The Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences

The Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences (IBLS) was formed in 1994 as a new focus for excellence in research and teaching in the biomedical and life sciences. In August 2000, IBLS became the Faculty of Biomedical & Life Sciences of the University of Glasgow. IBLS is one of the largest centres for biological research in Europe, with 180 full-time academic staff and over 200 contract researchers. The Undergraduate School is involved in teaching over 4,000 students from Science and Medicine, and the Graduate School co-ordinates the training of 300 postgraduate students. Commercialisation of IBLS research has resulted in the formation of spinout companies and involves collaborations with many major international companies as well as with many small and medium sized enterprises.

Research in IBLS is primarily based on themes which often span divisions and frequently involve colleagues from other faculties such as Medicine, Chemistry, Veterinary Medicine, Computing Science and Engineering as well as the Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology and research institutes such as the CRC Beatson Institute for Cancer Research. There are six research divisions, which focus on several themes from different perspectives:

This division is a centre of excellence which provides a stimulating environment for research in many crucial areas of fundamental science that underpin medicine and plant bioscience. Research is focused in seven main areas: Cell Signalling & Membrane Biology, Molecular Immunology, Molecular Pharmacology, Plant Molecular Science, Structural Biology & Enzymology, Transcription Factors and the Regulation of Gene Expression. Each of these areas of expertise is built around a core of active research groups and there is considerable overlap of approach and cross-fertilisation of ideas between groups. The four groups are:

This division has internationally-recognised research strengths in what can be broadly defined as functional ecology. There are four main research groups:

All four groups interact, and researchers are often involved with more than one group in inter-linking projects. The first three groups focus on aspects of life history strategies and the functional significance of, and proximate mechanisms underlying, the responses of individuals to changes in key environmental parameters. The taxonomy group is involved in both empirical and theoretical aspects of taxonomy in plants and animals and in the application of taxonomic techniques to evolutionary and ecological questions. The division has excellent research facilities for both field and laboratory research, including access to the Institutes well-equipped Freshwater Field Station at Rowardenan on Loch Lomond.

The research interests of this division are divided into three research themes, with some overlap between them. A wide range of disease-causing organisms of both medical and veterinary importance are under investigation. Cholera, whooping cough, malaria, trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis and furunculosis are among the major diseases whose causative agents are currently studied. The three research themes are:

Microbiology which focuses predominately on bacteria and includes work on bacterial toxins, bacterial virulence factors, host responses and vaccine development. There is also work carried out in disease control in economically important fish and shellfish;
Parasitology research interests include host responses to infection, analysis of parasite antigens, immune evasion, vaccination and parasite biochemistry targeted towards rational drug design and understanding drug resistance;
Cell engineering is an innovative marriage of biology and engineering and is concerned with the use of cells, and parts of cells, to build systems useful both for biomedical purposes and fundamental research.

This division is also a centre of excellence, which contains research groups that span the entire spectrum of genetic model organisms. Its research interests cover a wide range of topics in classical and molecular genetics of prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Internationally recognised groups working on DNA/protein recognition, Drosophila behavioural neuroscience and brain development, cell signalling and membrane biology, comparative genomic approaches to parasite vector biology, genome to function: determining the basis of inherited neurological disease, mammalian molecular neurobiology, transgenic mouse models of viral oncogenesis, cell cycle regulation in yeast, molecular systematics, fungal genetics and bacterial genetics.

Since genes are largely responsible for all biological functions, understanding their mode of action and regulation may give new insights into processes disrupted in disease and open up new avenues for diagnosis, prevention and treatment. Research themes include the molecular genetics of epilepsy and Rett syndrome, genome to function, determining the basis of myotonic dystrophy, gene transfer and gene therapy in models of heart disease and the role of the Huntington's disease gene in health and disease.

Research in concentrates on integrative biology at the cellular, organ and organismal (but sub-environmental) levels. This integrative theme runs through all activities providing the intellectual logic and academic resilience for this division. The diverse techniques of physiology, pharmacology and histochemistry are applied to studies at these different levels, providing excellent opportunities for collaborative work. Four research themes operate:

Cardiovascular Studies research focuses on heart failure, hypertension, stroke and metabolic syndromes;
Neuroscience research interests include Yoshitomi Research Institute for Neuroscience in Glasgow (YRING); Spinal Cord Research Group, which is concerned with the complex synaptic circuitry of the dorsal horn and its role in pain transmission and the Mutant AS/AGU rat, which displays a characteristic motor deficit and exhibits progressive neurodegeneration;
Exercise and Sports Science a new Centre for Exercise Science and Medicine (CESAME) was created in July 1998 and provides an interdisciplinary focus for research in the broad area of exercise, sport, and health for a range of populations and disease states;
Cellular development, function and toxicology research focuses on mammalian cells studying various aspects of their development, function, pathophysiology and toxicology - with an emphasis on epithelial and nervous tissue.

This division is interested in the fundamental properties of animal viruses, the structure/function relationships of virus gene products, and virus/host interactions involved in pathogenesis, with the goal of controlling virus infections. The Division of Virology, which includes the Medical Research Council Virology Unit, is the largest grouping of its type in the UK, and is widely recognised as a leading international centre for virological research. Bunyaviruses, cytomegalovirus, hantavirus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, herpes simplex viruses, human herpes virus 8, papillomaviruses, picornaviruses and respiratory syncytial virus are among the major viruses that are currently studied. Three research themes are in operation:

Further information about the work and research of IBLS can be found at www.gla.ac.uk/Acad/IBLS.

IBLS staff collaborate with a large number of companies and research institutes involved in medicine, therapeutics, diagnostics, biotechnology, food science, medical devices, and related interests, and further opportunities for such collaboration are sought and welcomed. For more information please contact:

Dr Alasdair Street, Commercialisation Manager
Research and Enterprise
University of Glasgow
10 The Square
GLASGOW G12 8QQ
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Web: www.gla.ac.uk/R-E