Biology Week
Favourite UK Mammal – the ones that got away
Opinion piece by Fiona Mathews, Chair of the Mammal Society, and associate professor in mammalian biology at the University of Exeter. The poll for the Favourite UK Mammal has a shortlist of just 10 species. Yet there are about 64 land mammals (including bats) in the UK, and another 37 marine species found in our … Continue reading
Return of the native: the pine marten
By Jenny MacPherson, pine marten project manager, The Vincent Wildlife Trust. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for yourFavourite UK Mammal. My first encounter with a pine marten in the wild was back when I was a first year zoology undergraduate. I was poised upwind of a badger sett with … Continue reading
Soprano pipistrelle: A love song in the key of 55kHz
By David Urry MRSB, science communicator at The Natural History Museum. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. The soprano pipistrelle, one of three pipistrelle species in the UK, is named due to the frequency of its echolocation: slightly higher than the closely related common pipistrelle. … Continue reading
Pollination and education in the Peaks
By Ida Griffiths – education officer for Pollinating the Peak at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Bumblebees are awesome! But perhaps, being the education officer for Pollinating the Peak – a new Heritage Lottery funded project from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust – I have to say that… However, it’s not just me, my colleagues and keen … Continue reading
Giving the hedgehog a helping hand
By Fay Vass, chief executive of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. The argument in favour of hedgehogs could be won simply on their cuteness. However, there is far more about this amazing mammal that could swing the vote. Hedgehogs … Continue reading
Why I’m nuts for red squirrels
By Joe Woodman, wildlife photographer and student at Magdalen College School. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. The red squirrel is perhaps one of the most iconic British mammals. These little red rodents can be seen hopping from branch to branch in pockets of select … Continue reading
Innovation: a new way to fight antimicrobial resistance
By Tamar Ghosh, Lead for the Longitude Prize, Nesta The UK members of the European Federation of Biotechnology and the Learned Society Partnership on AMR are hosting a Policy Lates event on Monday 10th October as part of Biology Week: Tackling antimicrobial resistance crisis – what roles will regulation and innovation play? Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) … Continue reading
Myth of the ‘pied piper’ butterfly
Dr Rebecca Nesbit MRSB offers some background to the free Biology Week event ‘Insect and bird migration: revealing the mysteries of flight’. It’s that time of year again – the swallows are collecting on the telegraph wires ready to escape the cold that’s coming our way. It’s a sad spectacle for anyone lamenting the end of … Continue reading
The impact of DNA testing for cancer susceptibility
Shirley Hodgson FRSB is a Professor of Cancer Genetics at St George’s University of London. She will be one of the speakers at the Biology Week 2016 debate on 11th October: The DNA revolution: Can we predict people’s chance of getting cancer? Should we? Sequencing our genomes will soon become cheap, easy and widespread, so … Continue reading
Can we give new biotech the green light?
By Gabriele Butkute, science policy assistant at the Royal Society of Biology and the Biochemical Society The human population is expected to reach nine billion by 2050. There are pressing questions about how to ensure a healthy diet for everyone while preventing overuse of natural resources or poisoning of the land, sea and air. Biotechnology … Continue reading