By Heather Hobbs


BRINGING YOU THE LATEST NEWS & EVENTS FROM THE SCIENCE INDUSTRY


Award to Advance low-cost Portable Spectroscopic Devices


A team of researchers focusing on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) are set to explore approaches that do not require magnetic fields for chemical, biological and medical applications. Dr Danila Barskiy, who has recently joined JGU from the University of California Berkeley to lead the new project has been awarded a Sofja Kovalevskaja Award worth €1.6 million by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.


“We are very pleased that Danila Barskiy and his research have been honoured in this way. His work not only covers new and previously unexplored aspects, but also excellently complements research we are already undertaking here in Mainz,” said Professor Dmitry Budker, Barskiy’s host at the Institute of Physics at JGU and at the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM).


Barskiy’s new interdisciplinary group will focus on developing miniaturised, portable NMR sensors employing the principle


of zero to ultra-low field magnetic resonance, (ZULF NMR) using optically pumped magnetometers which would not require any strong magnetic fields.


His longer term view is also to develop hyperpolarizers for benchtop NMR spectrometers to improve the alignment of nuclear spins in a sample, thereby amplifying their NMR signals. The scientist predicts that application-specific hyperpolarizers for tabletop NMR devices may be soon available and that they will be about the size of a coffee machine. Such a device would enable highly sensitive analyses of fuels, biofluids such as blood or urine and food extracts. “This will democratize NMR spectroscopy by providing access to wider audiences and will accelerate technological progress in developing countries,” Barskiy emphasised.


53343pr@reply-direct.com Danila Barskiy


UK and Canada to Partner on Research Opportunities


International Freezer Challenge 2021: Optimise Your Cold Storage Practices


Global warming is a challenge for mankind on earth. Sustainability discussions primarily focus on energy consumption of devices. Even environmentally friendly and energy efficient ultra-low temperature freezers traditionally consume a large amount of energy as they maintain extremely low temperatures 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for years.


The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) and MyGreenLab have partnered again to reward the best concept to improve cold storage regarding sustainability: The Freezer Challenge 2021.


The users can earn points by taking actions from good


management practices, temperature tuning, and other areas, as well as for sharing information about best practices. Awards will be given to those who have done the most to save energy and improve their sample storage.


Based on Eppendorf’s responsibility for


the environment, the company is proudly sponsoring the 2021 International Freezer Challenge the fourth time in row, starting in 2018.


More information online: ilmt.co/PL/JOLJ 54129pr@reply-direct.com


A letter of understanding between the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), will enable the two organisations to work together to find new ways to improve each respective nation’s infrastructure for supporting research, with shared information at their online portals.


Professor Mark Thomson, Chief Executive of STFC, said: “This agreement will enable enhanced cooperation and collaboration with our colleagues in Canada, with whom we already enjoy strong relationships. By strengthening our partnerships in research infrastructure and major national and international facilities, I believe researchers in both nations will see real benefits – providing further opportunities for the brightest and most curious scientific minds from the UK and Canada to work together.


CFI President and CEO, Roseann O’Reilly Runte, commented: “This agreement brings us together to make research infrastructure in both countries better known and available to academic and industrial researchers around the world. It will enable us to create synergies, spark innovation and economic development.”


CFI’s Research Facilities Navigator; More information online: ilmt.co/PL/KgJB


UKRI Research and Innovation Infrastructure Portal; More information online: ilmt.co/PL/n5or


53985pr@reply-direct.com


Self-renewing Immune Cells could improve Vaccine Design


An unexpected discovery has led scientists from Cardiff University, St George’s, University of London, Imperial College London and the USA, to believe that a key type of immune cell previously thought to die when end stage has been reached ‘self-renews’ in humans.


“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, T-cells – the immune cells that have a crucial role in killing infected cells and protecting us against infection – have been in the spotlight and it is crucial we continue to learn more about the role they play in long- term immunity, for good or for bad,” said lead author Dr Kristin Ladell, from Cardiff University’s School of Medicine.


“Here, we have clearly shown that a type of T-cell we thought was senescent – that is, aged and deteriorating in function – is in fact self-renewing in humans. The very fact this is happening suggests they have a positive role to play in the long-term maintenance of immunological memory, which is critical for human health. The findings [1] could also have important implications for vaccine design” Dr Ladell added.


Conducted on young and elderly adult volunteers with or without HIV-1 infection, the study used complex methods, including cell tracking in humans, advanced imaging technology and mathematical modelling to determine that CD57+ memory T-cells proliferate and self-renew. The experimental results were also complemented by


mathematical modelling performed by Professor Becca Asquith’s team at Imperial College London, providing strong evidence that most CD57+ memory T cells self-renew.


“It was already known that CD57+ memory T-cells become more prevalent with age, usually in response to persistent immune stimulation, for example, in people with certain chronic infections, like HIV-1, or certain types of herpesviruses, like cytomegalovirus,” said Professor Derek Macallan at St George’s, University of London.


“What we wanted to find out was whether these cells were actually multiplying or just accumulating, because they were not dying. Our research suggests they are self-renewing, and as such, it would seem they have an important role in keeping chronic infections at bay.”


The study, also involving scientists at the University of California, Berkeley and at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was funded by Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the European Union and the National Institute of Health.


1. Published in Cell Reports 53988pr@reply-direct.com


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