11 TO BE INCLUDED IN OUR NEXT ISSUE, SEND ALL YOUR RESEARCH AND EVENTS NEWS STORIES TO HEATHER@INTLABMATE.COM


“Each summer, the National Bee Unit apiary is home to around 1.2 million honey bees!”


100 Years of Science Solutions


2014 marks the centenary of the formation of the first organisations that have evolved into what is known today as The Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera).


“Since 2000, for our


work studying vulnerable small wild animal populations Fera has caught and released over 11,500 small mammals”


In 1914, the growing problem of new pests and diseases brought into Britain following international expeditions, led to the setting up of the Institute for Plant Pathology at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In the same year The Ministry of Food established the Food Science Laboratory in Norwich. Its role was to check the quality of food entering storage and monitor the condition of stored food, a vital element in protecting the nation’s food supply given the outbreak of World War One.


And that’s where it all started. “Fera scientists


designed & used the first on-site, DNA-based test for plant pathogen Phytophthora ramorum”


The Plant Pathology Laboratory at Kew 1918; This was one of the laboratories that have come together over the years to form what is currently known as Fera). Image Courtesy The Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), Crown Copyright.


Today, the drivers for Fera’s work and scientific developments are remarkably similar to those that existed in 1914. In the 21st Century, the continued globalisation of markets and access to world travel, have led to a huge increase in the import and export of plant material, some for onward sale, some just brought back by individuals returning from holidays.


The food chain is under the combined strains of an ever increasing world population, changing patterns of food consumption as places like China become more open to western


cultural influences, and shifts in climatic patterns.


Key stages in the development of Fera are shown on a timeline available on the website.


365 Fera Facts To commemorate Fera’s role in providing one hundred years of science solutions, we are ‘tweeting’ a fact a day throughout 2014 to give our customers, stakeholders and the general public (who rarely come into contact with us but whose daily lives are touched by some aspect of the work we do) an insight into who we are and what we do. Hopefully you’ll find these facts interesting and engaging, some might even be useful one day in your local pub quiz!


Aerial view of Fera’s Sand Hutton site Image Courtesy The Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), Crown Copyright.


“The Fera entomology collection contains over 150,000 specimens and is a nationally important reference resource”


“The balancing pond at the Fera site collects


surface rainwater for controlled release into the environment”


Fera’s modern laboratories at Sand Hutton Image Courtesy The Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), Crown Copyright.


“Fera has provided


For more info on our 100-year Centenary please visit: http://fera.co.uk/aboutUs/feraCentenary/index.cfm


29397pr@reply-direct.com


training in plant health diagnostic techniques to organisations from 41 different countries”


From Old to New - 1,500 Years in Permafrost and Growing


Specimens of moss that have been frozen for more than 1500 years in the Antarctic have successfully been revived by researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the University of Reading. Cores taken from frozen ice banks were carefully prepared and cultivated in an incubator under normal growth temperature and light levels.


After only a few weeks, the moss began to grow. Using carbon dating, the team identified the moss to be at least 1,530 years of age, and possibly even older, at the depth where the new growth was seen.


As the dominant plants in both polar regions, mosses are major storers of fixed carbon and play an important role in glacial environments. This study* is the first to indicate such long-term survival in any plant; similar timescales have only been seen before in bacteria.


Professor Peter Convey from the British Antarctic Survey explained:


“What mosses do in the ecosystem is far more important than we would generally realise when we look at a moss on a wall here for instance. Understanding what controls their growth and distribution, particularly in a fast-changing part of the world such as the Antarctic Peninsula region, is therefore of much wider significance.”


“This experiment shows that multi-cellular organisms, plants in this case, can survive over far longer timescales than previously thought. These mosses, a key part of the ecosystem, could survive century to millennial periods of ice advance, such as the Little Ice Age in Europe.


“If they can survive in this way, then recolonisation following an ice age, once the ice retreats, would be a lot easier than migrating trans-oceanic distances from warmer regions. It also maintains diversity in an area that would otherwise be wiped clean of life by the ice advance.


“Although it would be a big jump from the current finding, this does raise the possibility of complex life forms surviving even longer periods once encased in permafrost or ice.”


*Millennial timescale regeneration in a moss from Antarctica by Esme Roads, Royce E. Longton and Peter Convey; Current Biology, 17 March 2014


29398pr@reply-direct.com West coast deep moss bank (credit: Peter Boelen) Moss re-growth at different depths in the core.


(A) Site of new growth emerging from existing gametophytes on the fresh-cut face of the core at 110 cm depth (arrow). (B) Extensive regrowth of Chorisodontium aciplyllum from the basal section of the core at 121–138 cm depth. (C) Regrowth from the basal section of the core, showing preserved brown rhizoids (thick arrow) and new protonemal growth (thin arrow). (D) New shoots of the liverwort Cephaloziella sp (Credit: Esme Roads)


Southampton Recognised for Asthma and Allergy Achievements The asthma, allergy and


immunology service in Southampton has been named a world centre of excellence for achievements in clinical innovation and research.


The endorsement of University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Southampton’s department of allergy by the World Allergy Organisation means city experts will now help to lead training, research and education internationally over a three-year term.


Professor Hasan Arshad It is currently the only service in the world to hold this status.


In addition to hosting one of the largest allergy and immunology centres in the country at Southampton General Hospital, the department has an extensive research programme alongside hospital care which aims to discover novel ways to prevent the development of asthma and allergy, as well as finding better treatments for sufferers.


Various projects underway involve studying the effects of both genetic and environmental factors and how changes in the make-up of genes can play a role in altering the risk of allergic disease to see how the process could be reversed.


Professor Hasan Arshad, a consultant at Southampton General and chair of allergy and clinical immunology at the University of Southampton, said: “To be named the world centre of excellence is a tremendous achievement and testament to the magnificent progress in patient care and research by some truly exceptional people.


“These people have kept Southampton at the forefront of allergy and asthma research for more than 30 years and we are extremely privileged to have such an array of expertise and talent within one team in our university and hospital.


“We now have a fantastic opportunity to influence international progress in our field over the course of our term.”


29352pr@reply-direct.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84