Posts

January 24, 2013

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5:00 AM | OBR-LA: Reimagining Los Angeles as a Biotech Hub

Los Angeles owes its position as a global city to its history of innovation. From the DC-3 aircraft to the Mars Explorer Rovers, the T-Shirt to Mickey Mouse, the Los Angeles metro area has a phenomenal legacy of creating iconic technologies and innovations that have helped shape the world we live in today. LA’s research [...]

January 23, 2013

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2:50 PM | Changing your perspective

As I look out of the window the snow is coming back down, albeit lightly at the moment. It changes the landscape so much, creating a black and white canvas. When the sun shines down it sparkles, when it is cloudy it looks like all the colour has been sucked away, depending on your perspective of course. It is so easy to get trapped by one way of thinking...sometimes it's good to change your perspective and I have 10 things to help you do that...some more practical than others! Posted by […]

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2:00 PM | Vulnerability of genome sequence data exposed

A team of scientists at MIT’s Whitehead Institute has revealed for the first time a serious breach in the security of “private” genome sequence data of individuals who participated in the 1000 Genomes Project. The team, headed by Dr. Yaniv Ehrlich, was able to retrieve the identity of 50 participants using solely publicly available data [...]

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2:00 PM | Flu epidemic hits hard and early

This past holiday season, the annual wave of flu has affected thousands of people across Europe and the United States. Despite recommendations from doctors and health agencies to get vaccinated and stay indoors in case of contraction of the virus, over 383 people have been reported to be hospitalized in Europe, with a total of [...]

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11:01 AM | The Current Funding Environment in the UK Biotechnology Sector

The UK biotech sector is the leader in the European biotech industry but is overshadowed by the US, and faces increasing competition from emerging countries such as Germany and Japan. A major obstacle to sustained growth for UK Biotech is limited funding. The past decade has witnessed many events affecting funding to the UK Biotech [...]

January 22, 2013

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8:48 AM | National Chemical Database

Although this isn't a specific post relating to your career, I wanted to blog on something that might be useful to you as part of your career development - think CPD.... The National Chemical Database Service hosted by the RSC is now live it launched on the 2nd January this year. Who is it for? This first release will provide access to a series of databases and services commonly utilized by the UK academic community. The previous service offered hosted access to a set of […]

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1:34 AM | News of the Week – Jan. 21st, 2013

SCIENCE Genetic Basis for Complex Burrowing Behavior in Mice Isolated Linking complex behaviors to gene expression has long been elusive. A Harvard team has shed light on the genetic mechanisms behind the burrowing behavior of the oldfield mouse. Whereas oldfield mice build long underground tunnels, complete with secondary escape tunnels, their close relatives, deer mice, [...]

January 21, 2013

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8:15 AM | News of the Week – Jan. 21st, 2013

SCIENCE Genetic Basis Found for Complex Burrowing Behavior in Mice Linking complex behaviors to gene expression has long been elusive. A Harvard team has shed light on the genetic mechanisms ...

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4:56 AM | IP Clinic London

Got a question about your Intellectual Property (IP) and not sure where to find the answer? We’ve solved your problem. OBR-London is hosting an IP clinic with Dr Anton Hutter from our preferred IP firm, Venner Shipley LLP. Anton is a Chartered & European patent attorney, and is a Partner in the Chemical & Life Sciences [...]

January 18, 2013

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6:17 PM | Web roundup: Nontraditional careers—they’re not just for chemists anymore

There are many reasons for a person to seek out a career that’s seen as nontraditional within their particular field of study. With the current state of the job market within chemistry, a lack of employment prospects has been one reason focused upon here. Another motivator may simply be choice, based on a change in [...]

January 17, 2013

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8:00 AM | Biology Basics: What’s the deal with Epigenetics?

Why do we care? With few exceptions, namely functionally variable regions in the immune system and in disease, all of a person’s cells have the same DNA sequences and genes. ...

January 16, 2013

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8:00 AM | Drug launch failures: a rising trend?

A recent Nature Biotechnology editorial has denounced a troubling trend that plagued the launch of many new drugs in the last few years. Among the long list of failed drugs, ...

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2:17 AM | OneStart: The World’s Largest Life Science Idea Competition

Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable has teamed up with SR One, GlaxoSmithKline’s venture capital arm, to launch the largest idea competition in the world. SR One has a strong track record of investing ...

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1:18 AM | Procrastination

Well, so much for my New Year’s resolution to be more productive. Maybe it has […]

January 15, 2013

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11:45 AM | Protein Basics

What distinguishes you from me is encoded by our genetic make-up, or DNA. DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, defines our unique physical features, such as eye color and height, and even ...

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6:00 AM | Transgenic Zebrafish: The New Toxicity Detectives for Environmental Oestrogens

We know that oestrogens are essential for the development and correct physiological function of the reproductive system in humans and most other vertebrates. However, many oestrogens in the environment act ...

January 14, 2013

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9:33 PM | Student consulting opportunities in Biotechnology

Project: Market analysis of the rapidly changing scientific publishing industry in the UK and EU We are very pleased to be able to offer PhD students and postdocs the chance ...

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2:38 AM | News of the Week – Jan. 14, 2013

SCIENCE 2012 Was Hottest Year on Record It’s official: 2012 was the hottest year ever recorded. The average temperature last year was 55.3 degrees, a full degree higher than the ...

January 13, 2013

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4:30 PM | Neuroscience-Based Lie Detection: Revolutionary or Neuro-Nonsense?

The vital interest in discerning the trustworthiness of others has motivated the use of lie detection techniques throughout history. Hucksters and charlatans have hocked methods ranging from the pseudoscientific, such ...

January 11, 2013

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4:54 PM | Professions in Intellectual Property

We frequently receive enquires relating to the different types of professions that are available in the Intellectual Property (IP) field, and below we provide a brief summary of some of ...

January 10, 2013

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2:11 AM | How to Create a Science Video with your iPhone

Scientists and students: How much time would you invest to learn how to produce an informative and effective science video, requiring only an iPhone or other Smartphone that shoots video? In this new 15 minute tutorial, you can learn how … Continue reading →

January 09, 2013

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10:34 PM | OBR partners with UCB

OBR is pleased to announce our latest partnership with global biopharmaceutical company UCB. UCB is a biopharmaceutical company with a focus on severe diseases in two therapeutic areas:central nervous system ...

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9:10 PM | The Final 9 Months

I'm very pleased to advise that now we've entered the New Year, I've also entered the final 9 months of my PhD. Version 1 of my computational model of NF-kB has been calibrated to control dynamics, and I am now in the process of calibrating the model for IL-1 stimulation dynamics. After 27 months, it's a great feeling to finally have the agent-based model ready for in silico experimentation. Even better news is that I've finally gained access to a... Read more

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10:00 AM | RNAi drug company promises delivery – of both results and RNA

RNA interference may be a widely used technique in molecular biology, but adapting this biological process to the development of RNAi-based drugs has posed a vexing problem for scientists since ...

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10:00 AM | First transgenic animal declared “safe to eat” by FDA

Ever heard of the “Frankenfish”? The term, taken from a 2004 monster movie, has been adopted unanimously by the media to refer to the genetically engineered salmon that has recently ...

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3:01 AM | Chemistry graduate school and mental well-being

In case you’ve missed it, this week there’s currently a dialogue between Chemjobber and Vinylogous (of Not the Lab and a current chemistry graduate student) on the topic “Is graduate school in chemistry bad for your mental health?” This dialogue began with Chemjobber relating a personal vignette of a low point he remembered from grad school and then posing the premise: Yes, graduate [...]

January 08, 2013

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9:00 AM | Tuberculosis: A Global Healthcare Challenge

Tuberculosis is a major global health issue, second only to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in infectious disease-related deaths. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there were ~9 million new cases ...

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12:42 AM | Job opportunities at UCB January 2012

UCB is a patient-centric global pharmaceutical company which focuses on finding treatments for CNS and immune diseases. They need enthusiastic, talented scientists to make this happen, and are very keen ...

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12:42 AM | Job opportunities at UCB January 2013