Even the all-powerful Pointing has no control about the blind texts it is an almost unorthographic life One day however a small line of blind text by the name of Lorem Ipsum decided to leave for the far World of Grammar.
Helped to get collaborators featured in the Huffington Post
My colleagues from the University of Liverpool were recently featured in the Huffington Post after I reached out to the journalist Stefan Rollnick on their behalf. Stefan called up the lead authors for an interview to understand more about the paper and demonstrated an excellent grasp of the topic in his writing as well as some journalistic flair. You can read the article here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/stefan-rollnick/bacteriophage-the-microsc_b_8798322.html
New Review Article Published in Electronics
Today we published our second review article on Organic Bioelectronics for use in infection. This time, our target audience was members of the engineering field, hence our choice to publish in the journal Electronics. The title of the article is Organic Bioelectronic Tools for Biomedical Applications and describes the evolution of some of the technology here in our lab from humble beginnings to the artificial neurone and beyond!
Reference
Electronics 2015, 4(4), 879-908; doi:10.3390/electronics4040879
Abstract
Organic bioelectronics forms the basis of conductive polymer tools with great potential for application in biomedical science and medicine. It is a rapidly growing field of both academic and industrial interest since conductive polymers bridge the gap between electronics and biology by being electronically and ionically conductive. This feature can be employed in numerous ways by choosing the right polyelectrolyte system and tuning its properties towards the intended application. This review highlights how active organic bioelectronic surfaces can be used to control cell attachment and release as well as to trigger cell signaling by means of electrical, chemical or mechanical actuation. Furthermore, we report on the unique properties of conductive polymers that make them outstanding materials for labeled or label-free biosensors. Techniques for electronically controlled ion transport in organic bioelectronic devices are introduced, and examples are provided to illustrate their use in self-regulated medical devices. Organic bioelectronics have great potential to become a primary platform in future bioelectronics. We therefore introduce current applications that will aid in the development of advanced in vitro systems for biomedical science and of automated systems for applications in neuroscience, cell biology and infection biology. Considering this broad spectrum of applications, organic bioelectronics could lead to timely detection of disease, and facilitate the use of remote and personalized medicine. As such, organic bioelectronics might contribute to efficient healthcare and reduced hospitalization times for patients.
Major Press Coverage for Swedish Medical Nanoscience Center
This summer the Swedish Medical Nanoscience Center published a paper describing an artificial neurone and it was my job to promote this to the public and the media.
The first thing we did was to make a video Press Release in collaboration with the KI press office. This has been viewed over 40,000 times.
Press Release
Then, we reached out to journalists, both in person and via the popular news wire services.
Here are the highlights of the campaign.
Featured on Swedish television with SVT’s Gomorron Sverige:
Written up in IFL Science with over 56,000 Facebook shares
http://www.iflscience.com/brain/scientists-create-artificial-neuron-functions-real-thing
Featured in Popular French Science Magazine: Science et Avenir with an amazing illustration
http://www.sciencesetavenir.fr/sante/cerveau-et-psy/20150925.OBS6550/incroyable-ils-ont-cree-un-neurone-artificiel-fonctionnel-une-premiere.html
The information from the article was ultimately translated into at least 7 different languages and spread around the world.
New Paper Published in Evolutionary Applications
Mike, Mal and I have just published a new article in Evolutionary Applications. It’s a nice paper and I’m proud that it is in an Evolutionary Journal. It feels like my PhD training on Evolutionary Ecology is now complete.
The article builds heavily on the first paper from my PhD where we showed that interference competition was an important trait when determining nasal colonisation by Staphylococcus aureus.
Using the strains collected in our first study, we examined the ability of toxin producing S. epidermidis strains to restrict the invasion of S. aureus. We found that they could restrict invasion but only under spatially structured environments.
Interestingly, we also saw the toxin producing strains of S. epidermidis were able to increase toxin production in response to challenges from invading S. aureus strains.
For details, please have a look at the publication here.
The effects of spatial structure, frequency dependence and resistance evolution on the dynamics of toxin-mediated microbial invasions.
Libberton B, Horsburgh MJ, Brockhurst MA.
Evol Appl. 2015 Aug;8(7):738-50. doi: 10.1111/eva.12284. Epub 2015 Jul 16.
PMID: 26240609