Cambridge-JIC iGEM Team open for applications until 26 Jan 2016

To apply: Please send a CV with covering note and ask your tutor or research supervisor to email a short recommendation to: Jenny Molloy Email: jcm80@cam.ac.uk

The new field of Synthetic Biology is based upon the adoption of (i) engineering principles of abstraction and modularity, (ii) computational tools from Systems Biology and (iii) new genetic engineering techniques and components - for the rational design and assembly of new biological systems. It is a practical subject, concerned with the construction of new living artifacts. The new interdisciplinary field is being propelled by the need for improved plant and microbial feedstocks, bioenergy sources, and new catalysts for bioprocessing. Synthetic Biology is seeing a rising tide of new scientific activities, research funding and commercial investment.

iGEM is an international undergraduate synthetic biology competition where student teams are given access to DNA parts from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The aim is to use these and other new parts to design and construct new biological systems and operate them in living cells. (see: http://igem.org). Cambridge provided the first team from the UK (see: http://www.synbio.cam.ac.uk). Since 2005, there has been wide interdisciplinary support for a University of Cambridge team in the iGEM competition. The competition provides a practical, laboratory based experience, with a focus on bottom-up design and assembly techniques, standardised biological components and cellular devices. This year sees the introduction of a new track for the engineering of plants in the competition. We are drawing together a team who can contribute in an interdisciplinary way to development of new DNA parts, quantitative methods and instrumentation for engineering of plant systems.

The team will be run jointly with the John Innes Centre, an independent, international centre of excellence in plant science and microbiology based in Norwich, with a mission to improve agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and engage with policy makers.

Participation in the iGEM competition offers:

1. Interdisciplinarity and teamwork. Students from Biology, Engineering, Computing and the Physical Sciences participate in the iGEM team.
2. Hands-on practical experience. The iGEM competition provides laboratory experience with the handling of synthetic biological systems to provide better grounding in practical skills for future project work.
3. Project and group based learning. Students share team work in laboratory work, biological design, project management and presentation.
4. Student exchange. In addition to promoting improved collaboration across Cambridge, participation provides opportunities for links with scientists at the John Innes Centre, collaboration and international exchange.
5. Lab resources. The iGEM team will have access to labs equipped for handling biological systems and construction of hardware, including 3D printing.
6. Open Instrumentation. Students will be able to work with Arduino and Raspberry Pi-based microcontrollers and interface these with optics, microelectronics and motors for DIY instrumentation.

Application details:

iGEM studentship funding will be available for up to 10 first and second year Cambridge undergraduates to allow participation in the competition. The competition will start on Monday, 27th June 2016, and will be based in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge. The first two weeks of the competition will include a crashcourse in Plant Synthetic Biology, with brainstorming and practical exercises. The studentships will include a stipend of £180 per week for ten weeks, registration fees for the competition, exchange visits with the John Innes Centre, access to state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and workshops and attendance at the global iGEM Jamboree at Boston, USA in November 2016.

Faculty advisors are:

Jim Ajioka (Pathology), Alexandre Kabla (Engineering), Jim Haseloff (Plant Sciences) and George Lomonossoff (John Innes Centre).

For further information on the competition see http://www.igem.org.

ContentMine Workshop & Hackathon at TGAC: mining for synthetic biology

poster

Find out more and register >>>

Supported by the OpenPlant Fund

Interested in using mining technologies for synthetic biology?

Content mining technologies hold much potential for maximising scientific discovery and the reuse of research through automated searching, indexing and analysing of scientific literature.

In this workshop, we aim to educate and engage technologists and biologists who are interested in using mining technologies for synthetic biology; to better enable access to research literature and data in plant synthetic biology.

The hackathon on Day Two aims to improve searching and indexing of plant synthetic biology texts through open source technology platforms developed by the Grassroots Genomics project at TGAC and the ContentMine platform from the University of Cambridge.

Target Audience

Best suited to biologists and bioinformaticians who have some experience of using command line tools or the enthusiasm to pick this up! As such, formal programming experience is not a requirement, but you may find it useful to attend the Software Carpentry Bootcamp held at TGAC prior to this event.

Course prerequisites: Basic prior knowledge of programming concepts.

Course details

The registration fee is £50.00 (plus booking fee of 2.13 per cent) – refundable on attendance (minus booking fee) which will be processed post event.

We are also able to reimburse up to two nights accommodation with a limit of £80.00 per night (receipts required).

Scientific Organisers:

Emily Angiolini, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), UK Rob Davey, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), UK Richard Smith-Unna, University of Cambridge, UK

Course Faculty:

Rob Davey, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), UK Richard Smith-Unna, University of Cambridge, UK

Further Details:

Venue: The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), UK Application deadline: Friday 26 February 2016 Participation: First come, first served

OpenPlant Fund now open for applications! Deadline 4 March 2016

The OpenPlant Fund will support innovative, open and interdisciplinary projects relevant to plant Synthetic  Biology over 2015-19. Around 20 six-month projects per year will receive £4k each, with an  additional £1k awarded on completion for follow-on and outreach. The first round of applications for 2016 is now open and will close on 4 March!

The aim of the fund is to promote the development of plant Synthetic Biology as an interdisciplinary  field and to facilitate exchange between The University of Cambridge, the John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory for the development of open technologies and responsible innovation in the context of Synthetic Biology.

Download: Poster | Flyer

Apply now >>>

(logged-in users only)

Applicants should be graduate students or postdoctoral workers at the University of Cambridge, the John Innes Centre or The Sainsbury Laboratory. The team must be interdisciplinary, must contain members from both Norwich and Cambridge and may contain external collaborators of any type. Applicants must have agreement from their research supervisor and cost-code sponsor that the  proposed project and management of the allocated funding will fit with their existing work. All proposals must lead to tangible, publicly documented and open outcomes, which could include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Design files and prototype for a hardware project
• Software development and documentation
• White paper arising from a workshop
• Educational resource
• Synthesis and sharing of useful DNA parts or vectors.

For more information and to apply see the OpenPlant Fund webpage.

Simple changes underpin the evolution of a complex trait

OpenPlant PI Professor Julian Hibberd’s Lab published a significant step towards understanding the efficient form of photosynthesis known as the C4 pathway in The Plant Cell on the 15th of January 2016. In most photosynthetic organisms, ranging from bacteria to land plants, the first step of photosynthesis is catalysed by the enzyme RuBisCO. However, under warm, dry conditions the efficiency of Rubisco is reduced, which can lead to lower crop yields.

Some plants have evolved adaptations to overcome this problem, one of which is known as the C4 photosynthetic pathway, adoption of which allowed fast-growing species such as switchgrass to dominate savannahs and prairies. As C4 photosynthesis requires the co-ordinated action of many genes, Williams and Burgess et al. sought to identify C4 genes that are expressed in mesophyll cells and regulated by the same regulatory elements. Starting with a gene encoding carbonic anhydrase from the C4 species Gynandropsis gynandra they established that its regulation was mediated by a short sequence in the untranslated part of the gene. Furthermore, this sequence was found in additional C4 genes as well as orthologous genes from C3 species, and in each case, regulation appears to act on the translation of RNA to protein.

The work provides evidence that the complex C4 trait is underpinned by the repeated use of simple sequence motifs.

Williams BP, Burgess SJ, Reyna-Llorens I, Knerova J, Aubry S, Stanley S, Hibberd JM. (2016) An untranslated cis-element regulates the accumulation of multiple C4 enzymes in Gynandropsis gynandra mesophyll cells. The Plant Cell. 

Plant Synthetic Biology at IHÉS

Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHÉS) held a meeting on Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology, including Synthetic Biology in Paris last week. OpenPlant was well represented by Professors Jim Haseloff and Anne Osbourn. You can find videos of their talks below and all recordings on the IHÉS youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5Yjj3hMtZo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSKM1YcM4rs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FN6E1xTAic

OpenPlant Supported TReND/icipe bioinformatics workshop

RICHARD SMITH-UNNA DELIVERING A PLANT SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY SESSION AT ICIPE

The OpenPlant Fund supported TReND in Africa to include plant synthetic biology in their recent bioinformatics course held at icipe in Kenya. The course was a great success with 35 students selected from a total of 430 applicants. They learnt R and Unix programming basics, as well as advanced genomics techniques from a number of different areas of biology.

The plant synthetic biology session was delivered by Richard Smith-Unna (@blahah404), a PhD Student in the OpenPlant-affiliated Hibberd Lab at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge.

TReND’s Jelena Aleksic recorded interviews with participants who described their experience of the course, you can view the playlist below and find more about TReND in Africa’s activities on their website.

Plant synthetic biology lecture at @icipe! Thank you @_OpenPlant for supporting #trendngs15 @TReNDinAfrica pic.twitter.com/NKs8BWC1fV

— Jelena Aleksic (@firegenome) December 4, 2015

Funded workshop on genomics, gene discovery and genome editing in crops in Peru (deadline 14 Dec)

More info and applications The British Council, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the James Hutton Institute invite applications for their workshop on genomics, gene discovery and genome editing in crops. Funding enables UK and Peruvian early-career researchers to attend a workshop, to be held from 1 to 5 February 2016 in Lima, Peru, that focuses on implementing modern genomics and biotechnological methods in crop breeding programmes for rapid and targeted improvement of crops.

The workshop also aims to encourage collaboration between UK plant research centres and key Peruvian agricultural institutes. It also enables early-career researchers to network, forge links that will initiate projects with benefits to Peruvian food security and nutrition, and improve incomes for Peruvian farmers and food producers.

Early stage crop scientists from the UK may apply. Applicants must have been awarded their PhD no more than 10 years before the workshop or have equivalent experience. Those who have relevant experience and work in a field where a PhD is not a prerequisite to established research activity, may also apply.

Grants cover all travel and local expenses for the attendance of 12 to 15 researchers. The workshop will last for five days.

Scientists produce beneficial natural compounds in tomato – with potential for industrial scale up

From the John Innes Centre news feed and featuring OpenPlant scientists Professor Cathie Martin and Dr Yang Zhang.

Given the opportunity to drink fifty bottles of wine or eat one tomato, which would you choose?

Scientists at the John Innes Centre have found a way to produce industrial quantities of useful natural compounds efficiently, by growing them in tomatoes.

The compounds are phenylpropanoids like Resveratrol, the compound found in wine which has been reported to extend lifespan in animal studies, and Genistein, the compound found in soybean which has been suggested to play a role in prevention of steroid-hormone related cancers, particularly breast cancer. 

As a result of the research led by Dr Yang Zhang and Dr Eugenio Butelli working in Professor Cathie Martin’s lab at the John Innes Centre, one tomato can produce the same quantity of Resveratrol as exists in 50 bottles of red wine. One tomato has also produced the amount of Genistein found in 2.5kg of tofu.

Drs Zhang and Butelli have been studying the effect of a protein called AtMYB12 which is found in Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant found in most UK gardens and used as a model plant in scientific investigation. 

The protein AtMYB12 activates a broad set of genes involved in metabolic pathways responsible for producing natural compounds of use to the plant. The protein acts a bit like a tap to increase or reduce the production of natural compounds depending on how much of the protein is present. 

What was interesting about the effect of introducing this protein into a tomato plant was how it acted to both increase the capacity of the plant to produce natural compounds (by activating phenylpropanoid production) and to influence the amount of energy and carbon the plant dedicated to producing these natural compounds. In response to the influence of the AtMYB12 protein, tomato plants began to create more phenylpropanoids and flavanoids and to devote more energy to doing this in fruit.

Introducing both AtMYB12 and genes from plants encoding enzymes specific for making Resveratrol in grape and Genistein in legumes, resulted in tomatoes that could produce as much as 80mg of novel compound per gram of dry weight –demonstrating that industrial scale up is possible. 

Tomatoes are a high yielding crop – producing up to 500 tonnes per hectare in countries delivering the highest yields (FAOSTAT 2013) and require relatively few inputs. Production of valuable compounds like Resveratrol or Genistein in tomatoes could be a more economical way of producing them than relying on artificial synthesis in a lab or extracting them in tiny quantities from traditional plant sources (e.g., grapes, soybeans, etc.). The tomatoes can be harvested and juiced and the valuable compounds can be extracted from the juice. The tomatoes themselves could potentially become the source of increased nutritional or medicinal benefit. 

Professor Cathie Martin said:

“Our study provides a general tool for producing valuable phenylpropanoid compounds on an industrial scale in plants, and potentially production of other products derived from aromatic amino acids. Our work will be of interest to different research areas including fundamental research on plants, plant/microbe engineering, medicinal plant natural products, as well as diet and health research.”

Dr Yang Zhang, said:

“Medicinal plants with high value are often difficult to grow and manage, and need very long cultivation times to produce the desired compounds. Our research provides a fantastic platform to quickly produce these valuable medicinal compounds in tomatoes. Target compounds could be purified directly from tomato juice. We believe our design idea could also be applied to other compounds such as terpenoids and alkaloids, which are the major groups of medicinal compounds from plants.”

This research was strategically funded by the BBSRC, the EU ATHENA collaborative project, the Major State Basic Research Development Program (973 Program) of China, the John Innes Foundation, and the DBT-CREST Fellowship.

Source: Scientists produce beneficial natural compounds in tomato – with potential for industrial scale up

Building a Synthetic Biology-rich Biotech Business from Scratch - new course from SynbiCITE

From the UK KTN Synthetic Biology SIG As part of SynbiCITE’s drive to commercialise synthetic biology through taking R&D excellence in the lab to the development of tools, products, processes and services for high value manufacturing industries, they have developed a ‘4-day More Business Acumen (MBA)’ course to help develop the natural entrepreneurship that is so keenly demonstrated across their wide range of partners.

Deadline to apply to participate: 4 Dec 2015 For more info and to apply >>>

OpenPlant Post-doctoral Research Associate position (deadline 22 Dec)

Applications are invited for a Post-doctoral Research Associate position in the group of Dr Sebastian Schornack at the Sainsbury Laboratory (SLCU), Cambridge University, to study early descendant land plants.

Apply here >>>

The position is part of the OpenPlant (http://openplant.org/) project. OpenPlant is a BBSRC-EPSRC funded Synthetic Biology Research Centre. It is based in the United Kingdom and is a collaboration between the University of Cambridge, the John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory Norwich. The successful candidate will benefit from engagement with laboratories in all partner organisations.

Along our group's general interest in understanding principles of plant colonisation by filamentous microbes, the candidate will study filamentous pathogen interactions with liverworts and hornworts. Main model organisms will be the Agrobacterium-transformable liverwort Marchantia polymorpha and related species. The successful candidate will develop new molecular biological and genetic resources (in particular TAL effector activators and repressors) to modulate gene expression in early descendant plants (e.g. Liverworts/hornworts). The candidate will be provided with horticultural/technician support and will be able to team up with post docs studying plant-microbe interactions in angiosperms.

Candidates must have, or be close to completing, a PhD in Plant Biology, Plant Biotechnology, or related field. Knowledge of modular cloning strategies such as GoldenGate cloning is essential. Previous experience with synthetic biology and/or TAL effector assembly as well as handling of sterile plants, Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation or knowledge on plant-microbe interactions, is desirable. Also desirable is previous experience with liverworts, hornworts or other early descendant plants. Proficiency in sequence analysis, general biological databases, qPCR analysis and confocal fluorescence microscopy is also required.

The successful candidate will be fully involved in the basic research in these areas whilst also writing up their research work for presentation and publication. The post holder may be required to assist in the supervision of student projects, provide instructions to students and deliver seminars relating to their research area.

Good communication skills are essential as the post holder will need to work well in a team and collaborate with other researchers in the Institute. Candidates would ideally have published or submitted papers in this area. Candidates should demonstrate a history of science communication (e.g. presentations, outreach activities, teaching).

The Laboratory provides a welcoming and collaborative environment with a wide-range of family-friendly benefits and development opportunities. More about the Sainsbury Laboratory, generic further information for the role and details of what the University offers to employees, can be found at: http://www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 2 years in the first instance.

Using public data resources? Help EBI make them better

European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) requests your support in completing their annual user survey about how you use biological databases, tools, and other resources.I am writing on behalf of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) to request your support in completing our annual user survey: a series of 39 questions about how you use biological databases, tools, and other resources. Your answers are important, as they help us better understand how our resources are used.

If you are a wet-lab scientist, or if you rarely (or never) use bioinformatics services, we still value your input. The more users tell us about their experiences, the better, so please feel free to forward this message to your colleagues.

The survey will take 15–20 minutes to complete, and it will close on Friday 29 November 2015.

We really appreciate your participation in our annual survey, as we know you have many demands on your time. As a token of our appreciation, anyone who completes the survey can enter to win a Raspberry Pi 2 computer.

You can find the survey here.

Thanks very much, in advance, for your participation.

Sincerely,

Ewan Birney Director, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI)

EU Workshop on Access and Benefit Sharing under Nagoya Protocol

More info and registration here

Context

The EU is a Party to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation. The EU ABS Regulation, which transposes into the EU legal order the compliance pillar of the Protocol, became applicable as of 12 October 2014. The principal obligations of the Regulation – i.e. Article 4 on due diligence, Article 7 on monitoring user compliance and Article 9 on checks on user compliance – will become applicable as of 12 October 2015. In this context it is important that those who utilise genetic resources (i.e. conduct research and development on the genetic and/or biological composition of genetic resources, including through the application of biotechnology) are aware of the obligations arising from the Regulation, and that they can take the necessary measures to ensure their activities are compliant.

Workshop presentation

The workshop aims at providing the participants with knowledge about their obligations under the EU ABS Regulation and what they practically imply for their everyday work. In the first part of the workshop, the new legal framework will be explained, providing insight into the main provisions of the EU ABS Regulation. In the second part of the workshop, participants will have a chance to put the knowledge gained into practice through interactive case studies, based on real-life examples and realistic scenarios. The workshop should allow participants to better understand their obligations under the EU law, and to establish which steps they need to follow and which practical measures they should take when dealing with genetic resources originating from Parties to the Nagoya Protocol.

Target group

The workshop is targeted at senior academics and experienced researchers conducting research and development on genetic resources who have an interest in gaining an essential understanding of the new legal framework in the EU, in view of the ABS Regulation becoming fully operational later this year.

Scientists with an expertise in the ABS regulation are not targeted by this basic training workshop

Scientists produce beneficial natural compounds in tomato – with potential for industrial scale up

From the John Innes Centre news feed and featuring OpenPlant scientists Professor Cathie Martin and Dr Yang Zhang.

Given the opportunity to drink fifty bottles of wine or eat one tomato, which would you choose?

Scientists at the John Innes Centre have found a way to produce industrial quantities of useful natural compounds efficiently, by growing them in tomatoes.

The compounds are phenylpropanoids like Resveratrol, the compound found in wine which has been reported to extend lifespan in animal studies, and Genistein, the compound found in soybean which has been suggested to play a role in prevention of steroid-hormone related cancers, particularly breast cancer. 

As a result of the research led by Dr Yang Zhang and Dr Eugenio Butelli working in Professor Cathie Martin’s lab at the John Innes Centre, one tomato can produce the same quantity of Resveratrol as exists in 50 bottles of red wine. One tomato has also produced the amount of Genistein found in 2.5kg of tofu.

Drs Zhang and Butelli have been studying the effect of a protein called AtMYB12 which is found in Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant found in most UK gardens and used as a model plant in scientific investigation. 

The protein AtMYB12 activates a broad set of genes involved in metabolic pathways responsible for producing natural compounds of use to the plant. The protein acts a bit like a tap to increase or reduce the production of natural compounds depending on how much of the protein is present. 

What was interesting about the effect of introducing this protein into a tomato plant was how it acted to both increase the capacity of the plant to produce natural compounds (by activating phenylpropanoid production) and to influence the amount of energy and carbon the plant dedicated to producing these natural compounds. In response to the influence of the AtMYB12 protein, tomato plants began to create more phenylpropanoids and flavanoids and to devote more energy to doing this in fruit.

Introducing both AtMYB12 and genes from plants encoding enzymes specific for making Resveratrol in grape and Genistein in legumes, resulted in tomatoes that could produce as much as 80mg of novel compound per gram of dry weight –demonstrating that industrial scale up is possible. 

Tomatoes are a high yielding crop - producing up to 500 tonnes per hectare in countries delivering the highest yields (FAOSTAT 2013) and require relatively few inputs. Production of valuable compounds like Resveratrol or Genistein in tomatoes could be a more economical way of producing them than relying on artificial synthesis in a lab or extracting them in tiny quantities from traditional plant sources (e.g., grapes, soybeans, etc.). The tomatoes can be harvested and juiced and the valuable compounds can be extracted from the juice. The tomatoes themselves could potentially become the source of increased nutritional or medicinal benefit. 

Professor Cathie Martin said:

"Our study provides a general tool for producing valuable phenylpropanoid compounds on an industrial scale in plants, and potentially production of other products derived from aromatic amino acids. Our work will be of interest to different research areas including fundamental research on plants, plant/microbe engineering, medicinal plant natural products, as well as diet and health research.”

Dr Yang Zhang, said:

"Medicinal plants with high value are often difficult to grow and manage, and need very long cultivation times to produce the desired compounds. Our research provides a fantastic platform to quickly produce these valuable medicinal compounds in tomatoes. Target compounds could be purified directly from tomato juice. We believe our design idea could also be applied to other compounds such as terpenoids and alkaloids, which are the major groups of medicinal compounds from plants.”

This research was strategically funded by the BBSRC, the EU ATHENA collaborative project, the Major State Basic Research Development Program (973 Program) of China, the John Innes Foundation, and the DBT-CREST Fellowship.

Source: Scientists produce beneficial natural compounds in tomato – with potential for industrial scale up

2015 Nobel prize recognises importance of research into medicinal compounds made by plants and microbes.

From the John Innes Centre

Earlier this month the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine was awarded to three scientists who pioneered the development of new drugs from plants and microbes, and in doing so, went on to save millions of lives.

Chinese scientist, Professor Youyou Tu, received half the Nobel prize for developing artemisinin, a drug from the wormwood plant which gave the world a desperately needed new therapy for treatment of malaria.

Professors Satoshi Omura and William Campbell received a quarter of the prize each for the development of ivermectin, a drug made by a bacterium called Streptomyces avermitilis. Ivermectin was originally intended to tackle parasitic infections in animals, but it also proved to be extremely effective as a simple and life-changing treatment for the human parasitic infections which cause river blindness and elephantiasis.

The John Innes Centre is a world leader in this area of science. Scientists in the Plant and Microbial Metabolism programme aim to understand how plants and microbes make diverse natural compounds, and to apply this knowledge to develop new therapeutics that can improve human and animal health. Two relevant examples of current JIC research are the continuing discovery of potential new antibiotics made by species of the bacterium Streptomyces, and the discovery of how the anti-cancer drug vincristine is made by the Madagascar periwinkle plant.

Streptomycetes and antibiotics

Streptomycetes are soil-dwelling bacteria that give rise to half of the antibiotics used in human and veterinary medicine and agriculture. Ivermectin is one of the best known examples; another is streptomycin for which Professor Selman Waksman was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1952. Streptomycetes also produce compounds that are used as anti-cancer agents, herbicides and other pharmacologically active chemicals such as immuno-suppressants, and several enzymes that are important to the food industry. 

Following the huge advances in understanding antibiotic production by Streptomyces species stemming from the research of Professor David Hopwood at JIC from the 1960s onwards, Professor Merv Bibb and Dr Barrie Wilkinson and Dr Andy Truman are working to discover new compounds made by Streptomyces and related bacteria. Their discoveries build on the pioneering work of Omura, Campbell, Waksman, Hopwood and others, and are needed more urgently than ever in the face of the dwindling effectiveness of current antibiotics for many major diseases.

Fortunately, advanced methods of sequencing bacterial genomes have now revealed that these bacteria have the genetic capacity to make many diverse compounds with unexplored structures and properties. There is thus huge untapped potential for the discovery of new antibiotics. The John Innes researchers are using combinations of genetics, bioinformatics, chemistry and molecular biology to pinpoint and characterise new compounds of potential value, and to engineer the production of large amounts of these compounds for tests of their antibiotic properties. The researchers collaborate with other organisations and pharmaceutical companies to ensure that new compounds can be rapidly developed into drugs if they show therapeutic potential. 

The Madagascar Periwinkle (Catharanthus Roseus) - The plant that makes vincristine

Madagascar periwinkle and anti-cancer drugs

The Madagascar periwinkle plant produces rare complex compounds that are used as anticancer therapies. Vincristine, for example, is important for the treatment of several cancers. The drug has to be purified from the plant, and as a result it is very expensive and in short supply. Professor Sarah O’Connor is working with collaborators in Europe and the USA to discover how this and related compounds are made in the plant. Her discoveries will lead to better production methods for the anticancer compounds, and the development of novel, related compounds which may have new or enhanced therapeutic properties. She recently engineered yeast cells to produce a precursor to vincristine, using genes from the periwinkle plant. This development opens up the possibility of cheap, large scale production of vincristine in the future.

Many species of plants in addition to the Madagascar periwinkle produce valuable drugs. The antimalarial drug artemisinin discovered by Professor YouYou Tu in the wormwood plant is an outstanding example. Quinine, the original antimalarial therapy, comes from a South American tree, and plants also produce morphine, atropine and a host of other drugs in common use. JIC makes major contributions to the discovery of new therapeutic compounds from plants. As for bacteria, new information about plant genomes shows us that plants have a huge capacity for the production of potentially valuable molecules that have not yet been characterised. Genomic information also helps us to discover the compounds responsible for the therapeutic properties of plants used in traditional medicines. The research of Professors Sarah O’Connor, Anne Osbourn, Cathie Martin, Rob Field and George Lomonossoff and Dr Paul O’Maille is leading to the discovery of new compounds and how they are made in plants, to the synthesis of altered versions of therapeutic compounds expected to have novel properties, and to methods for engineering large scale production of plant-derived therapeutic compounds.

EU Workshop on Access and Benefit Sharing under Nagoya Protocol

More info and registration here

Context

The EU is a Party to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation. The EU ABS Regulation, which transposes into the EU legal order the compliance pillar of the Protocol, became applicable as of 12 October 2014. The principal obligations of the Regulation – i.e. Article 4 on due diligence, Article 7 on monitoring user compliance and Article 9 on checks on user compliance – will become applicable as of 12 October 2015. In this context it is important that those who utilise genetic resources (i.e. conduct research and development on the genetic and/or biological composition of genetic resources, including through the application of biotechnology) are aware of the obligations arising from the Regulation, and that they can take the necessary measures to ensure their activities are compliant.

Workshop presentation

The workshop aims at providing the participants with knowledge about their obligations under the EU ABS Regulation and what they practically imply for their everyday work. In the first part of the workshop, the new legal framework will be explained, providing insight into the main provisions of the EU ABS Regulation. In the second part of the workshop, participants will have a chance to put the knowledge gained into practice through interactive case studies, based on real-life examples and realistic scenarios. The workshop should allow participants to better understand their obligations under the EU law, and to establish which steps they need to follow and which practical measures they should take when dealing with genetic resources originating from Parties to the Nagoya Protocol.

Target group

The workshop is targeted at senior academics and experienced researchers conducting research and development on genetic resources who have an interest in gaining an essential understanding of the new legal framework in the EU, in view of the ABS Regulation becoming fully operational later this year.

Scientists with an expertise in the ABS regulation are not targeted by this basic training workshop

Event on writing for The Conversation (23 Nov 2015)

The Conversation is a website aimed at providing expert opinion and comment from academics across the UK:Articles on the site are regularly carried on other sites, including The Guardian, Independent, CNN and IFLscience.

The site is a great opportunity to share your science with a wider audience and contribute commentary on synthetic biology and related fields.

The Office of External Affairs and Communications at the University of Cambridge is hosting an event on 23 November with Jonathan Este, Associate Editor at The Conversation.

"The University of Cambridge is now a member of the Conversation, meaning that our researchers have greater opportunity to write stories for the site, and will also be able to benefit from training sessions in writing opinion pieces for a general audience. This can benefit early-career as well as more established researchers.

Jonathan Este will give a short talk covering the following: · What is The Conversation?

· How can researchers get involved in writing features?

· What are the benefits?

· What training and support is available?

Professor Simon Redfern from the Department of Earth Sciences who is a regular columnist on the Science & Technology page of The Conversation will also talk about his experiences.

After the presentations there will be an opportunity to network with colleagues over tea, coffee and biscuits."

There are a limited number of places, so please do book your place here.

5 Independent Research Career Development Fellowships at WISB (deadline 2 Dec)

Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology Centre (WISB) is looking for ambitious postdoctoral researchers who wish to begin development of an independent career in synthetic biology. Five independent Research Career Development Fellowships are offered for 4 years. For more information, please see attached poster and More info and applications on the University of Warwick HR website (vacancy ref: 76911-105 - deadline 2 Dec) Information Flyer (PDF)