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Leukemia Lifeblood
Transfusions of umbilical cord blood can provide a life-saving boost to leukaemia patients’ immune systems. So why is banking cord blood the exception rather than the norm, asks Bryn Nelson The Biologist 64(3) p14-17 In 1988, French doctor Eliane...
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‘This is perhaps the first organism whose evolutionary history was in a computer’
Michael Levin’s work explores how individual cells co-ordinate into multicellular shapes. As Tom Ireland finds, this has not only led to the creation of ‘living robots’ made entirely from frog cells, but it could be used to repair birth defects,...
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‘This is perhaps the first organism whose evolutionary history was in a computer’
Michael Levin’s work explores how individual cells co-ordinate into multicellular shapes. As Tom Ireland finds, this has not only led to the creation of ‘living robots’ made entirely from frog cells, but it could be used to repair birth defects,...
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From Organoids to Gastruloids
Last year was hailed as 'the year of the organoid' as news of mini-brains, livers and intestines grown in the laboratory hit the headlines. Here, Dr David Turner explains the latest in vitro systems for modelling human development and disease,...
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A whole new world
Above: The protein CD9 in an activated human macrophage, captured using super-resolution microscopy (STED) - Ashley Ambrose and Daniel M. Davis, University of Manchester An exclusive extract from Professor Dan Davis’s new book, The Secret Body,...
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Twist of Fate
Developmental biologist Dr Alison Woollard tells Tom Ireland about her Royal Institution Lectures, and how cells know what to do The Biologist Vol 61(2) p30-33 Dr Alison Woollard FSB is a dean and lecturer in genetics at the department of biochemistry...
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Spatialomics: Life in 3D
Image: A Visium CytAssist assay showing spatial gene expression (top layer) and protein expression (middle), courtesy of 10x Genomics Spatial omics is allowing biologists to reveal the finer details of human development, particularly in the developing...
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Going back in genes
A new analysis of the genes common to bacteria and archaea offers strong evidence that the earliest cells on Earth lived deep in hydrothermal vents, explains William F Martin The Biologist 64(2) p20-23 The last universal common ancestor (LUCA) is the...
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Reports
Unearthing the buried soul: Homo naledi and the evolution of hominin mortuary practices 19 July 2021 How have awareness of mortality and the rituals associated with death and treatment of human remains evolved over time? Is modern Homo sapiens unique...
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IIB or not IIB?
This year marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. As 2016 draws to a close, Alison Woollard and Emma Smith look at how the bard's work has inspired the creative – and at times funny – vocabulary of genetics The Biologist 63(6) p24-27...
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Frozen assets
Advances in the science of ‘cryobanking’ animal gametes are helping restore endangered populations and preserve biodiversity, writes William V Holt The Biologist 64(4) p16-21 In the late 1940s a young postdoc called Chris Polge, working at the MRC...
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'I push people to apply the scientific method to crazy questions'
Tom Ireland speaks to biohacker Andrew Pelling about his unconventional Canadian laboratory, where researchers and artists ask unusual questions about what can be done with living tissues The Biologist 65(3) p18-21 Andrew Pelling is perhaps best known...
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“If this doesn’t work, I’m not sure anything will”
Professor Sarah Gilbert on the science behind one of the world’s most advanced COVID-19 vaccine trials, and what still needs to be done to prove it is safe and effective As professor of vaccinology at the Jenner Institute and Oxford’s Nuffield...
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“If this doesn’t work, I’m not sure anything will”
Professor Sarah Gilbert on the science behind one of the world’s most advanced COVID-19 vaccine trials, and what still needs to be done to prove it is safe and effective As professor of vaccinology at the Jenner Institute and Oxford’s Nuffield...
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'I push people to apply the scientific method to crazy questions'
Tom Ireland speaks to biohacker Andrew Pelling about his unconventional Canadian laboratory, where researchers and artists ask unusual questions about what can be done with living tissues The Biologist 65(3) p18-21 Andrew Pelling is perhaps best known...
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Replace, refine, reduce
Dr Alice Carstairs and Courtney Williams explore the best of this year’s efforts to help reduce the use of animals in biomedical research (Image: A poultry red mite, now being studied with far small populations of hens). 1st August 2020 Each year the...
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The imitation game
Jennifer Mather looks at how cephalopods can perfectly camouflage themselves and create stunning visual displays with their skin – all without colour vision The Biologist 65(6) p10-13 Pictures courtesy of Craig Foster, Seachangeproject, South Africa...
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Everlasting life: the ‘immortal’ jellyfish
The supposedly 'immortal' jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii has captivated scientists since it was discovered decades ago. One of the first researchers to study it, Ferdinando Boero, looks at whether this amazing organism really can live forever The...
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21st Century BioChallenges Activity Kits
The 21st Century BioChallenges resources have been developed to facilitate engagement with current issues in biochemistry, focusing particularly on topics related to health and food security. They have been developed by the Royal Society of Biology and...
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“Just the idea of having these species back is already having an impact”
Beth Shapiro with Colossal co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm Beth Shapiro, chief scientist at the de-extinction start-up Colossal, talks to Tom Ireland about the science and ethics of recreating long-lost species in a lab Professor Beth Shapiro is an...
