Our microbiome consists of 100 thousand billion microbes that live inside our gut. These are both helpful and potentially harmful, and often have a symbiotic relationship with us. Alterations in the microbiome have been linked with many diseases from infection, colorectal cancer, and Crohn’s disease to neurological conditions including autism spectrum disorder, stress and anxiety. […]
Carbon dioxide is a well-known greenhouse gas industrially produced by the combustion of fossil fuels for the generation of heat and electricity. The accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere contributes to global warming and climate change. Thus, it is of great societal interest to recycle CO2 because it can be used as a renewable starting […]
Is this world flat? For us, it’s certainly not! For some materials, however, the world is flat. The discovery of graphene made human beings, the three-dimensional (3D) creatures, realise that materials can exist in the two-dimensional (2D) world, a world where materials can be only one- or few-atoms thick. People also realised that graphene is […]
Climate change is the largest problem faced by our planet on a global scale. We need to make sure that there is an increase of less than 1.5 ºC in the average global temperatures above pre-industrial levels to prevent irreversible damage to our planet. If temperatures increase above this then it would cause destruction of […]
For centuries, scientists have turned to nature to serve as inspiration on how to tackle some of the world’s most challenging scientific problems. Plant cells are particularly interesting and are prime examples of some of nature’s most intricate engineering. Chloroplasts are organelles found in plant cells that not only give leaves their vivid green colour, […]
Imagine you’re doing your homework in your bedroom, but you don’t have any of your schoolbooks. To get the answer to each question, you have to travel to the library, find the right book, take it home, write down the answer, and then bring it all the way back to the library. This is what […]
The aim of my PhD project is to develop a sensor capable of detecting cancer biomarkers (biological molecules that may indicate the presence of cancer). The aim is to help enable early-stage cancer diagnosis, and also help provide essential information regarding likely disease progression, and probable response to treatment. With 1 in 2 people expected […]
It’s the year 2050 and you’re awoken by a soft humming near your ear. You slowly open your eyes and see Herbert, your robotic assistant hovering a few inches above your face. It’s time to wake up – your first class of the day is 10 minutes away. You stand in front of the sink […]
A little prick and a shuttle loaded with antimicrobials is injected into the patient’s blood circulation. The antimicrobial delivery vehicle targets infected cells, inactivates microorganisms that grow and reproduce inside them and supports the body’s own defense system. In my PhD, I’m developing this antimicrobial shuttle and design microfluidic platforms to test the efficiency of […]
The ability to “play” with light can enable many things such as increasing the efficiency of solar panels, improving biomedical imaging and transferring data faster whilst using less energy. Rare earth metal nanoparticles can help achieve this, and are not as rare as the name suggests with some being more abundant than copper. They have […]