DNA research
Professor Roland Wolf, Biomedical Research
Centre, believes that many of the adverse side-effects
of drugs, estimated to account for one in
15 hospital admissions, are predictable because it
is now possible to determine each person’s
unique genetic make-up. He has developed a
DNA-based test to establish whether the single
gene that controls our reaction to drugs is
working effectively. The test enables companies
to predict side-effects in new drugs and a version
should soon be available to doctors.
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Packaging Design
The Department of
Mechanical Engineering is
co-ordinating a £1.5 million
project across Europe to
develop a range of products
to assist those with poor
eyesight or weak hands to
undertake everyday tasks in
the home. The ‘Helping
Hand’ device will be able to
speak electronically in
several languages, advising
on the contents of a bottle
before opening it.
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Face Recognition Technology
Dr Stephen McKenna,
Applied Computing, is
working on face recognition
technology using a computer
system that can recognise a
face in a crowd and track
that person’s movements.
The technology can be used
in surveillance or adapted to
create ‘smart rooms’ for
monitoring elderly or
disabled people and triggering
an alarm if any abnormal
behaviour is observed.
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Wound Healing
Husband and wife team,
Professor Seth Schor and
Dr Ana Schor based at the
Dental School were winners
in the academic and medical
category of the Unisys John
Logie Baird Awards (for the
best new ideas for
commercial exploitation) for
their work on ‘active wound
dressings’ capable of
reducing scarring and
speeding up healing.
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