Today is International Women’s Day 2020. The Oxford Scientist is written, edited and read by women scientists across Oxford University and beyond. How better to celebrate than by reminding ourselves of those who came before, what still needs to be done, and how we can mobilise change to keep improving the experiences and opportunities for…
10 million people in the UK suffer from some sort of phobia. At the heart of these anxiety-related disorders are aversive memories, which are formed when the brain makes a link between an object, animal, place, or situation and a traumatic event experienced at the same time. Currently, treatment for these phobias involves gradually exposing…
What happens when one size does not fit all? The first race-based combination prescription drug, Hydralazine-plus-nitrate is used in the treatment of congestive heart failure. Among African Americans, life expectancy of those with heart failure is increased using this combination drug, whereas white Americans respond less effectively to the drug. Another drug, Gefitinib, used in…
Brazilian scientists have recorded the highest-ever Antarctic temperature. At midday on 9 February, air temperature at the Marambio research base hit 20.75ᵒC. This is the first time that a temperature exceeding 20ᵒC has been recorded anywhere within the Antarctic climate zone – the area further than 60 degrees south of the equator. Marambio is located…
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should”. 25 years on, this quote from Jurassic Park by the great Jeff Goldblum rings truer than ever. While every great scientific advancement experiences some level of discussion and controversy, no field attracts more debate than that…
Most researchers’ response to the word ‘collaboration’ is overwhelmingly positive. Many of the most influential scientific breakthroughs that have gone on to shape today’s scientific landscape have been the product of collaborations: Gates and Allen, the Wright brothers, and Watson, Crick and Franklin, to name a few. The global value of collaboration can be seen…
Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society and 2009 Nobel Prize winner, is already well known in the scientific community for his publications about the ribosome. What I wasn’t expecting however, was that his part-memoir, part-popular science book contained far more about the pace, people and progress of science than could ever be gleaned from…
Antibodies are proteins generated by the immune system capable of recognising short peptide fragments (known as epitopes) with a remarkably high degree of specificity. This specificity makes them a powerful tool for research, allowing us to identify, track, and quantify specific proteins in a wide range of assays. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can be generated for…
The Bern town clock chimes: once, twice, three times. Yet another patent on clocks sits at the desk, this one claiming originality for sending time through telephone lines. It was the age when electromechanical devices were starting to be used to synchronise distant clocks. From the comfort of the patent office, a young Albert Einstein…
It’s not about the science. In 1983, a gene from Agrobacterium (a plant-infecting bacterium) was successfully inserted into a plant cell, marking a ‘coming-of-age’ moment for plant genetic engineering. The resulting possibilities seemed endless; pest-resistant, self-fertilising and nutritionally-fortified crop varieties. But relatively little of this technology has been implemented on a global scale. Casual viewers…
