Research beacons are a hit at New Scientist Live

28 Sep 2016

How ‘sugar coatings’ on cells can help safeguard our health was among the thought-provoking Manchester research showcased at the popular New Scientist Live event

The University’s Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) showcased the ‘Complex Life of Sugars’ exhibit at the four-day festival organised by New Scientist and hosted at ExCeL in London with the aim to inspire and inform.

The MIB stand was part of the University’s commitment to the event, which also included climate change expert Professor Alice Larkin, who shared her views on how to cut carbon emissions. and immunologist Dr Sheena Cruikshank, who talked about new thinking on allergies. The University’s research beacons were also profiled to thousands of visitors and leaders in the science community.

“It was great to see such a range of contributors with exhibits in all shapes and sizes on show in the same space,” said exhibit co-organiser Dr Nicholas Weise from the MIB, one of the world’s leading biotechnology research institutes.

“The reaction from the visitors was overwhelmingly positive with interest - not only in industrial biotechnology projects based at our institute but also the wider collection of ideas and challenges surrounding all of our research beacons.”

MIB’s interactive exhibit featured a ‘cell invaders’ video game and enzyme experiments to detect sugars in different foodstuffs. Nick said their exhibit aimed to reveal the important role of sugars to our wellbeing.

He added: “Sugars make up the majority of biomass on earth and are often used in the food and flavour industry. However, it is less well known that complex structures made from sugar – known as glycans – decorate the surfaces of living systems such as viruses and cells in animals, plants and bacteria.

“It is these structures that allow recognition and signalling, such as the action of hormones or the recognition of invading pathogens by the immune system.

“By understanding these interactions, scientists can develop new therapeutics, such as the sugar-mimic Tamiflu which stockpiled during the recent swine and bird flu epidemics. Tamiflu closely resembles the particular sugar used by the influenza virus to latch onto and enter certain cells for infection.

“As such, its presence in the body causes the virus to bind the drug instead of cells surfaces, making it an effective antiviral agent.”

A research group at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, led by Professor Sabine Flitsch, focusses on the development of synthetic and analytical tools designed to allow scientists to construct and study medically-relevant glycans in the laboratory.