sciences PhDMolecular programmes. n and Cellular Biology n

n

Molecular Mechanistic Toxicology

We also offer a wide range of PhD programmes.

We offer several opportunities for you to find out more with Virtual Open Days, online chat events, and of course you can always make an email enquiry.

To register for virtual events and for information about individual programmes visit: www.birmingham.ac.uk/pg-life-sciences

ONLINE CHAT EVENTS ONLINE CHAT EVENTS Our Postgraduate Online Chat Events will give you the best opportunity to ask any questions you may have about our Masters and research opportunities.

You can visit www.pg.bham.ac.uk for more information about our upcoming online events.

www.birmingham.ac.uk/pg-life-sciences

www.birmingham.ac.uk/pg-life-sciences

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Our students are our best voice so we have included a few profiles below. To access more profiles of our postgraduate students please visit: www.birmingham.ac.uk/pg-life-sciences Our students are our best voice so we have included a few profiles below. To access more profiles of our postgraduate students please visit: www.birmingham.ac.uk/pg-life-sciences

MSC TRAUMA SCIENCE

opportunities given to me by far have been the best MSC SCIENCE ‘ TheTRAUMA

thing about the course. All the lecturers that have taught so far have come from different specialities and each have The to me byThey far have theme best theiropportunities own input intogiven this course. havebeen offered the thing about the course.them All the thatand have taught opportunity to shadow in lecturers the hospital gain an so far have come from different specialities and each have exceptional experience. their own input into this course. They have offered me the Nirali is a MSc Trauma Science student who also holds a degree in Biomedical Science. opportunity to shadow them in the hospital and gain an She is keen on pursuing a degree in Medicine in the future. She currently works as a exceptional experience. medical laboratory assistant in London and volunteers at many organisations.

‘

Nirali is a MSc Trauma Science student who also holds a degree in Biomedical Science.

She is keen on pursuing a degree in Medicine in the future. She currently works as a medical laboratory assistant in London and volunteers at many organisations.

MRES MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY me, I really wanted to gain more practical lab experience MRES MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY ‘ For in biology after my undergraduate and see whether a career in research was for me. Doing an MRes has allowed me For me, in I really wanted to gain more practical lab experience to work two different labs throughout the academic year in biology undergraduate and in see whether a career and gain aafter vast my amount of experience different areas of in research was for me. Doing an MRes has allowed me biology in terms of research topics and techniques. to work in two different labs throughout the academic year Jagjeet is again full-time student, who her MRes in Molecular and and a research vast amount of completed experience in different areas of Cellular Biology at the University of Birmingham. She is currently studying towards a PhD in biology terms of research and techniques.

Immunology andin Immunotherapy at Birmingham,topics having completed her undergraduate degree

‘

in Biological Sciences with Professional Placement at Aston University, which included an Erasmus in France.student, who completed her MRes in Molecular and Jagjeet isplacement a full-time research Cellular Biology at the University of Birmingham. She is currently studying towards a PhD in Immunology and Immunotherapy at Birmingham, having her undergraduate degree To read Jagjeet’s full profile or ask hercompleted a question visit: in Biological Sciences with Professional Placement at Aston University, which included an pg.bham.ac.uk/mentor/j-kaurs Erasmus placement in France.

To read Jagjeet’s full profile or ask her a question visit: pg.bham.ac.uk/mentor/j-kaurs

| news |

| BIOSCIENCE TODAY |

Goats get the point of human gestures Goats can interpret human cues, such as the pointing gesture, to gather information about their environment, according to a new study Goats can interpret human cues, such as the pointing gesture, to gather information about their environment, according to a new study in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. The study provides the first evidence of how goats follow human cues and implies that the ability of animals to perceive human-given cues is not limited to those with a long history of domestication as companions, such as dogs and horses.

The study, which was carried out at Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats in Kent, UK, involved researchers setting up an object-choice task, where an experimenter surreptitiously hid food in one of two buckets. Goats first had to pass a pre-test where the experimenter indicated the location of the food to the goat by a proximal pointing gesture. Goats that succeeded in interpreting this gesture were transferred to the actual test. In these subsequent test trials, goats were confronted with a condition that differed in appearance and was displayed at a similar distance to the target (testing for generalization of pointing gesture), and a condition that looked similar to the initial proximal pointing gestures but was administered from an increased distance to the target (testing for comprehension of referentiality).

“Goats were the first livestock species to be domesticated about 10,000 years ago.”

Goats succeeded in locating the correct location when the pointing gestures were presented in proximity to the correct location compared to when the experimenter was further away from the rewarded location (asymmetric), indicating that goats can generalize their use of the human pointing gesture but might rely on stimulus/local enhancement rather than referential information.

First author Dr. Christian Nawroth from Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Germany said: “We already knew that goats are very attuned to human body language, but we did not know if they could follow a human cue such as a pointing gesture in the same way that dogs and horses do to locate a treat. This study has important implications for how we interact with farm animals and other species, because the abilities of animals to perceive human cues might be widespread and not just limited to traditional companion animals.”

“Goats were the first livestock species to be domesticated about 10,000 years ago,” said lead author Dr. Alan McElligott from the University of Roehampton, UK. “From our earlier research, we already know that goats are smarter than their reputation suggests, but these results show how they can perceive cues and interact with humans even though they were not domesticated as pets or working animals.”

The researchers hope the study will lead to a better understanding of how skilled farm animals are in their capacity to interact with humans based on their cognitive abilities - and to an improvement in animal welfare in general.

The study was supported by grant money from Farm Sanctuary’s The Someone Project, an endeavor aimed at using scientific evidence to raise the public’s understanding of farm animal cognition and behaviour.

42

Find your digital voice!

Engaging your brand with audiences that matter.

www.be-everywhere.co.uk E: info@be-everywhere.co.uk T: 0191 580 5990

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EuFOD

Neon

126.90447

Livermorium

173.054

Thulium

53

(209)

116

Br

2 8

20.1797

79.904

Polonium 2 8 18 32 32 18 5

18

Bromine

silver nanoparticles 65

35

127.6

84

2 8 7

Ne

35.453

Tellurium 2 8 18 32 18 5

Cl

ITO

Helium

10

Chlorine

78.96

Bismuth 2 8 18 32 32 18 4

17

Selenium

121.76

2 8 18 32 18 4

2 8 6

32.065

34

2

He

Fluorine

S

Antimony

Lead 2 8 18 32 32 18 3

2 8 18 5

cermet 4.002602

2 7

18.9984032

Sulfur

74.9216

Tin

82

16

Arsenic

118.71

2 8 18 32 18 3

2 8 5

As

F

15.9994

30.973762

2 8 18 4

9

Oxygen

Phosphorus

72.64

204.3833

Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm enantioselective catalysts Plutonium

Ge

Thallium 2 8 18 32 32 18 2

15

Germanium

114.818

200.59

112

Si

Indium

Mercury 2 8 18 32 32 18 1

32

69.723

2 8 18 18 2

2 8 4

2 6

O

14.0067

28.0855

2 8 18 3

8

Nitrogen

Silicon

Gallium

112.411

Gold

2 8 18 32 32 17 1

31

Cadmium

196.966569

158.92535

2 8 18 32 25 9 2

48

14

2 8 3

2 5

N

12.0107

26.9815386

2 8 18 2

7

Carbon

Aluminum

Zinc

Silver

Darmstadtium

Gadolinium 2 8 18 32 25 8 2

Ag

2 8 18 18 1

Al

2 4

C

10.811

65.38

107.8682

195.084

157.25

Europium

47

Platinum

Meitnerium

151.964

Samarium

78

192.217

2 8 18 32 32 14 2

2 8 18 18

106.42

Iridium

Hassium

2 8 18 24 8 2

Pd

Zn

Copper

Palladium

macromolecules 2 8 18 22 8 2

46

102.9055

2 8 18 32 14 2

63.546

Nickel

Rhodium

Osmium 2 8 18 32 32 13 2

58.6934

Cobalt

Ruthenium

Rhenium 2 8 18 32 32 12 2

58.933195

Iron

Technetium

183.84

fluorescent microparticles

optical glass

Mo

2 8 18 13 1

Tungsten

144.242

238.02891

Fe

54.938045

95.96

Neodymium 92

26

Manganese

Molybdenum

Dubnium

60

Mn

2 8 13 2

rhodium sponge

transparent ceramics

MOCVD

42

180.9488

Rutherfordium

2 8 18 19 9 2

2 8 18 12 1

Tantalum

epitaxial crystal growth drug discovery

Ta

178.48

25

51.9961

92.90638

2 8 18 32 10 2

Cr

2 8 13 1

Chromium

Niobium

Hafnium

Actinium

58

Nb

24

ultralight aerospace alloys

50.9415

91.224

138.90547

89

V

2 8 11 2

Vanadium

Zirconium

Lanthanum 2 8 18 32 18 8 2

23

47.867

Yttrium

2 8 18 18 8 2

2 8 10 2

Titanium

88.90585

Barium 2 8 18 32 18 8 1

22

44.955912

87.62

Cesium

Fr

Sc

2 8 9 2

Scandium

Strontium

132.9054

87

21

6

2 3

Boron

3D graphene foam

nanodispersions

Calcium

Rubidium 55

2 8 8 2

B

zeolites 13

isotopes

39.0983

Potassium 37

2 8 2

Magnesium 2 8 8 1

5

99.999% ruthenium spheres

9.012182

Sodium

Fe3O4

2

bioactive compounds

2 2

Beryllium

22.98976928

19

ZnS

Li

4

6.941

anode

metal carbenes

nano ribbons

surface functionalized nanoparticles 2 1

Lithium 11

MOFs

H

1.00794

YBCO

gold nanoparticles

nickel foam

1

Hydrogen 3

buckyballs

janus particles

glassy carbon

nanogels cisplatin Nd:YAG

Now Invent!

metallocenes BINAP

calcium wires

spintronics

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