This collection of short interviews with scientists introduces contemporary science topics through conversation with some of the UK's leading researchers.
Each of the videos is accompanied with a teachers' summary, plus student questions and answers.
Plant-derived medicines to cure cancer |
Plant survival strategies: hormones and responses |
This 5-minute video interview with Professor Sarah O’Connor from the John Innes Centre, introduces her work to find new molecules that can successfully treat cancer.
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In this 5-minute video interview, Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, Director of the Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, discusses the different survival strategies of plants and animals.
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Saving the world's forests |
Feeding sub-Saharan Africa |
Find out how one scientist turned his student project into a career that’s allowed him to travel the world and play a role in saving the world’s forests.
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This 10-minute video interview with Professor Giles Oldroyd offers a thought-provoking take on the topic of fertilisers and nitrogen fixation.
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How big data is transforming biology |
Photosynthesis to feed the world? |
The human genome project. High-throughput genotyping. Big data is in the news - but what are the implications for the world of biology? In this video, expert Professor David Salt of the University of Aberdeen talks about his views.
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Can a more efficient form of photosynthesis in rice feed the world’s growing population?
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Omega 3 |
The mystery of the evolution of stomata |
Omega-3 fatty acids are vital for human health. But how can we source them sustainably?Professor Johnathan Napier of Rothamstead Research, talks about the role that Omega-3 fatty acids play in our diets, how we currently source them from algae via fish, and how he hopes to use genetic engineering to breed plants that produce these molecules in their oils.
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We take stomata for granted – they’re on every leaf around us, and without them the world wouldn’t breathe. They don’t just respond to daylight and atmospheric humidity: new research shows that plants slam their stomata shut against invading bacteria.
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Computer modelling, ecology and climate change |
Coffee history and survival |
In this 5-minute video interview, Dr Drew Purves discusses how his research can help us predict the effects of climate change on natural ecosystems, and develop strategies to address it. This video introduces the concept of mathematical modelling in biology, and explains its uses in a clear and relevant context. |
This 5-minute video interview introduces students to the history and economics of coffee and the impact of a plant pathogen on coffee production. Dr Charlie Clutterbuck discusses the long and strange history behind coffee – how a small plant from Ethiopia dominated the world, and why it’s under threat today. |
GFP and reporter proteins |
Genetics, genomics and food security |
This video interview with Professor John Christie of the University of Glasgow, introduces students to fluorescent reporter proteins and their importance to our understanding of cell biology. GFP – the protein that allows jellyfish to glow their astonishing luminescent green – changed the way we understand biology. Transferred into plant, bacterial or animal cells, GFP allows them to glow when illuminated by blue light. But what are the limitations – and where next for ‘reporter proteins’? |
This video interview with Dr Cristobal Uauy of the John Innes Centre introduces post-16 students to contemporary genomics and food security. Dr Cristobal Uauy is passionate about helping the world’s poorest farmers increase the amount of crops they get from their fields. He’s moved from South America to Norfolk to use the new understanding of the wheat genome to create higher yielding wheat varieties. In this video, he explains how his group may be on the verge of a breakthrough. |