Research impact stories
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Impact stories
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Studies link schizophrenia to functional disconnections in the brain
13 May 2013
Attempts to understand schizophrenia and its diverse symptoms have taken researchers and psychiatrists on a journey throughout the brain. Schizophrenia is one of the most common of the mental illnesses and is thought to affect about 70 million adults worldwide – yet effective alleviation of its broad range of symptoms continues to elude medical practitioners.
Studies of mutant fish reveal genetic roots of osteoarthritis
8 May 2013
It is one of the UK’s major causes of disability, affecting eight million people. Over half the population of the Western world aged over 65 are affected by it. Yet osteoarthritis, and particularly the prevention of it, attracts a proportionately low level of research interest. For Dr Chrissy Hammond, this makes it an increasingly urgent issue, and her research is already making significant inroads into our understanding of joint deterioration.
Calcium sparks: the discovery that revolutionised cardiac cell biology
7 May 2013
The regulation of calcium in cardiac muscle cells is a well-documented problem that physiologists, biophysicists and mathematicians have made steps towards solving over the past century. Yet there remain major gaps in our understanding of how this process, the failure of which leads to heart failure and heart disease, works at the cellular level.
Philosophical reasoning brings clarity to the complex
25 April 2013
Are there any meaningful commonalities in how the different scientific disciplines tackle complexity and can they provide a reliable definition for this constantly evolving field? A rigorous investigation that unpicks the theories and crunches the numbers finds a way through the confusion - but points out that no definition can ever be absolute.
Cretaceous Sediment Investigations (CSI) of the Deep Biosphere
12 March 2013
Buried deep within the sediments at the bottom of the ocean – up to a kilometer below the seafloor – there are organisms that we know little more about than had we discovered them on Mars. But thanks to Bristol researchers, we are learning more each day.
Tracing the evolution of genes sheds light on the origins of life, including humans
20 February 2013
Looking at how genes function across different species is helping to answer questions about human origins as well as how we view life on Earth. Dr Davide Pisani is integrating genomic data with palaeontological data to answer fundamental questions such as when vision first originated in animals and what was the first chemical smelled.
Research that marries molecular biology and palaeontology helps solve evolutionary puzzles
11 February 2013
Fossils can capture a moment in time and provide a glimpse into how organisms looked and changed through time, revealing how, for instance, the major vertebrate groups – jawed fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds – diverged and diversified. However, there are many groups that are poorly represented within the fossil record, and the origins of which are far more. Dr Jakob Vinther, a lecturer in Macroevolution, is trying to resolve some of these evolutionary ambiguities.
Vietnamese reform influences design of government interventions
5 February 2013
Since 1986, Vietnam has been undergoing economic reform with the goal of creating a socialist-oriented market economy. The ruling Communist Party has overseen this reform, known as Doi Moi, working with the international donor aid community since 1993 to instil major changes within its governance systems.
Making sense of uncertainty in complex systems
5 February 2013
While most of us begin to feel restless and insecure in the face of uncertainty, Dr Jonathan Rougier seems to thrive in it. Rougier is a statistician who specialises in assessing the uncertainty inherent in complex systems - systems that are typical in environmental science.
Model that shakes entire cities improves earthquake risk assessment
30 January 2013
Earthquake disasters have many catastrophic effects - loss of life and injury as well as direct physical and financial loss. In the aftermath of an earthquake event, these direct impacts can induce a cascade of indirect losses and distress that trickle down through society.
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