PRESTIGIOUS PRAISE FOR RESEARCHER
Cutting-edge work lands Professor Adrian Bird an international award
A University of Edinburgh researcher, whose innovations in DNA methylation have been licensed to several life science reagent companies, has been recognised with the prestigious 2011 Canada Gairdner International Award. Professor Adrian Bird, of the University’s School of Biological Sciences, was given the international award in recognition of his pioneering discoveries on DNA methylation, a crucial biological signalling module in the mammalian genome, and its role in gene expression.
Professor Bird said: “Methyl groups can serve as chemical punctuation marks, indicating which genes should be turned on or turned off in particular cells and tissues of the body – regulating key processes in the normal development of an organism.
When they are incorrectly placed or misread they can cause disease.” The technology developed within the Bird laboratory assists scientists to dissect and understand these methylation signals, by enabling them to purify and separate the key DNA molecules involved, based on their affinity for proteins that recognise these methyl groups. Life sciences companies can use this technology to generate reagents that simplify the purification and isolation of methylated and unmethylated DNA from cells and tissues making it easier to study. Two such companies have licensed this technology and incorporated it within user-friendly kits that can be used by researchers working in this field. The awards were established by the Gairdner Foundation in 1957 to recognise and reward the achievements of medical researchers whose work contributes significantly to improving the quality of human life. Such is its impact that around a quarter of its recipients have subsequently gone on to win a Nobel Prize.
The new ARM Centre of Excellence will use Edinburgh’s world-class computer science and artificial intelligence expertise in the area of software for multi-core computing. It will focus on developing innovative compiler and runtime approaches that can adapt to architectural evolution – providing low-energy, high performance computing. Mike O’Boyle, Director of the University’s Institute for Computing Systems Architecture, said: “Working with ARM, to investigate new ways of delivering highly optimised large-scale systems that are energy efficient, is a unique opportunity for us, with truly massive potential.” Peter Hutton, Vice President of
Technology & Systems at ARM, said: “ARM is delighted to be working closely with such a world-renowned centre of excellence in energy-efficient programming. “As consumers demand an increasingly connected life, the complexity of the multi- core semiconductor technology will only increase. Research to maximise processing capacity and energy efficiency is an important focus area.”
The BlackBerry
PlayBook is one device that uses a Dual Core ARM processor
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