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Success Stories - Pure sciences - Biology	Last Update: 22-05-13

Results: 1-9 of 9

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Long-legged lizard challenges Darwinian evolution

Survival of the fittest, according to Darwin's theory of evolution, is a slow biological process that takes place in a species over many generations. But Spanish researcher Marta López Darias and colleagues had a different idea. Her EU-funded research contributes to the growing body of evidence pointing to "rapid evolution in action".

27-03-13

Sex role reversal: male shorebirds looking after offspring

A century old mystery as to why, for some animals, it's the father rather than the mother that takes care of their young has been cracked by researchers at the University of Sheffield.

21-03-13

Controlling the killer

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) & cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) are parasitic diseases transmitted to humans by the bite of sand flies. In VL, the parasite migrates to the internal organs such as liver, spleen and bone marrow. Signs and symptoms include fever, weight loss, mucosal ulcers, fatigue, anaemia and substantial swelling of the liver and spleen. VL if left untreated will almost always result in the death of the host. Meanwhile, CL is the most common form of leishmaniasis. It is a skin infection caused by a single-celled parasite that is also transmitted by sand fly bites and can cause facial disfigurement.

22-02-13

BIOPTRAIN – European researchers make sense of genetic data

Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter on a molecular scale, brings together different sciences. It is not just about the physics of atomic arrangements, but also about the chemistry of each element involved. The mix becomes yet more complex when living organisms interact with the tiny structures. But by embracing this complexity - bringing together chemists, physicists, biologists and engineers - a research project has provided new insights into nanotechnology.

18-12-12

SILKBONE - USING SPIDERS TO WEAVE A CURE FOR JOINT DAMAGE

For many of us, spiders are our worst phobia, the stuff of nightmares. But these scuttling, eight-legged creatures could be on the brink of delivering a major benefit to human health.

05-09-12

Instruct:
Europe’s research hub for structural biology

Instruct is a dynamic, integrated research infrastructure for structural biology. Initiated in 2008, it has evolved into a prominent platform where cutting-edge technology, leading expertise and pioneering training combine in support of outstanding science. Instruct champions an integrated approach to structural biology. It strives to refine the quality of structural biology research in Europe by contributing to and promoting new developments and methodologies. It also provides strategic leadership for structural biology policy in Europe.

29-02-12

The European Spallation Source: a world top-level research infrastructure located in Europe

The large European Spallation Source (ESS) research infrastructure (RI) will be a world first in the field of neutron production for analytical purposes. Rated at 5 MW, it will be the world's most powerful long-pulse source of low-energy neutrons, which are particularly useful in the analysis and understanding of condensed matter (soft and hard), magnetism, biology and nuclear physics. ESS's intense neutron beams will allow for unprecedented research on real time, real size, in situ, in vivo measurements on organic and inorganic materials, including movies of nano-scale events.

05-09-11

http://europa.eu/research/success/en/soc/image

Laboratories conduct the enquiry

Genetic imprint: a reliable method which is used more and more in criminal cases and paternity investigations.

For ten years now the police has had at its disposal a valuable tool to confound culprits: genetic imprints. In the past three years researchers of the European Stadnap project have been working on harmonising these identification techniques in order to make them more reliable and ensure that such forensic information can be exchanged between different countries.

22-11-01

http://europa.eu/research/success/en/med/image

Blood stem cells on demand

The blood from a single umbilical cord (80 to 120 ml) contains as many hematopoietic stem cells as a normal sample of 800 to 1200 ml of bone marrow from a donor. Amplified in vitro, it can produce enough for a graft on an adult without a complex operation..

Can cell cultures be used to rebuild a human being? Biologists can already grow cartilage or produce skin in vitro to graft onto serious burn victims. Now European researchers have risen to the challenge of growing blood stem cells, which then develop into red or white corpuscles or platelets. This success opens the door for big improvements in transplant technology, which currently demands great sacrifices from donors, and will considerably shorten the wait for patients. At the same time it paves the way for stem cell cultures for other human tissues.

22-11-01

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