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Research News
EU Research takes a closer look at the latest news and technical breakthroughs from across the European research landscape
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HOTZYMES Current methods of producing pharmaceuticals and biocommodities are relatively inefficient. Researchers in the HOTZYMES project are investigating the potential of using magnetic nanoparticles to heat up enzymes and catalyse reactions more efficiently, as Dr. Valeria Grazú explains.
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MEIOTIC TELOMERE We spoke to Professor Hiroki Shibuya about his work in investigating the fundamental mechanisms involved in meiotic recombination and the role of BRCA2 in repairing double strand breaks of DNA through homologous recombination.
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NextGen IO Many lung tumours don’t respond to immunotherapy, prompting research into new approaches to treatment. Researchers in the NEXT GEN IO project aim to exploit the hypoxia response in T-cells and harness its wider therapeutic potential, as Dr Asis Palazón explains.
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chemREPEAT The same amino acids may be repeated within a certain region of a protein. Dr Pau Bernadó is developing new strategies which will help researchers analyse the structure and dynamics of low complexity regions in proteins.
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Engineering ‘smart’ viral RNA structures for stable and targeted siRNA delivery
It’s difficult to deliver siRNAs to the locations where they are required. Dr. Alyssa Hill is drawing inspiration from nature by engineering ‘smart’ viral RNA structures into delivery vehicles, which could open up new possibilities in treatment.
20 THE INFLUENCE OF EPISODIC MEMORY ON VALUE-BASED DECISION MAKING
Memory exerts an important influence on decision-making. We spoke to Dr Sebastian Gluth about his group’s work on both investigating the cognitive and neural processes involved in decision-making, and developing mathematical models of how those decisions are reached.
22 WRINKLES AND WRINKLONS We spoke to Dr Sebastian Gliga about his work in creating functional magnetic materials that can be reconfigured through shape change, which could open up new possibilities for the manipulation of spin waves with the aim of creating logical device.
24 ExclusiveHiggs We spoke to Professor Kostas Nikolopoulos about the work of the ExclusiveHiggs project in analysing particle collisions, research which could help elucidate the properties of the Higgs boson and guide the search for new physics.
26 DarkSPHERE Dark matter is the focus of a great deal of attention in research, yet mystery still surrounds its nature and structure. The DarkSPHERE project aims to shed new light on the topic, as Dr Ioannis Katsioulas explains.
27 Postponing
Research Studies
The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown research off course in all manner of ways, but little hit so hard as the need to cull research mouse cultures. The pandemic has reinforced both the importance of animals in scientific research and the attachment researchers have to their cultures. Adam England reports.
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UP-Drive Wojciech Derendarz, of the UPDrive project, is working out how autonomous vehicles can develop improved perception, relying on combined technologies to process urban environments, so self-driving cars can take a step closer to earning their driving license.
34 E-CAM We spoke to Ignacio Pagonabarraga, Sara Bonella, Jony Castagna and Donal MacKernan of the E-CAM project about their work in developing new software modules targeted at the needs of both academic and industrial end-users.
38 Uncovering policy designs:
A training dataset for future automated text analysis Algorithms capable of identifying the design characteristics of policies affecting the renewable energy sector would be an invaluable tool in formulating climate policy, as Dr Sebastian Sewerin and Dr Lynn Kaack explain.
39 ANICOLEVO Fossils provide evidence of ancient life, including the colour of insects, reptiles, birds and mammals as old as hundreds of millions of years, a topic at the heart of Dr Maria McNamara’s research in the ANICOLEVO project.
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