Researchers at the Department of Biology at Maynooth University have made a significant breakthrough in the study of the human pathogenic fungus, Aspergillus fumigatus. The fungus, which severely affects some cancer patients, produces a toxic molecule, gliotoxin. The toxin causes disease in immune-compromised patients such as cancer sufferers and is also a major issue in food safety. The researchers had previously discovered that the toxin actually damages the fungus itself, but that the production of the toxin stimulates repeat production (a positive feedback loop). The scientists have now discovered that a new molecule (GtmA) shuts down the mechanism causing the repeat production. This type of molecular off-switch has never been seen before in biology, and may form the basis of a therapy to treat aspergillus infection in patients. Discussing the breakthrough, Professor Sean Doyle, Department of Biology, Maynooth University, said he believed the breakthrough could form the basis of treatment for patients in the future. This is a major breakthrough because if we can discover exactly how toxin production is switched off in one fungal species, this will provide insights into how we can do it in other human, animal and plant disease-causing fungi. This might form the basis of … Continue reading →

London, UK (PRWEB UK) 27 August 2014 Companies in the field of synthetic biology are emerging from the laboratory and into the commercial world, revolutionising existing markets and establishing new markets. The investment team behind the Rainbow Seed Fund, a 24 million early-stage venture capital fund dedicated to kick-starting promising UK tech companies, says synthetic biology now provides an exciting investment opportunity. In the past few years, we have seen a burgeoning number of start-ups based on synthetic biology, said Rainbow Seed Fund investment manager Oliver Sexton, who recently joined the team alongside Dr Andrew Muir and Mark White. Based on world-leading research from academic institutions and blue-sky industry labs, products and platforms are being developed that offer the real potential in diverse and significant global markets. Perhaps even more exciting synthetic biology is enabling entirely new products that were simply impossible using the previous generation of biological tools. The Rainbow Seed Fund has worked with a number of partners, including the University of Warwick, to help communicate a better understanding of the field of synthetic biology. The Fund recently released the What is Synthetic Biology? video to help explain not just what synthetic biology is, but also highlight the … Continue reading →