Molecular biosciences
We are an innovative, well-funded and cohesive division with excellent facilities for a broad range of techniques.
We have close links with Chemistry in structural biology and with Physics in the development of advanced imaging technologies, and collaborate globally with academic and industrial partners.
Research areas
Our research has a broad impact in areas including increasing our understanding of basic biological systems, improving diagnosis and therapy for human diseases and the development of novel commercialisable technologies.
Our research activities include:
- engineering protein structure and function
- gene regulation
- chromatin function
- molecular genetics of development
- stress responses
- cancer biology
- basic cell biological processes, such as cell division, cell death, cell signalling, motility and chemotaxis
Staff members
| Name | Area of interest |
|---|---|
| Professor Helen White-Cooper - Head of Division | Gene regulation in sperm development in Drosophila. |
| Professor Paola Borri (Physics) | Biophotonics and novel techniques for scanning microscopy. |
| Professor Trevor Dale | Wnt signalling and breast cancer. |
| Dr Barend HJ de Graaf | Pollen Pistil Interactions and Membrane Trafficking. |
| Dr Walter Dewitte | Plant patterning and growth; plant growth regulators and cell division. |
| Professor John Harwood | Acyl lipid metabolism and function. |
| Dr Dafydd Jones | Protein structural and functional plasticity; protease structure and function. |
| Dr Nick Kent | Chromatin structure and function. |
| Dr Sonia Lopez de Quinto | RNA regulation through spatial localization. |
| Professor Jim Murray | Plant cellular development; plant and molecular biotechnology. |
| Dr Hilary Rogers | Plant molecular cell biology: senescence mechanisms and cell cycle. |
| Dr Steve Rutherford | Plant molecular cell biology; membrane trafficking; education. |
| Dr Simon Scofield | Transcriptional networks in plant stem cells and synthetic genetic circuits. |
| Dr Andrew Shore | Epigenetics and Thermogenesis, collaborative learning in Higher Education, technology enhanced learning, quantitative assessment of success in higher education, evolution of entry qualifications based upon attainment in Higher Education, development of school and college curricular to support transition to Higher Education. |
| Dr Henrietta Standley | Developmental biology. |
| Dr Glen Sweeney | Developmental transitions in farmed-fish; RNA processing; education. |
| Dr Mike Taylor | Programs of cell differentiation. |
| Dr Wynand Van der Goes van Naters | Molecular basis of sensory systems in insects. |
| Dr Peter Watson | Protein and lipid trafficking. |
| Dr Mark Young (Postgraduate Divisional Tutor) | Membrane protein structural biology. |
