Current Projects
Current Projects
Our projects bring together the very best molecular and cellular bioscience researchers from across our Consortium. We deliver regional PhD training that has interdisciplinary collaboration...
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York -Can soil microbial diversity mitigate water stress and maintain crop yield in agricultural systems?
Philip Brailey
York-Proteolytic processing of sodium channel ß1 subunits
Alexander Haworth After graduating from the University of Sheffield with a BSc in Biomedical Science in 2015, I began my PhD investigating the contribution of secretase...
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York-Nuclear matrix support of DNA replication and transcription
Emma Stewart
York-Metabolic mechanisms of (photo)synthetic symbiosis
Megan Sorensen
York-The biological role and structure functio analyses of 0-antigen modifying enzymes in the bacterial pathogen Salmonella
Caroline Pearson I graduated from the University of York with a BSc in Biology in 2015 and stayed in York to do my PhD supervised by...
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York-Chemical disruption of the 0-GlcNAc modification in the context of neurodengeration
Alexandra Males
York-Protein 0-glycosylation enzymes as targets for novel antimicrobials against mycobacteria
Nathaniel Holman Biography: I graduated from the University of York in 2015 with a first class BSc degree in Biochemistry (with a year in industry)....
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York-The microbiome of the tsetse
Rebecca Hall
York-Revealing IGFN1 functional roles through in vivo CRISPR/CAS targeting and in vitro mechanical protein unfolding
Tobias Cracknell After graduating from the University of York with a first class BSc in Molecular Cell Biology I joined Gonzalo Blanco’s lab in York...
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Sheffield-The role of AMF in drought alleviation in crops: identifying the underpinning physiological mechanisms
Elizabeth Parker I am investigating the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in alleviating drought symptoms of crops, using winter wheat as a model. In...
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Sheffield-Innovative microscopy approaches to studying cellular senescence and regeneration in vivo
Samir Morsli
Sheffield-The roles of a poorly characterized protease in rescuing the genome from protein linked DNA breaks
Julia Morris
Sheffield-Global control of enzyme activity in the food-borne human pathogen Campylobacter jejuni: Application of high-resolution mass spectrometry to reveal novel post-translational modifications
Thomas Puttick
Sheffield-Mycobacterium bovis aconitase-IRE interactions: integrating iron, oxidative and nitrosative stress responses
Peter Bancroft
Sheffield-Discovery and analysis of effector genes in the parasitic weed S. asiatica; a multi-faceted genomics approach
James Bradley Graduated from The University of Sheffield in 2015 with an MBiolSci degree in Biology. During my undergraduate degree I became interested in a...
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Sheffield-Investigation of a regulatory iron-sulfur complex in a bacterial sigma factor
Christopher Banyard
Sheffield-Mechanistic Biology of Human Exonuclease-1-a DNA repair nuclease
Rebecca Ley
Sheffield-The Mechanics of Shape Change in Plants
Eleanor Healicon Stomata are microscopic pores on the epidermis of land plants that regulate the uptake of CO2 and the loss of water from the plant....
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Sheffield-Investigating the role of endocytosis in the virulence of Candida albicans
Harriet Knafler I studied Microbiology at the University of Sheffield, and decided to stay in Sheffield to do my phD. I am working in Kathryn Ayscough’s...
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Sheffield-Bacterial “presisters” – Antibiotic tolerance in action
Milena von und zur Muhlen Having completed my BSc at the University of Sheffield, I decided to stay on and complete a PhD here too. I...
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Sheffield-Nanodissection of protein-protein interactions in energy transducing membrane protein complexes
David Farmer
Leeds-Mechanistic understanding of wheat productivity in relation to water supply using real-time moisture sensors and models
Katie Ward I graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2015 with a BSC in Biology, joining the White Rose DTP at the University of...
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Leeds-Advancing Biotechnologies for Fuel Generation: Exploiting Transmembrane Cytochromes for Solar Energy Conversion
Anna Stikane
Leeds-Is the capture of RNA by RNase E and not its cleavage the major initiator of mRNA turnover
Jaskiran Sabharw
Leeds-Analysis and inhibition of chikungunya virus replication
Catherine Kendall
Leeds-How does the human papillomavirus (HPV) E5 protein control skin cell growth and differentiation during a productive life cycle?
David Kealy
Leeds-Molecular basis for specific regulation of the stress sensor IRE1 in cancer cells
Nicholas Hurst I graduated from the University of Leeds in 2014 with a degree in biochemistry, I then completed my masters at the University of...
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Leeds-Chaperone-assisted protein folding in the bacterial periplasm
James Horne
Leeds-Structural Biology of RiboNucleoProtein complexes of pathogenic arena and bunyaviruses
Francis Hopkins
Leeds-Determining how cargo binding regulates the activity of members of the kinesin3 family
Sophie Hesketh
Leeds-Muscle ageing and gene expression balance in Caenorhabditis elegans
Brittany Graham
Leeds-Cellular interactions with amyloid fibrils: cytotoxicity and protective mechanisms
Hannah Craven
Leeds-Mechanism of Genomic Segment Assortment in Avian Reovirus
Jack Bravo
Studentships On Offer for 2018 Entry
Projects advertised in this section are competitive studentship based at the University of Leeds, York or Sheffield funded by BBSRC covering: (i) a tax-free stipend...
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Sheffield – Discovery and functional analysis of Striga resistance genes in rice for targeted breeding of durable defence.
Emily Breardon – From Canterbury originally, I graduated from Sheffield University in 2012 with a Masters in Biology, and stayed here to first work as...
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Leeds – Improving methods for the detection and monitoring of beetle pests through a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying beetle odour perception.
Matthew Dooley
Leeds – Synthetic approaches to developing reagents for rapid, in-field detection of cereal rusts
Lia De Faveri
Defining a novel assembly pathway in ssRNA viruses.
Emma Wroblewski
Leeds – The Structural Biology of the Z-disc in health and disease
Brendan Rogers
Investigating the role of the nsP3 macro domain in Chikungunya virus replication
Grace Roberts Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an Alphavirus, was first detected in Tanzania in 1952 and is currently endemic in Africa, Asia and, more recently,...
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Leeds – Co-Repression and the Evolution of Novel Plant Structures
Alistair Plant
The molecular basis of antigravitropism and the maintenance of non-vertical growth in root and shoot branches
Ryan Kaye
Leeds – Investigating the developmental genetic mechanisms that control segment formation during animal development and their potentially ancient evolutionary origins
Peter Harrison
Leeds – Virus remodelling of the nuclear pore complex : a novel antiviral target
Alexander Coleman
Leeds – New approaches to combatting amyloid disease from mechanistic insights
Lucy Barber
Leeds – Understanding foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) replication
Joseph Ward
Leeds – Developing Diazirines as Probes for Monitoring Dynamic Molecular Recognition Processes
Samuel Bunce
Sheffield – Structural studies on luminescent probes for quadruplex DNA
Simon Fairbanks
Sheffield – Studying the roles of epigenetics in therapeutic protein production
Elanor Harrison
Sheffield – Multigene engineering of secretion by mammalian cell factories
Nicholas Barber
Sheffield – Functional analysis of cell surface proteins in Gram-positive pathogens: from biochemistry to super resolution microscopy
Stuart Barker
Sheffield – The economics of stomatal distribution
Rachel Denley-Bowers
Sheffield – The Effect of Manipulating Wheat Stomatal Development
Jessica Dunn
Sheffield – Deciphering microRNA networks using Next Generation Sequencing
Mathew Parker
Sheffield – A novel role for a specific chemokine in CNS function and disease
Jordan Talbot
Sheffield – Investigating the mechanical regulation of autophagy
Ben Aden Phillips
York – Plant-mediated interactions between above and below ground symbiotic microbes: implications for food security
Thomas Wilkinson
York – Investigating the role of Capicua in mediating FGF transcriptional regulation in pluripotent stem cells
Michael King
York – Evolving microbial communities for biofuel production
Rachael Evans
York – Structure-function studies of N1-Src kinase in axon guidance
Laura West
York – Probing the molecular interactions mediating the segregation of a multidrug resistance plasmid
Cecilia Pennica
Turning on genes to build muscle
Caitlin McQueen I received my BSc in Molecular Cell Biology from the University of York before starting my PhD Supervised by Dr Betsy Pownall and Professor...
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Membrane Migration and Fission: Structure and Interaction of Proteins Mediating Phagocytosis during Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis
Adam Hughes
York – Understanding cell-type specific regulation of microRNA biogenesis
Daniel Yee I graduated from University College London with BSc Biomedical Sciences in 2013 and MRes Cancer Biology from Imperial College London in 2014. My...
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York – Evaluating the role of protein dynamics in double-stranded RNA recognition
Banushan Balansethupathy
Leeds – Development of split enzyme amplification systems for electronic label-free biosensors.
Janice Robottom – I began university with a foundation degree in interdisciplinary science, followed by my undergraduate degree in medical biochemistry here at Leeds University...
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York – The Key to a biofuel future: unravelling the mechanism of GH61
Rebecca Gregory – My research involves the structural and mechanistic determination of a class of polysaccharide degrading metalloproteins (Lytic Polysaccharide Monooxygenases, LPMOs), known as AA10s...
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Leeds – Generating epigenetic diversity in plants
Elizabeth Hollwey – I graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2013 with a BA in Natural Sciences, specialising in Genetics. In October 2013, I...
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Leeds – Towards enhancing crop yields on acid, phosphate-poor soils through an increased understanding of memechanism in aluminium-activated anion channels
Tony Palmer – After graduating with an MSci in Biology and Chemistry from Durham University I joined Leeds White Rose DTP to work with Prof. Steve...
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Leeds – Plant-mediated interactions between above-and below-ground crop pests: molecular and biochemical mechanisms
Grace Hoysted – I am studying for a PhD focussing on plant-mediated interactions between above-ground pests and below-ground pathogens in Prof. Peter Urwin’s laboratory at...
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Leeds – Novel mechanisms to inhibit virus replication by targetting mRNA export pathways
Gabriele Stakaiyte – My project focuses on finding out the molecular mechanisms behind the metastatic phenotype of Merkel cell carcinoma. This is a rare but aggressive...
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Leeds – Studies on the replication of the non-primate hepacivirus (NPHV)
Joseph Lattimer – I studied medical microbiology at Leeds graduating in 2013, starting my PhD with Prof. Mark Harris at Leeds in the same year....
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York – Mining composting communities for new lignocellulose mobilising enzymes
Nicola Oates – I graduated from the University of York in 2012 with a First class degree in Biology. I am now in the second...
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Sheffield – How does the colonisation of roots by mycorrhizal fungi suppress infection by root parasitic weeds – a role for strigolactones
Richard Louden – I am a second year PhD student at The University of Sheffield. My research project is attempting to understand the molecular mechanisms involved...
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Sheffield – High resolution imaging of bacterial spore architecture
Caitlin Brumby – I study in the Electron Microcopy group at Sheffield University run by Prof. Per Bullough. My work focuses on the outer surface...
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Sheffield – Systems understanding of anaerobic respiration in Escherichia coli
Katie Denby – The ‘model’ enterobacterium Escherichia coli exhibits a versatile metabolism (incorporating aerobic respiratory, anaerobic respiratory and fermentative metabolic modes) plus numerous and sometimes complex...
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York – Molecular basis of the benefits of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis for the nitrogen nutrition of crop plants
Thomas Thirkell – Nitrogen is the most commonly limiting nutrient to the growth of crop plants, which almost universally rely on the addition of nitrogen-rich...
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Sheffield – Organisation and spectroscopic properties of native and nanofabricated arrays of photosynthetic complexes
James Morby – Solar energy trapping in photosynthesis is achieved by macromolecular membrane assemblies that bind thousands of chlorophylls, held in specific orientations and in close...
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Leeds – Mechanism of shear stress sensing
Adam Hyman – After graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Medical Sciences from the University of Leeds in 2013 I started a PhD in Professor...
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York – A Systems biology approach to bioenergy; Metabolic investigation of the filamentous fungi Aspergillus niger
Daniel Upton Present: PhD student with Jamie Wood and Simon McQueen-Mason, University of York. Past: BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, University of York The world’s principal producer...
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Leeds – Enzyme action and hemicellulose substrate heterogeneity in cell wall contexts
Corinne Shaw – I graduated from the University of Bath in 2012 with a BSc Biology. Since October 2013 I have been working with Professor Paul Knox...
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Leeds – Role of Molecular Chaperones and the Bam Complex in Outer Membrane Protein Folding and Assembly
Robert Schiffrin Outer membrane proteins (OMPs) carry out essential functions involved in bacterial virulence and pathogenicity. OMPs and the chaperones and other proteins essential for...
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Sheffield – Identification of kinase targets in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans using immunoprecipitation and mass spectroscopy
Iliyana Kaneva – Candida albicans causes superficial mucosal infections such as vaginitis. In certain groups of vulnerable patients it causes severe, life-threatening bloodstream infections. This project...
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Sheffield – How do stomata work?
Sam Ambury – Increasing the water-use efficiency of crops is a major goal if food security is to be achieved, but this first requires a deeper...
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Leeds – Extreme muscle: a biophysical approach to explore and understand muscle proteins from extreme environments
Michael Wilson This project will develop quantitative biophysical approaches to compare the mechanical response of muscle proteins from mesophilic and cold adapted clams. The student...
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York – Improving Arsenic Tolerance in Rice
Emma Lindsay – Arsenic (As) is a Class I carcinogen which is found ubiquitously in the environment. Several factors, including irrigation with As contaminated ground-water and...
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Sheffield – Modelling axial polarity in the developing zebrafish ear
Ryan Hartwell – This project addresses a fundamental biological question: how does an initially symmetric field of cells acquire polarity and asymmetry, resulting in an asymmetric...
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York – Mechanisms of adaptation of soil microbiota to pesticides
John Thomas -Metaldehyde is a pesticide that is frequently found in drinking water at concentrations above the legal limit. This project is about finding the...
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York – Mechanisms of assembly and disassembly of the cytoskeletal protein ParF
Gina Allison -I graduated from the University of York in 2012 with a degree in Biochemistry. I have stayed in York for my PhD with...
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Leeds – Designing and shaping chemical tools to target motor neurones for experimental and therapeutic outcomes
Jessica Haigh This project aims to extend and exploit recent developments in chemistry to enable motor neurones to be targetted in vivo for potential manipulation...
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York – Identifying signaling responses governing synapse growth and function in aging neurons: defining responses to different cellular sources of oxidative stress
Nathan Garnham – Aging results from the cumulative cellular damage incurred during lifetime. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a recognised source of damage during aging....
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Leeds – Production and properties of composite quantum dots for solar energy and photonics applications.
Amanda McDonnell New methods of harvesting light energy is timely given the inevitable looming energy crisis. In this project, we will be studying bioinspired hybrid...
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Sheffield – The Development of Novel Herbicides
Haley Owen The threat posed to the world by the growing population and our inability to grow sufficient food is immense and requires the development...
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Leeds – Construction, evolution, characterisation and optimisation of novel enzymes discovered through high-throughput mRNA display.
Christopher Rowley – mRNA display and screening methods have only recently been developed. They have been used world wide for only and handful of applications to...
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Sheffield – CO-releasing molecules as novel antimicrobial agents: mechanisms of transport and resistance
Hannah Southam – CO-releasing molecules (CO-RMs) allow CO to be administered safely and exert potent antibacterial activities distinct from conventional antibiotics. However, we know nothing about...
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Sheffield – Protein and DNA Dynamics in 5′-Nuclease Mechanistic Biology
Ian Bennet – Essential for Okazaki fragment processing, flap endonucleases, are the prototypical members of a superfamily of divalent metal ion dependent structure and strand specific...
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Sheffield – Bacterial Cell Wall Mapping at the Nanoscale
Bryony Cotterell – Bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan is essential for viability and its biosynthesis is the target for important antibiotics such as penicillin. The application of...
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Sheffield – Understanding the resistance of pathogenic bacteria to host innate defences
Aidan Taylor – Bacterial pathogens must resist host innate defences upon infection, but how they do this is not completely understood. We have recently discovered...
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Leeds – Development of protein probes to detect carbohydrates
James Edmundson -The surface of every living cell is covered in a forest of carbohydrates. The types of sugars present change during cell development and...
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Leeds – From inhibitor to antibacterial agent: delineating the physico-chemical properties required of small molecules to enable bacterial uptake
Nicole Jackson – The WHO has declared antibiotic resistance one of the greatest problems facing human health. A major hurdle hampering antibacterial drug discovery is our...
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Leeds – Computational modelling of growth angle control across the higher plants
Robert Thomas – Higher plant lateral organs are maintained at specific angles with respect to gravity, a quantity known as the ravitropic setpoint angle (GSA). Differences...
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Leeds – The energetics of bird flight: metabolic, mechanical and aerodynamic consequences of flying in formation
Alexander Evans – Flight is one of the most energetically expensive modes of locomotion and there are few aspects of a flying organism’s physiology and behaviour...
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Leeds – Investigating the mechanisms of aggregation associated with neurodegenerative olyglutamine (polyQ) diseases.
Patrick Knight -PolyQ diseases are inherited neurodegenerative disorders, characterised by the accumulation of polyQ-containing protein aggregates in the brain. The protein ataxin-3 is associated with...
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York – Teaching bacteria to eat grass: genetic engineering of Escherichia coli for complete degradation and utilisation of Miscanthus hemicellulose
Konstantinos Drousiotis – I graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2013 with a First class MBiol degree in Biology. Project Description: The rising costs...
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Sheffield – The assembly of the human TREX mRNA export complex
Simon Lesbriel – The transport of mRNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm is an essential step in human gene expression. This project will use a...
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Sheffield – Analysis of a Novel Actin Nucleating Machinery regulating Membrane trafficking
Joe Tyler – Actin nucleation is the key rate limiting step in actin polymerization, and tight regulation of this process is critical to ensure actin filaments...
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York – Increasing the potassium use efficiency in crops
Thomas Hartley – Project Description and Biopic: I graduated from the University of York in 2013 with a First class degree in Biology and had...
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York – Acylation of Natural Products Derived from Biorefining
Keir Bailey – Biorefining involves “refining” multiple useful products from biomass. Biorefining of plant fibres produces by-products, such as the class of chemicals known as...
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York – Structural analysis of dioxygenases from opium poppy: towards the production of new biocatalytic tools for morphinan production
Marc Cabry Supervisor(s): Prof Ian Graham, and Prof Gideon Davies Project Title: Structural analysis of dioxygenases from opium poppy: towards the production of new biocatalytic...
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York – How plants maintain a good relationship with beneficial fungi
Thomas Irving Project Description: Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) are an ancient fungal linage that lives symbiotically with plant roots, providing them with phosphate and other...
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York – Mechanotransduction through z-disc complexes of the skeletal muscle
Elliot Jokl – Biography: I graduated from the University of York in 2013 with a First class degree in Molecular Cell Biology. Project Description: Why...
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Sheffield – Engineering Escherichia coli to transport and efficiently metabolise ferulate
Callum Pattrick
Leeds – Computer and mathematical modelling of experimentally derived data of neuronal control of the autonomic nervous system
Claudia Maclean