BBC Radio 4
THE MATERIAL WORLD
PROGRAMME DETAILS
Thursday 28 February 2008
Fungi Exploitation
Science is going back to basics ...
We look at how more than 28,000 strains of fungus held in the UK’s national collection are becoming the focus of research seeking new antibacterial drugs.
The collection has great roots – it still holds an original sample of Sir Alexander Fleming’s penicillin.
Quentin Cooper is joined by Dr Joan Kelley, Executive Director Bioservices, CABI and Professor Peter Bramley, Head of the School of Biological Sciences Royal Holloway, University of London.
Electron Microscopes
We meet the scientists who are using the advances in microscopes used to make computer chips to explore the world of biological systems - at the atomic level.
This new nano microscope technology is allowing scientists to move clusters of atoms while they actually look at them, and to create three dimensional images of biological systems ten thousands times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.
Can this nano-vision help in the fight against some of the most dangerous diseases - like cancer?
Quentin is joined by Dr Andy Bushby, Director of NanoVision Centre, Queen Mary, University of London and by Dr Lucy Collinson, Head of Electron Microscopy, London Research Institute, Cancer Research UK
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
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