The Roslin Institute - The University of Edinburgh

ROSLIN
REPORTER
Issue 18
December 2009
Royal Visit
by Patricia Hart
W
ell, 2009 has been a
successful year of research at
The Roslin Institute with everyone
working incredibly hard to achieve
that. As we tuck into our turkey
and mince pies we can relax a
little … before going out there and
performing even better in 2010.
From all at the Roslin Reporter, a
very Merry Christmas to everyone
and all the best for 2010.
HRH The Princess Royal and the Institute Director David Hume are shown the techniques
used to produce genetically modified chickens by the staff of the Transgenic Chicken
Facility. Frances Thomson demonstrates the collection of egg white as the Facility Manager
Adrian Sherman explains how the embryos are incubated in surrogate shells.
T
Inside this issue:
Events
Page 3
Director’s Message
Page 5
Scientific Highlights
Page 6
News in Brief
Page 9
Recent Publications
Page 13
he Roslin Institute was very pleased and
honoured to welcome Her Royal Highness
The Princess Royal in November. This was the
Princess Royal’s first visit to The Roslin Institute
since it was incorporated with the Royal (Dick)
School of Veterinary Studies at the University of
Edinburgh.
The Princess Royal, who is patron of the
Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, was
greeted on arrival by Principal of the University
of Edinburgh, Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea
before being introduced to The Roslin Institute’s
director, Professor David Hume. Professor Hume
then took her on a tour of the Institute during
which she met researchers and found out more
about the ground breaking research that is being
carried out here.
Her Royal Highness was shown round the
ARK Genomics facility where the Institute’s
researchers have been involved in international
collaborations to sequence and analyse genomes
for chicken, pig, sheep and cattle with a view to
better understanding disease. She also learned
about pioneering work involving the manipulation
of genes to create chickens resistant to infectious
diseases. It is hoped that this approach will lead
to development of chickens resistant to avian
influenza infection.
During the visit Professor Hume was pleased
to be able to share the Institute’s plans to move
to a £60 million building, being funded by the
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research
Council, on the University’s Easter Bush campus.
The building, which is due to be completed in
2011, forms part of a £100 million development
on the campus, which includes a new teaching
building for the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary
Studies.
Professor Hume said of the visit, “It has been
wonderful to show Princess Anne round The Roslin
Institute and we hope to repeat the honour in the
future as we expand the new Easter Bush site.”
2
Events
M
any seminars, workshops, conferences and other events are now listed on The Roslin Institute web site
(http://www.roslin.ed.ac.uk/events/events.php).
EBRC SEMINAR SERIES
Please check the site for updates and if you would like to have your event posted, please contact Tricia Hart
([email protected]).
T
he seminar programme is organised
by a committee of volunteers: Helen
Sang (Developmental Biology, chair), Neil
Mabbott (Neuropathogenesis), Anne French
(Veterinary Clinical Sciences), Vicky MacRae
(Developmental Biology), Bob Dalziel
(Infection and Immunity), DJ De Koning
(Genetics and Genomics), Andreas Lengeling
(Infection and Immunity). The speakers are
selected by asking everyone in the Institute to
send in suggestions of speakers they would
like to invite. We are looking for speakers who
carry out cutting edge research in an area of
close interest to some of the groups within the
Institute, but importantly who is also likely to
give a good and accessible talk. Speakers
are all asked to provide a good introduction
to their subject for non-specialists and to bear
in mind the wide range of expertise we have.
The committee selects speakers from those
suggested, to try and get a broad range of
topics covered each session and particularly
to give younger scientists the chance to host
speakers. We also include opportunities for
Institute group leaders to present their research
and invite scientists from the Edinburgh area
so that we can hear about relevant research
that is going on on our doorstep and establish
links. The committee has a budget to cover travel,
accommodation and a contribution to a dinner
for the speaker, host and a few others. Sheelagh
Strachan supports this by booking travel and
accommodation. Suggestions for speakers are
requested approximately twice a year.
Helen
January 13th
Prof Marie Helfrich
Host: Carmen Huesa
Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen
“What’s new in diseases of osteoclasts?”
20th
Prof Brian Walker
Host: Vicky Macrae
Centre for Cardiovascular Research, University of Edinburgh
“Glucocorticoids and cardiovascular disease: translation from epidemiology via mass spectrometry to drug discovery.”
27th
Dr. Toni Cathomen
Host: Helen Sang
Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
“Targeted Genome Engineering using Zinc Finger Nucleases.”
February 3rd
Prof Colin McInnes
Host: Liz Glass
Moredun Institute
“Learning immunology from poxviruses – exploring the function of immunomodulating proteins encoded by orf virus and squirrelpox virus”
10th
Prof Fiona Watt
Host: Denis Headon
Cancer Research UK, Cambridge Research Institute
“Stem cells and lineage selection in mammalian epidermis”
17th
Prof Josephine Pemberton
Host: DJ De Koning
Institute of Evolution, University of Edinburgh
“Genetics and genomics of wild ruminants”
24th
Dr Steffen Wiegend
Host: Paul Hocking
Institute of Farm Animal Genetics, Germany
“Assessing population structure in chickens using molecular markers”
3
EBRC WORKSHOPS
T
he EBRC workshops are held quarterly
to focus on the work of early career
EBRC scientists (students, postdocs etc),
and cultivate a valuable forum for discussion
drawing speakers from NPD, Roslin, SAC,
Moredun and the Vet School. The aim is to
foster communication and understanding of
each others work in a friendly and informal
environment and develop links between young
researchers.
The next EBRC will be advertised nearer the
time on The Roslin Institute internet
(http://www.roslin.ed.ac.uk/events/events.php).
Attendance is compulsory for all students
and post docs. There will be six presentations
with a coffee break half way through. If you
have any questions please contact your
local representative (Roslin: Andy Green and
Katherine Staines, R(D)SVS: Gura Bergkvist,
SAC: Spiridoula Athanasiadou).
Edinburgh Mouse Club
T
he next Edinburgh Mouse Club will take place at George Square
early in 2010. For more information, please contact Andreas Lengeling
([email protected]) or visit www.roslin.ed.ac.uk/emc
Andreas
4
Directors Message
I
t’s the season to be jolly and like many I
am heading off to be with my family (both
older and younger generations), and to
synthesise a wee bit of vitamin D via exposure
to sunlight. On the way I am calling in on The
Roslin Institute’s new colleagues at Peking
University (PKU) and Wuxi City in China.
Bruce Whitelaw and I are travelling to see
the site of the new PKU, Scottish Centre
for Regenerative Medicine and Roslin Joint
Institute of Stem Cell Research. We will also
be continuing our discussions about the stem
cell research that the three organisations will
be carrying out together in this joint venture.
This visit capitalises on the visit the Chinese
partners made to Edinburgh and Roslin
back in September when a memorandum of
understanding was signed.
The excitement has died down now since the
visit of Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal;
HRH is a very active and supportive patron of
the R(D)SVS. It was a very successful and
enjoyable visit that was a great opportunity to
show off the Institute and talk about our plans
for the future.
We have had a very successful year and
can be rightfully proud of our achievements.
The Roslin Institute’s scientists have won or
started around 40 grants totalling around £11
million. Additionally we have also welcomed
16 new postgraduate students and plans to
run an MSc in Animal Sciences from 2010
are well under way. Of-course this means we
have set ourselves high standards to improve
upon in 2010, but our momentum is such that
I see no reason why we shouldn’t achieve
even greater things. Through the energy
and enthusiasm of Sonja Vujovic, we have
also had a very successful year identifying
opportunities to protect and commercialise
our research through industrial partnerships.
So, we are doing the BBSRC’s “Science with
Impact” big time.
2010 will see developments in many things.
Of-course the big planning push for getting
all the Institute’s staff into the new building
starts early in 2010. Many of the recruits we
have committed to in the past year; Pete
Kaiser, Finn Grey, Andrea Wilson, Barry
McColl and Paula Brunton will join us, so the
Institute will continue to grow. The new year
will also see a new seminar series that will
provide a relatively informal forum for post
docs and students to discuss their research.
All Institute and vet school research staff will
be strongly encouraged to attend this seminar
series in a drive to further inform all scientists
of the research taking place around the
organisation.
I will also be strongly encouraging the
Institute’s senior, and especially junior
scientists to attend the inaugural meeting of
Animal Sciences UK. This concept came out
of discussion with Martin Shirley (Director of
the Institute for Animal Health) and a number
of other key players in the UK’s animal science
field. The 2010 meeting will be held at the end
of March in York alongside the annual ATVRW
meeting. It is supported by BBSRC, our major
funders, and is an attempt to get together a
single strong UK forum for both science and
policy in the broad area of Animal Sciences.
So, plan your lives around springtime in York.
Anyway, Christmas stands between us and
2010 so I wish you all well for the holiday
season and all the best for the new year.
5
Scientific Highlights
Bio-rad 2009 SELDI Users Meeting, German Diabetes
Centre (DDR) Dusseldorf, Germany
by Janice Barr
L
Janice and her SELDI machine
6
ast month I attended this meeting and
presented work carried out on our SELDI
-TOF ProteinChip instrument.
It was a very varied and interesting programme
of seminars from academic groups throughout
Europe and Scandinavia. Topics covered
Alzheimer’s disease, Familial amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis, Leishmaniasis, Tuberculosis
and pancreatic, head, neck and oesophagus
cancers.
The majority of presentations focused
on using SELDI technology to distinguish
between normal and diseased states by
examining differential protein expression
profiling in blood and/or tissue samples. All
groups subsequently identified differentially
expressed proteins for further pathogenesis
investigation. Many of the identified proteins
were fragments of proteins implicated in other
diseased states. This perhaps highlights the
strength of SELDI in capturing low abundant
low molecular weight proteins in their native
form which would not be resolved by 2D gel
analysis or easily recognised by more rigorous
mass spectrometry.
A much requested “marriage’’ between the
SELDI and a new Bruker mass spectrometer
has now been launched in a new system
(“Lucid Proteomics’’) combining the array
technology of SELDI with a powerful Bruker
MS/MS instrument the “ultrafleXtreme’’.
The SELDI technology in common with
other proteomic approaches generates large
amounts of data which must be rigorously
tested statistically in order to establish the
predictive strength of a proposed diagnostic
test. I found it interesting to hear how other
groups addressed this, as we are currently
involved in a study using differential protein
expression profiling to determine the presence
of TSE disease in blood plasma samples.
Dr Dan Agranoff of Imperial College, London,
gave an inspiring talk on the search for a rapid
and accurate tuberculosis diagnostic assay.
The control of this disease is of paramount
importance as it is estimated that a third
of the world’s population is infected. The
group had previously shown that differential
protein expression profiling could distinguish
patients suffering from active TB and those
with overlapping non -TB related clinical
presentations. In this latest study they sought
to distinguish the active from of disease
from latent TB. They interrogated the data
collected from blood plasma samples, with
many statistical tests including support vector
machine learning classifiers and iterated
weighted kernel functions. Overall the training
set gave a predictive power of 93%sensitivity
and 94% specificity. This is encouraging and
will now be tested on a larger number of
unknown disease status samples.
The meeting was a very positive experience
for me and I came home inspired to try some
of the techniques discussed on our SELDI
instrument.
Patterns and Profiles
T
Panel of biomarkers. Data from the ProteinChip®
Reader is visualized in spectral format as clusters
of differentially expressed protein peaks at 7063
(cluster X21), 7847(X26), 8811 (X31), 10101 (X34),
10300 (X35), 12449 (X43) m/z. Each peak within a
cluster represents an individual brain sample i.e.
12 scrapie infected (red) and 12 uninfected (green)
animals
by Janice Barr
his month brings the publication, at last, of
our paper based on the work carried out
using SELDI technology “Differential protein
profiling as a potential multi-marker approach
for TSE diagnosis’’ Janice Barr, Michael
Watson, Mark Head, James Ironside, Nathan
Harris, Caroline Hogarth, Janet Fraser and
Rona Barron in the BioMed Central Infectious
Diseases journal http://www.biomedcentral.
com/1471-2334/9/188 . The paper describes a
“proof of concept’’ study comparing differential
protein expression profiling in normal and
scrapie infected mice potentially leading to a
data driven diagnostic assay for the detection
of TSE disease.
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
(TSEs) are a group of diseases affecting both
humans (e.g. vCJD) and animals (e.g. BSE,
scrapie). TSEs are also known as the prion
diseases in recognition of the abnormal form
of the host protein PrP which is proposed to
be the infectious particle. Currently definitive
diagnosis of TSE disease cannot be confirmed
until death of the animal. In order to provide
therapeutic intervention however, and to
halt transmission from affected animals and
humans to the wider population, an earlier
diagnostic test for both human and animal
forms of the disease is essential. This is
particularly important as there are concerns
that the infection may be carried in blood.
In the paper we describe the use of SELDI
–TOF MS (surface-enhanced laser desorption/
ionisation) a technique which utilises a variety
of surface chemistries to capture proteins
of interest coupled with time of flight mass
spectrometry. Advantages of the system
include the analysis of crude samples which do
not require complicated purification steps such
as 2D gel analysis. The system also detects
low molecular weight proteins (1-50kD) with
high sensitivity. Whilst other methods may be
required to further purify and identify individual
proteins, this technology generates a mass
spectrum from each sample consisting of
a number of proteins which may provide a
‘fingerprint pattern’ of disease.
Our approach was to establish the feasibility
of using this methodology in TSE diagnostics
by initially examining brain tissue using a well
characterised murine scrapie model, before
proceeding to blood which would be the
preferred tissue for a non-invasive diagnostic
assay. Brain tissue homogenates from an
area of the brain, the hippocampus, known
to display severe pathology in this scrapie
disease model, were spotted on two array
surfaces (Q10 and CM10). Three experiments
explored differential protein expression
profiling. One compared the hippocampus
brain area displaying severe pathology
with the cerebellum brain area which has
no obvious pathology. We hypothesised
that if there were disease specific markers
present then there would be obvious protein
expression differences between these brain
areas in the individual animal. We found that
there were indeed many protein expression
profile differences. We then examined protein
profiles in groups of normal and terminally ill
mice followed by a temporal study. In all the
experiments we found many proteins which
were differentially expressed between normal
and diseased groups, some proteins at early
stages of disease. By combining a subset of
the most highly significant markers, complete
separation of the groups of normal and
diseased animals was achieved.
For more information about this work please
contact [email protected]
Janice
7
Recent human to poultry
host jump, adaptation,
and pandemic spread of
Staphylococcus aureus
by Bethan Lowder
R
esearchers at The Roslin Institute
recently published a study suggesting
that globalisation and industrialisation of
the poultry industry has led to spread of an
infectious disease from humans to animals.
The research provides insight into the
evolution and transmission of a major bacterial
pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus.
We analysed S. aureus bacteria isolated
from poultry farms across the world and
found that the majority belong to one closely
related lineage. Interestingly, we discovered
that they are descendants of bacteria that
switched host from humans to poultry around
40 years ago (range 30-63 years). The broiler
poultry industry has been transformed within
the last 50 years from a market dominated
by smallholder chicken farms to a multibillion dollar industry controlled by a handful
of multinational companies. We suggest that
such growth brought many more poultry and
humans into regular contact, providing the
opportunity for bacteria to jump host.
In contrast to the corresponding form of S.
aureus in humans, which was found only in
Poland, the strain in chickens was spread
across different continents. It would appear
that intercontinental transport of vast numbers
of live breeder chickens has promoted the
pandemic spread to farms worldwide.
To investigate the genetic basis for avian
specialisation of the recently emerged poultry
pathogen, we sequenced the genomes of a
recent poultry isolate and a representative
of its human-associated Polish ancestors. S.
aureus, like many bacterial species, has the
ability to transfer segments of DNA (Mobile
Genetic Elements) between strains. This
transfer is most likely to take place between
bacteria occupying the same niche, and
natural selection will favour a strain that has
been on the receiving end of such a transfer
if the Mobile Genetic Element contains useful
genes.
8
During the process of evolution from a human
pathogen to a poultry pathogen, strains have
acquired several of these Mobile Genetic
Elements from unrelated S. aureus that
colonise birds. The common poultry clone has
also lost the function of several genes known
to be important for causing disease in humans.
These genetic changes have contributed to an
important phenotypic change in the bacteria,
which have increased resistance to bacterial
killing by avian heterophils, the primary line of
defence used by the host.
Infectious diseases of chicken flocks are a
major economic burden on the industry. S.
aureus infection can cause several conditions
in poultry including septic arthritis, subdermal
abscesses (bumble foot) and a skeletal
condition known as bacterial chondronecrosis
with osteomylitis (BCO). First identified in the
1970s, BCO has escalated in frequency to
become a leading cause of lameness in the
broiler chicken industry, the reasons for which
were previously unknown. We suggest that
our findings could provide the explanation.
This study highlights a role for industrialisation
and globalisation of the farming industry in the
emergence and spread of a major veterinary
pathogen. We have gained broad new insights
into the influence of human activities on
bacterial evolution.
Lowder BV, Guinane CM, Ben Zakour NL,
Weinert LA, Conway-Morris A, Cartwright
RA, Simpson AJ, Rambaut A, Nübel U, and
Fitzgerald JR (2009) Recent human to poultry
host jump, adaptation, and pandemic spread
of Staphylococcus aureus. Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. U.S.A. 106 (46): 19545–19550.
Bethan
News in Brief
IT Migration Programme
at Roslin
by Hugh Edmiston
Connecting Roslin to Edinburgh University:
L/R Colin, Stuart Lansley, Robert, Stuart Rorrison,
Barry (with cable end), Gerry, Janet, Adam,
Anthony, Matt and Laurie (insert).
S
ince being incorporated in to the University
of Edinburgh, a number of changes have
been made in the way support services run at
The Roslin Institute. Over the past year the
Institute’s IT department have been working
with University colleagues to perform the
essential work required to migrate Institute
IT Services and infrastructure away from the
BBSRC environment across to the University’s
prior to relocation into the new Roslin Institute
Building. The work to achieve this started
in September this year and is due to be
completed by August 2010.
Just as this major project is hotting up The
Roslin Institute has recruited a new ICT
Manager, Gerry O’Connell, who, together with
the rest of the Computing Team, is leading
all the programme elements, supported by
the BBSRC and University computing staff.
Adam Wadee from the University IS projects
department is the Programme Manager and
is responsible for co-ordination.
With IT being such a key component of
contemporary science it is critical that all
aspects of the service are managed and to
ensure this happens, the programme has
been divided up into six separate projects that
will be delivered according to the programme
plan, which can be found on the University
project web site:
http://www.projects.ed.ac.uk/areas/research/
general/RES030/index.shtml
about this new phase in the programme, which
gives us full integration into all the University’s
network services whilst continuing all our key
research systems. We have also just invested
1. Networking – Janet Fairgrieve
in over 10 Terabytes of additional “filer” SAN
2. Unix/Storage – Robert Findlay/Gerry storage. In April we will be connecting staff
O’Connell
PC, Linux and MAC desktops directly to the
3. Windows Servers/Active Directory/Desktop University network, and staff “users” will then
– Anthony Davie
login using their EASE staff accounts. We
4. Email/eDiary – Janet Fairgrieve
will keep all our staff informed of the detailed
5. Scientific Instruments – Matt Blair
changes and timescales via the Roslin Intranet
6. Video Conferencing – Barry Horne
pages.
To ensure that research is represented
As is often the case during the migration of appropriately scientists Andy Law and DJ De
critical services within an organisation there are Koning have agreed to support and advise the
likely to be periods when some of the services project teams.
will be disrupted. Hugh Edmiston, Director
of Operations at The Roslin Institute said,
“IT systems are a crucial component of the
Institute’s research and during the migration
to the University systems communication will
be key so that all Institute staff are informed as
early as possible of any possible disruption.”
Hugh also told the staff that he also expects
that the delivery of certain services will change
as [the Institute] moves across and staff will be
advised in advance of their implementation.
The new Head of ICT at The Roslin Institute,
Gerry O’Connell, added, “We are very excited
Hugh
9
Indian Scientist visits The Roslin Institute
Dr Anil Kumar Arora (standing)
with Roslin’s Dr Arvind Mahajan
I
t is widely recognised that India is becoming
a key player on the international science
stage and The Roslin Institute is keen to foster
collaborations with its scientists. One such
collaboration is between The Roslin Institute’s
Dr Arvind Mahajan and Dr Anil Kumar Arora,
Associate Professor in the Department of
Veterinary Microbiology of Guru Angad Dev
Veterinary and Animal Sciences University,
Ludhiana.
Anil, who is the principal investigator of the
All India Network program on Haemorrhagic
Septicaemia (sponsored by the Indian Council
of Agricultural Research) has been awarded
the prestigious Commonwealth Academic
Staff Fellowship by the Association of
Commonwealth Universities.
The Commonwealth Academic Staff
Fellowships began in 1959 and since then
around 26,000 individuals have used the
awards to pursue advanced academic study
in other Commonwealth countries. Information
provided by the Association of Commonwealth
Universities (http://www.acu.ac.uk/) notes
that the “vast majority of award holders have
returned to make a significant contribution
to their home countries, in many cases at
the highest level, making the award scheme
one of the largest and most prestigious in the
world.”
Anil is using his Commonwealth Academic
Staff Fellowship to undertake research in
by Patricia Hart
Arvind’s lab for six months. Their collaboration
aims to delineate the innate defence
mechanisms involved during Escherichia coli
O157:H7 interaction with the bovine host.
Anil hopes to continue with this work as a
long term collaboration with Arvind and also
apply the techniques in his ongoing work on
Haemorrhagic Septicaemia.
Having arrived at the beginning of October,
Anil has had some time to settle in and he
is very happy with what he sees. He noted,
“Working at The Roslin Institute is a great
experience. There is a lot of interesting
research being performed and it is great to
be a part of that.” When Anil was asked how
he found living in Scotland he said, “When I
got off the train at Waverley station I found a
brochure about Edinburgh that called the city
an “Inspiring Capital”. I would certainly agree
with that and would recommend studying or
working here to anyone.”
Tricia
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even
CID Press Gang gets busy
eadline grabbing science! Ever wanted to
have your research featured in the press
or to reach a wider audience but not known
how to go about it? Perhaps you thought that
the general public would not be interested?
Well here’s your chance: The CID Press
Gang! Following on from the success of the
School of Biological Sciences Press Gang
(http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/
biology/news-events/press-gang), Frances
Fowler, at the Centre for Infectious Diseases
(CID) and Anna Borthwick (Communications &
Marketing) decided it would be a good idea to
set up a press gang for the Centre.
The main aim of the CID Press Gang is to
act as facilitators between you, the scientist,
and the University’s press office, bringing
research findings to the attention of the group
and discussing their suitability for the media.
Press Gang members will bring research
findings (papers in press, news of awards
etc) to the group’s attention, assist with
writing press releases, and give support to the
10
by Gwen Wathne and Frances Fowler
scientist whose work is being promoted to the
press through the process.
Press Gang members will be receiving
training in writing press releases, getting to
understand what the press want, and how to
formulate your research in an appropriate/
desirable way. Some scientists may already
have a lot of experience dealing with the press
and getting their research to the public so
might consider this is not for them. Perhaps
so, but these scientists could easily use their
great media wisdom to help out those who are
still new to this.
The more people involved in the Press Gang
the better and it involves as much or as little of
a time commitment as each person can give.
While experience is much needed to get this to
work, students and postdocs are an essential
part of the Press Gang, and anyone is welcome
to join! It is a great way to get involved with
science communication, to broaden your skills,
with the potential of opening up new avenues
for future careers. If you are interested in joining the growing
number of members based at Summerhall
(Mhairi Ferguson), Little France (Bethan
Lowder), Easter Bush (Andreas Lengeling)
and Roslin (Gwen Wathne), or have a story
you think may be of interest to the public, we
would pleased to hear from you.
If you are interested or have any questions,
please contact Frances (Frances.Fowler@
ed.ac.uk).
Gwen
Roslin academics go speed dating!
T
he Roslin Institute hosted an interactive
afternoon for the livestock breeding
companies Cobb Vantress and Genus and
the animal health company Elanco. The
event consisted of short presentations by
the Institute’s director, David Hume, detailing
The Roslin Institute’s developments and
opportunities for interaction, David Argyle
providing an update on the Oncology and
Imaging centre and Bruce Whitelaw, who
described the new developments from
the Division of Developmental Biology in
stem cells and biotechnology. Following
the presentations, the representatives from
each company had six ‘speed-dates’ with
different academics, where opportunities
for collaboration were discussed. The
discussions were very productive leading to
new partnerships and contacts being formed.
k/
g
n
Kath
McGowan
by Patricia Hart
T
by Sonja Vujovic
Dr Gary Evans, the Genus representative at
the event, said, ”The format of the day was
very productive and very useful. Although we
consider ourselves to be well connected in
Edinburgh, we were able to establish a new
contact and to re-establish an “old” one, and
we look forward to continuing discussion on
finding ways of working together”.
I would like to thank all the academics who took
part in this event and made it a success. Events
like this one are a key component towards
developing more productive partnerships with
companies and gaining a better understanding
of their needs, and therefore towards achieving
our aim of delivering research with applications
in the world outside of academia.
Sonja
Kath, centre left, with her team.
he Roslin Institute has some very dedicated
members of staff. Among them is cleaning
supervisor Kath McGowen who recently
passed the milestone of having worked at the
Institute for 30 years. Hugh Edmiston, Director
of Operations at The Roslin Institute made
sure the occasion was marked with cake and
went along to thank Kath for her commitment
over the years.
Kath told the Roslin Reporter that she has
enjoyed her years at Roslin and has worked
with some lovely people. She said, “I arrived
at the Institute when it moved to Roslin, and
I’ll be here to see it move to the new building
at Easter Bush. I enjoy my work and am
grateful for all the friends I have made over
the years.”
Kath’s colleagues in the cleaning team all
agreed that she has really developed the job
since she became the supervisor seven years
ago. Through all the changes Kath has seen
in recent years, she has had good ideas, is
methodical and takes real pride in her work.
Outside of work Kath likes to go walking with
her husband Michael and it is likely that after a
few more years at the Institute she will get a bit
more time to take on more activities like that.
Maybe though the next time she attempts the
West Highland way it will be without weighing
her back pack down with items such as hair
curlers! Just ask her!!
Well done Kath and thanks from everyone
for all you’ve done for the Institute over the
years.
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Leavers
T
here have been a lot of leavers in recent weeks and as
they’ve gone a few of them have been snapped by Norrie. We wish all the best to:
Anne Coghill
Frances Burgess
Jacqui Chisholm
Danielle Craigie
Wendy Cuthbertson
Jane Dyer
Val Thomson
Shona Faichney
Sandra Coupar
Elisabeth Huber
Leeann Frame
Irene Hunter
Wendy Cuthbertson
Danielle Craigie, Jane Dyer
and Sally Inverarity
Jacqui Chisholm
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Sally Inverarity
Douglas Vasey
Oliver Jann
Mary Clapperton
Recent Roslin Institute Publications
Barr JB, Watson M, Head MW, Ironside
JW, Harris N, Hogarth C, Fraser JR, Barron
R. 2009. Differential protein profiling as a
potential multi -marker approach for TSE
diagnosis. BMC Infect Dis. 9(1):188.
Beard PM, Sugar S, Bazarragchaa E,
Gerelmaa U, Tserendorj S, Tuppurainen
E, Sodnomdarjaa R. 2009. A description
of two outbreaks of capripoxvirus disease
in Mongolia. Vet Microbiol. Oct 28. [Epub
ahead of print] PMID: 19939588
Ciancaglini P, Yadav MC, Sper Simáo AM,
Narisawa S, Pizauro JM, Farquharson
C, Hoylaerts MF, Millán JL. 2009. Kinetic
Analysis of Substrate Utilization by Native
and TNAP-, NPP1- or PHOSPHO1-Deficient
Matrix Vesicles. J Bone Miner Res. Oct 29.
[Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19874193
Derecka K, Ahmad S, Hodgman TC,
Hastings N, Royal MD, Woolliams JA, Flint
AP. 2009. Sequence variants in the bovine
gonadotrophin releasing hormone receptor
gene and their associations with fertility.
Anim Genet. Nov 26. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 19968639
Forrest AR, Kanamori-Katayama M, Tomaru
Y, Lassmann T, Ninomiya N, Takahashi Y,
de Hoon MJ, Kubosaki A, Kaiho A, Suzuki
M, Yasuda J, Kawai J, Hayashizaki Y, Hume
DA, Suzuki H. 2009. Induction of microRNAs,
mir-155, mir-222, mir-424 and mir-503,
promotes monocytic differentiation through
combinatorial regulation. Leukemia. Dec 3.
[Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19956200.
Haley C. 2009. Human and livestock genetics:
parallel evolution and horizontal exchange. J
Anim Breed Genet. 126(6):413-4.
Jones M, Wight D, Barron R, Jeffrey M,
Manson J, Prowse C, Ironside JW, Head
MW. 2009. Molecular model of prion
transmission to humans. Emerg Infect Dis.
15(12):2013-6.
Lowder BV, Guinane CM, Ben Zakour NL,
Weinert LA, Conway-Morris A, Cartwright
RA, Simpson AJ, Rambaut A, Nübel U,
Fitzgerald JR. 2009. Recent human-topoultry host jump, adaptation, and pandemic
spread of Staphylococcus aureus. Proc Natl
Acad Sci U S A. Nov 2. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 19884497
Mattick JS, Taft RJ, Faulkner GJ. 2009. A
global view of genomic information - moving
beyond the gene and the master regulator.
Trends Genet. Nov 25. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 19944475
McNeilly TN, Mitchell MC, Nisbet AJ,
McAteer S, Erridge C, Inglis NF, Smith DG,
Low JC, Gally DL, Huntley JF, Mahajan
A. 2009. IgA and IgG antibody responses
following systemic immunization of cattle
with native H7 flagellin differ in epitope
recognition and capacity to neutralise TLR5
signalling. Vaccine. Nov 16. [Epub ahead of
print] PMID: 19925908
McNeilly TN, Mitchell MC, Rosser T, McAteer
S, Low JC, Smith DG, Huntley JF, Mahajan
A, Gally DL. 2009. Immunization of cattle
with a combination of purified intimin-531,
EspA and Tir significantly reduces shedding
of Escherichia coli O157:H7 following oral
challenge. Vaccine. Nov 7. [Epub ahead of
print] PMID: 19903545
Penzo C, Ross M, Muirhead R, Else R,
Argyle DJ. 2009. Effect of recombinant feline
interferon-omega alone and in combination
with chemotherapeutic agents on putative
tumour-initiating cells and daughter cells
derived from canine and feline mammary
tumours. Vet Comp Oncol. 7(4):222-9.
Yusvana R, Headon DJ, Markx GH. 2009.
Creation of arrays of cell aggregates in
defined patterns for developmental biology
studies using dielectrophoresis. Biotechnol
Bioeng. Dec 1. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:
19953679.
Lewis T, Rusbridge C, Knowler P, Blott
S, Woolliams JA. 2009. Heritability of
syringomyelia in Cavalier King Charles
spaniels. Vet J. Nov 12. [Epub ahead of
print] PMID: 19914109
If you have any articles you would like to submit for the next Roslin Reporter, please contact:
Patricia Hart, Scientific Administrator (email:[email protected] or phone: 0131 527 4200)
or require imagery to accompany articles, please contact:
Design and Print Department, The Roslin Institute (email:[email protected] or phone: 0131 527 4327/4356)
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