5 June 2001

A research student working in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee was chosen as one of the 14 finalists, selected from 79 entries, for the Max Perutz essay competition, and received a commendation for his essay at the award ceremony in London.

The Max Perutz Essay Prize was launched by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in 1998, to encourage young researchers to communicate the importance and significance of their research to a lay audience. The competition is named after one of the UK's foremost scientists and Nobel Laureate, who was also one of the judges.

David Russell is a student in Professor Birgit Lane's laboratory, working on keratins, which are ropelike filament structures in the skin that allow the skin to be flexible enough to allow movement and stretching, such as the vast stretching during pregnancy, and tough enough for the skin cells to be literally trodden underfoot. In his essay, "When Scaffolds Collapse", David describes how in the group of skin disorders called epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS), the keratin network breaks down leaving the skin with no defence against physical stress. This results in painful skin blisters on hands and feet or anywhere on the body depending on the severity of the disorder. A protein called JNK acts as an early warning system in detecting stress in cells, and in the laboratory of Professor Birgit Lane, the activation of JNK in EBS is being studied to identify whether JNK is responsible for telling the keratins to break down and to find a mechanism to stop this from happening.

Professor Lane said "It is impossible to overstate the importance of good communication in science. If we cannot effectively communicate what we are doing, we may as well go home. Young scientists with a flair for communication already have a head start in the business. I am very proud of David for having made it to the finals of this significant competition."