What’s on the horizon in the world of science? #icca11 WEDNESDAY 26/10/11

What’s on thehorizon in the

world of science?

Angela SainiScience journalist

& Author

Biologists areteaming up withengineers to helpbuild the growingfield of synthetic

biology

The aim of syntheticbiology is to build

‘living machines’ froma biological toolkit of

parts, including bits ofDNA… just like anengineer builds a

computer

In 2009, Cambridge University undergraduatesgenetically engineered E.Coli bacteria, normallyfound in the gut, enabling it to produce a variety

of rainbow colours.

It could be used to give you “colour-coded poo”.

At Imperial College London, biologists andengineers have teamed up to create biological

devices that behave like electronic circuits

Unmanneddefence systems

could makeintelligent robots

a reality

Artificial intelligence research happening inthe defence industry could also help todesign safer and smarter machines for

civilian use

The next Mars rover could be equipped withthe kind of sensors and gauges that will help

it fix and charge itself

Open-sourcescience,

BIG collaborationsand

citizen science

Tuberculosis is one of the world’s oldest diseases. Itaffects two billion people around the world, mainly

in the developing world.

Open source drug discovery pools researchfrom thousands of different scientists in

different fields, for one end goal.

In September 2011, the Planet Hunters projectreported that its members had discovered two

possible new planets

Global science is becoming more collaborativeand slowly shifting to the East

The OECD Science, Technology and IndustryScoreboard 2011 released on 20 September shows thelatest trends in global science…

• The biggest research hotspots are still the US,Europe and Japan, but China is growing fast, withother BRIC nations following.

• When it comes to clean energy research,materials science is the largest field.

• All nations are also ramping up the proportionof research that is done in partnership withother nations.

Thanksfor listening!

You can find me at:www.angelasaini.co.uk

@AngelaDSaini