Organs may not grow on trees, but they can on leaves

By LifETIME CDT Student: Xally Montserrat Valencia Guerrero (She/Her) (University of Glasgow) Have you ever thought about the similarity between an apple and a bone? Or maybe between a leaf and a human heart? It’s hard to think about what these things have in common, especially because they look nothing alike, their shape, colour, texture… everything

Lateral flow tests – they’re not just for COVID-19!

By LifETIME CDT Student: Rory Barnes (He/Him) (University of Glasgow) Remember all those expired COVID-19 lateral flow tests you’ve got hidden in a cupboard somewhere? It might surprise you to find out that technology has been around a while, and we’re still working on improving it. Lateral flow tests first hit the market in 1980’s in

Lab 4.0: The Rise of Smart Biosensors

By LifETIME CDT Student: Imen Boumar (She/Her) (University of Birmingham) In our fast-paced, technology-driven world, smart biosensors are quietly revolutionizing various fields, from healthcare and environmental monitoring to food safety and specifically cell therapy technologies. These tiny, but powerful devices have the potential to transform how we collect and analyze data, offering real-time insights that were

“Osteoporosis, I have a bone to pick with you!” Developing bone: a small molecule approach

By LifETIME CDT Student: Francesca Kokkinos (She/Her) (University of Glasgow) Osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and osteonecrosis are just some of the degenerative and deformative conditions which affect over 13 million people in the UK alone. All of these conditions are rooted by one small word: osteo, the Greek word for bone. Current gold-standard therapeutic strategies for treating bone

Swab your vagina for science: designing a diagnostic test for human papillomavirus, for use in low resource settings

By LifETIME CDT Student: Ella Boswell (She/Her) (University of Glasgow) What’s my project about? Human papillomavirus, also known as HPV, is very common, but certain strains cause cervical cancer. Low-cost, quick, and easy-to-use tests – similar to the covid lateral flow tests – are required to diagnose people in areas that don’t have access to labs.

CVD and Aortic Flow: Lights, Camera, Action!

By LifETIME CDT Student: Eleanor Barton (She/Her) (Aston University) Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) – you may have heard of these diseases; you probably know someone directly affected by it as there are around 7.6 million people in the UK alone, living with a form of CVD; as reported by the British Heart Foundation. But how does it