Science volunteering in Sheffield – British Science Association Sheffield

Invasive Species in the UK

November 16, 2018 Danae Dodge

By Francesca Dawson Pell

Invasive species are species that are not native to an ecosystem or country. Many have been introduced to the new area by humans, either accidentally or deliberately. There are a whole range of organisms that can be invasive, from animals and plants to tiny micro-organisms. Should we worry about them? Some invasive species can cause damage to the environment, the economy and even harm human health. In the UK alone the control of invasive species costs £1.7 billion every year (1).

Which invasive species do we find in the UK, and how did they get here? According to the GB Non-native Species Secretariat, over 3000 species in the UK are listed as invasive. Species have been introduced to the UK from all over the world, excluding Antarctica. They have spread to the UK through a variety of different methods including: escaping from the pet trade, accidental transport in cargo ships, planes, trains, or lorries and even some deliberate introductions to new habitats without consideration of the environmental or economic consequences.

The grey squirrels you see in the local park or garden are descended from North American or Canadian squirrels. They are causing the local extinction of the red squirrel (the UKs native squirrel species) by competing with them for food and transmitting squirrel pox – a deadly disease. They may be colourful, but ring-necked parakeets are also invasive in the UK and can cost the agricultural industry a lot of money by eating their way through ripe fruit. They also carry diseases that can infect chickens and some diseases that can infect humans in close contact.

Invasive species can also be found in aquatic environments. For example, signal crayfish originally from North America are pushing UK species of crayfish towards extinction by competing with them for shelters and spreading disease. Signal crayfish also dig deep burrows that can cause riverbank erosion and even influence flooding. Plants can be just as bad as animals when it comes to the impacts of invasions. Japanese knotweed for example can have structural impacts on both biological communities and habitats. Controlling Japanese knotweed is predicted to cost hundreds of millions of pounds every year around the world.

Scientists study a whole range of topics to help us understand more about invasive species: from studying their DNA, to mapping their range and spread in the new environment, and recording their behaviour. By doing so they assess the impacts invasive species have on the environment, and make predictions about the threats and conservation concerns invasive species can cause.

Studying an organism’s DNA can provide a lot of information, including where an individual came from.

What can you do to help?
There are lots of different actions you can take if you want to help prevent the spread of invasive species. These range from contributing to citizen science by reporting when and where you detect an invasive species on a mobile application or a website (for example iRecord Ladybird or PlantTracker), to helping out at a local event to eradicate invasive species from an area. It also helps to remember to “Check, Clean and Dry” any equipment that has been in water as aquatic invasive species can be transported on unclean equipment (www.nonnativespecies.org/checkcleandry/).

To find out more about invasive species and what you can do to help:
1. The Wildscreen Arkive page on UK invasive species
https://www.arkive.org/uk-invasive-species/
2. The GB non-native species secretariat
http://www.nonnativespecies.org/home/index.cfm

About the Author

I am a PhD student at the University of Sheffield studying invasive monk parakeets in Spain, their DNA and their social structure.
Twitter: @FrancescaDP12

Rare disease holds the secret to potential cancer treatments

May 17, 2018August 10, 2018 British Science Association Sheffield

By Ruby Kell

Dr Bruno Vaz, from the Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology, presented his research on the 3^rd May 2018 at the University of Sheffield on a newly discovered gene thought to be involved in cancer and ageing.

The gene was identified in three teenage boys all of whom died of liver cancer. This is unusual as this form of cancer is normally only found in over 40s, and triggered as a result of heavy alcohol use. The patients all also exhibited signs of early ageing; muscle wastage, cataracts and joint pains. Suspecting a genetic link, Dr Vaz and his colleagues probed the genetic code of the patients. They identified a gene, SPARTAN (SPRTN) which was defective in all three boys.

Further studies revealed SPRTN is involved in repairing DNA damage. Specifically, it removes proteins that have become stuck to DNA that distort its helical-shape thereby creating a bulky obstacle for important DNA processes. Disruption of these processes means the integrity of the DNA code becomes unstable, and therefore can be easily changed and mutated. In healthy individuals, these protein lesions are rapidly dealt with and mutations are kept in check. However for Dr Vaz’s SPRTN-deficient patients, mutations can build up leading to cancers that could be up to forty years premature.

These protein-DNA deposits arise naturally in the body but they can also be triggered by external stimuli like UV light or chemotherapeutic drugs. It is the link with chemotherapy that makes the discovery of SPRTN exciting for cancer therapy. If cancer drugs owe some of their toxicity to inducing DNA-protein links, then a second drug inhibiting the SPRTN repair pathway of these lesions could significantly improve chemotherapy potency.

Furthermore, even in the absence of chemotherapy, cancer cells are more likely to house more protein-bound DNA than normal cells. This is because of their inherent nature to divide much faster than the average cell. This means that their DNA is more likely to become tangled up in proteins that facilitate the required DNA replication for this process. Targeting cells with more protein-bound DNA using a SPRTN-inhibiting drug may therefore be a way to make cancer therapies more specific, and reduce the well-known side effects of chemotherapy.

Learn more about Dr Vaz’s research here.

About the Author

Ruby is a Molecular Biology Masters student at the University of Sheffield. Her research focuses on the effect of antibiotics and how we may be able to overcome the growing issue of antimicrobial resistance. Ruby has a particular interest in science communication and outreach, and has been volunteering with the BSA since November.

The Science of Multilingualism – exploring the science of language through the language of science!

May 9, 2018August 10, 2018 British Science Association Sheffield

By Caroline Wood

Saturday 14^th April 2018, Weston Park Museum

Over 120 different languages are said to be spoken in Sheffield – a fact that reflects the diverse mix of cultures and communities that makes up our city. This can make it challenging to develop a scientific culture that feels inclusive for everyone. As Estrella Luna-Diez, BSA Sheffield volunteer and president of the Society of Spanish Researchers in the UK, explained: “It is known that children who are educated in a second language are four times less likely to pick up science modules in secondary school and therefore end up having a scientific career.” With this in mind, and inspired by watching her son grow up in a bilingual household, she developed the idea for ‘The Science of Multilingualism’. The aim was to celebrate the linguistic diversity of Sheffield whilst exploring the latest research into how speaking foreign tongues develops our brains.

The venue, appropriately, was Weston Park Museum, whose exhibits already showcase Sheffield’s rich cultural tapestry. As soon as visiting families arrived through the door, we gave them a crossword quiz designed by BSA volunteer Shauni McGregor. The answers (all foreign language words such as the Malay word for ‘statue’) had been hidden next to artefacts that described the word and the kids were very enthusiastic in finding them all. Once they had completed the quiz, they then headed upstairs to claim their prizes – only to find even more fun things to do!

Caption: Learning to use a microscope is always fascinating – whatever language you do it in! Photograph by Ellen Bradley.

We had taken over both of the museum’s upstairs Discovery Rooms and packed them with activities. Our visitors could take part in a real scientific experiment led by Dr Adnane Ez-zizi from the Out of Our Minds group at the University of Sheffield’s School of Languages and Cultures. “We asked people to do a memory task twice, rehearsing a list of items in their second language the first time and the second time in their native language” he said. “The idea was to show them that working memory performance depends on language since they tend to memorise things better when rehearsing with their first language.” For this task, both native English and native non-English speakers tend to score 90-95% correct answers in their native tongue. Curiously though, when rehearsing the items in their second language, the scores drop to 60% for native English speakers but only 90% in native non-English speakers. “This is probably because most of our non-English participants use English, their second language, on a daily basis. Whereas the native English participants have fewer opportunities to practice their second language, and hence are less fluent than non-English participants in their second language” Adnane explained.

Bridges — Caption: Our visitors had the chance to learn about Chinese printing and how bridges are built

Because context-based learning can be a very effective way of learning foreign languages, we had a range of activity stands where participants could try simple science experiments conducted either in Spanish, Bulgarian, Chinese or Arabic. So when Adnane was not testing people’s memories, he was on the Arabic stand performing simple demonstrations of physics using household items such as oranges, water bottles and balloons. We were also fortunate to be joined by volunteers from the Sheffield Confucius Institute whose activities explored the development of the Chinese printing industry and the engineering principles that allow us to build large structures such as overseas bridges.

Caption: Who knew that an orange could be used to teach physics?! Photograph by Ellen Bradley.

At the Spanish activity stand, Margarita Segovia Roldán, who at the time of the event was working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), had brought along some of the subjects of her own research. “We decided to use neuroscience as a topic to teach Spanish – after all, Professor Ramon y Cajal, the ‘father of neuroscience’, was the first Spanish scientist to win a Nobel Prize” she said. “Our visitors viewed brain cell samples under the microscope and learnt how to name them in Spanish. Many people were very impressed by the fact that most of the words are written very similar in English and Spanish!” There were more microscopes at the Bulgarian activity stand too, overseen by Svet Tzokov (who manages the Electron Microscopy Facility at the University of Sheffield). “At the Bulgarian stand we were observing the cells in an onion peel” he said. “The aim was to encourage children to try and look in a more scientific way at things at home, and at the same time for them to learn a little bit about the living cell and its structure. Some of the kids were really fascinated and wouldn’t go away!”

Because learning languages can be hard work, we had also laid out a spread of international delicacies hailing from the native countries of our featured languages. From Chinese spicy bean curd to Spanish chorizo and Bulgarian cheeses – everyone found something new to try!

Food — Caption: Nadeja Tzokova prepares our spread of international flavours. Photograph by Caroline Wood.

With so much going on, it had the potential for organised chaos but it all came together thanks to Estrella’s vision and organisational mastery. “I believe the event was a complete success and met all our objectives” she said. “We taught people about the benefits of learning a second language including how your brain benefits from it. It was brilliant to see children from different countries and backgrounds engaging with scientists and having so much fun while learning!” The feedback forms confirmed this, with 100% of the respondents finding the event either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. The event may have only lasted a day, but we hope we inspired many people to have a lifelong love of languages.

With thanks to all the volunteers who helped on the day: Estrella Luna-Diez, Antonio de la Vega de Leon, Margarita Segovia Roldán, Svet Tzokov, Nadeja Tzokova, Villy Hristeva, Shauni McGregor, Rebecca Hollely, Ellen Bradley, Alex Wolfe, Caroline Wood, Xinqun Hu,Feng Ju, Lizhe Wang, Junmin Xiao, Xi Liu, Adnane Ez-zizi, Ahmed MAA Elsheikh and Ahmed MME Azab.

This event was supported by grants from The Society of Spanish Researchers in the UK; the British Science Association and the Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv. We would also like to thank Weston Park Museum for accommodating us and the Goethe Institut for providing badges for our goody bags.

To view more photographs from this event, check out the photo gallery on our Facebook page here.

About the Author

Caroline Wood is a PhD student studying the interactions between parasitic weeds and their hosts at the University of Sheffield. She first became involved with BSA Sheffield when she went along to the launch meeting ‘out of curiosity’ and has been involved in a number of events since. When she isn’t busy with her PhD or the BSA she is trying to learn French – partly inspired by the clear benefits languages have for the brain! She blogs at http://scienceasadestiny.blogspot.co.uk/ and you can also follow her on Twitter @sciencedestiny