Over the past few decades, the prevalence of diabetes has been on the rise. According to the WHO, 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, causing an estimated 1.5 million deaths every year. Among those with diabetes, 95% have type 2 diabetes—which is caused by the body’s resistance to insulin. It is known that risk factors for type 2 diabetes include older age, excess weight, poor diet and family history. However, the precise genetic basis of type 2 diabetes is still largely a mystery.

Dr. Mark McCarthy’s lab at the Oxford Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM) focuses on understanding the genetic causes of type 2 diabetes. Identifying which genes contribute to type 2 diabetes could provide opportunities for developing new therapeutics. Chris Grove, former lab manager in Dr. McCarthy’s lab, explained how they have approached this challenge.

Sustainability. Maybe it is your way of life, or you feel like it is a buzzword used and abused. Perhaps you are tired of hearing about it or convinced that society doesn’t do enough. Well, welcome to Switzerland, the country of Heidi, of mountains and chocolate, and where many are passionate about their environment and fight to preserve it. The team of Promega Switzerland is no exception. Take the General Manager, Mauro Ciglic, for example. He is someone who cares about people, nature, and the environment in the broadest sense. For him, sustainability is an attitude. It’s about questioning one’s lifestyle, behaviors, and habits, reflecting on what one can do personally, and continuously challenging oneself to be and do better for others and the environment. Mauro is aware that economic, social, and environmental aspects are intertwined and that changes in the environment, good or bad, directly impact people, thus society at large. As the person responsible for the Swiss Branch of Promega, Mauro can bring positive change using the company’s financial strength and workforce. He focuses on the opportunities and not the challenges and, with the team, works hard to bring concrete solutions.

“One of the hardest things for people to wrap their heads around tends to be the idea that small wins add up to big victories. However, if we want to make a big difference for the future of our planet and its people, we have to overcome our indifference towards so many small things in life.”

– Mauro Ciglic, General Manager, Promega Switzerland

When setting up a new research lab, many researchers opt to outfit their new space with the technology and materials that got them through their academic studies. After graduating with his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Tawfiq Alsulami will be traveling with a GloMax® Navigator Microplate Luminometer across the globe to continue his work as Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at King Saud University. Dr. Alsulami and his new lab at KSU will be using the NanoBiT® system to develop novel assays for the future of food testing.

Dr. Tawfiq Alsulami answered a few of our questions regarding his upcoming research at KSU and offered a few pieces of advice to new labs. Read the Q&A below:

Today’s blog is written by KCL iGEM Team Leaders Alya Masoud Abdelhafid and Luke Bateman. Both in their third and final year at King’s College London, Alya is completing a BSc in Nutrition and Luke a BSc in Biochemistry.  

Every year, the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) offers high-school, undergraduate and post-graduate students the opportunity to conduct independent research using synthetic biology and genetic engineering to develop solutions to local and global problems.

More than 350 teams from around the world participate in iGEM, which culminates in a presentation at the global iGEM Giant Jamboree, attended by more than 6000 people every year. Here, novel research is presented amongst pioneers in synthetic biology, and outstanding projects are awarded prizes for their contribution to the greater scientific community. iGEM teams consistently produce ground-breaking solutions to modern challenges, many of which facilitate the development of multimillion-dollar companies and start-ups.

We are the King’s College London (KCL) iGEM team and are honored to be involved in the innovative and prestigious iGEM community.

Lynch syndrome, named for American physician Dr. Henry T. Lynch, is a hereditary condition that causes a predisposition to several types of cancer, most commonly colorectal but to other types as well, including ovarian, endometrial and stomach cancer. The root of this disorder lies in a genetic defect known as DNA mismatch repair deficiency (or dMMR), which affects the process by which mistakes are repaired when our DNA is copied during cell division. People with Lynch syndrome can have up to an 80% increased lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer, and are more susceptible to developing colorectal and other types of cancers at an earlier age. Accounting for 3-5% of all colon cancers, Lynch syndrome is an excellent target for preventative treatment, like a vaccine. Research exploring a Lynch syndrome vaccine seeks to harness the body’s innate immune response to target tumor cells and has yielded promising results.