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Biology Changing the World

Biology Changing the World is a Society of Biology project which aims to celebrate and inspire scientists around the UK

The debate on regulation of heritable genome editing

Nature has published a letter from a group of scientists and bioethicists calling for a moratorium on the clinical use of heritable genome editing.

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Reversing the decline of the orangutan population

This month we celebrated International Organ-utan day. Organised by World Orang-utan Events, the day looks to promote orang-utan conservation and welfare, as well as inter organization cooperation. There are two species of orang-utan, the Bornean orang-utan, Pongo pygmaeus and the Sumatran orang-utan, Pongo abelii. Both species are critically endangered, their numbers having decreased by 60% … Continue reading »

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Island conservation for an island nation

Joshua Powell, Conservation Biologist and previous recipient of an RSB travel grant, discusses island conservation in New Zealand and the lessons the UK can learn in bringing overseas specialists together This year the Island Invasives Conference comes to the UK, the first time this gathering of island conservation specialists has been held outside of New … Continue reading »

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How can plants change the world?

Dr Joseph Buhagiar FSB is a lecturer at the University of Malta. He received the first overseas award of the Society of Biology’s Regional Grant Scheme.  It all started with an email from David Urry on 6th January pertaining to the Regional Grant Scheme for 2015. Not that I am usually idle but the title … Continue reading »

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Rosalind Franklin: heroine of the double helix

Jess Devonport, external communications executive at NICE, celebrates the achievements of Rosalind Franklin and her place in our poll of the top ten biologists who’ve changed the world. “We wish to discuss a structure for the salt of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA).” James Watson and Frances Crick wrote, “This structure has novel features which are of … Continue reading »

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Edward Jenner: The end of plagues?

John Rhodes, immunologist and author of a new book about Edward Jenner and vaccination, The End of Plagues: The Global Battle Against Infectious Disease, pays tribute to Jenner. Jenner won a place in our online poll in June to find the top ten biologists who had changed the world as part of our hertiage focused … Continue reading »

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Changing the world

Barbara Knowles is senior science policy adviser at the Society of Biology and compiles its science policy newsletter. She also volunteers for an NGO in Transylvania which focuses on conserving and understanding biodiversity, landscape and high nature value farming. Scientists working in biodiversity conservation and sustainability science go through stages of despair and recovery while … Continue reading »

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Wallace: The most admirable man in all science?

To celebrate the place of Alfred Russel Wallace in the top ten biologists who’ve changed the world, Dr Elizabeth Rollinson, executive secretary at the Linnean Society writes about his achievements. Alfred Russel Wallace was a naturalist and explorer, born in 1823 in Usk, Wales. In 1852, he began a correspondence with Charles Darwin that would … Continue reading »

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Fred Sanger, double Nobel Laureate

Rebecca Nesbit celebrates the life of Fred Sanger, a scientist featured in the Biology: Changing the World top ten poll. As the only Briton to have been awarded two Nobel Prizes and the only scientist to have been awarded the prize for chemistry twice, Fred Sanger paved the way for huge advances in medical understanding … Continue reading »

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