Biomedical Sciences
Inspired minds, inspired places
The Biomedical Sciences Directorate (BMS) has a vision to build world-class Discovery Science and Translational Medicine programmes in partnership with the University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire (UHCW); deliver interdisciplinary educational programmes; and transmit new knowledge to the wider world through an exciting public engagement interface.
Home to 40 Principal Investigators, including clinical and non-clinical academics, BMS has several joint appointments with other departments to drive interdisciplinary work.
Leading edge research centres and programmes
Our Principal Investigators lead key University-wide research centres, externally supported research programmes and innovative education initiatives:
Events and seminars
Joint BMS/MRCDTP/INS/ABRC event: The (Good) Life of a Scientific Editor, Dr Alejandro Montenegro Montero, Executive Editor, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), USA
BMS Seminar: Professor Steffen Scholpp FRSB, Living System Institute, Biosciences, University of Exeter
Warwick-Cambridge Quantitative Cell Biology Meeting
BMS Seminar: Dynamics and mechanics of epithelial cells in 2D and 3D, Professor Andreas Janshoff, Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Göttingen
Biomedical Sciences News
Long-range formation of the Bicoid gradient requires multiple dynamic modes that spatially vary across the embryo
Morphogen gradients provide essential positional information to gene networks through their spatially heterogeneous distribution, yet how they form is still hotly contested, with multiple models proposed for different systems. Here, we focus on the transcription factor Bicoid (Bcd), a morphogen that forms an exponential gradient across the anterior-posterior (AP) axis of the early Drosophila embryo. Using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy we find there are spatial differences in Bcd diffusivity along the AP axis, with Bcd diffusing more rapidly in the posterior. We establish that such spatially varying differences in Bcd dynamics are sufficient to explain how Bcd can have a steep exponential gradient in the anterior half of the embryo and yet still have an observable fraction of Bcd near the posterior pole. In the nucleus, we demonstrate that Bcd dynamics are impacted by binding to DNA. Addition of the Bcd homeodomain to eGFP::NLS qualitatively replicates the Bcd concentration profile, suggesting this domain regulates Bcd dynamics. Our results reveal how a long-range gradient can form while retaining a steep profile through much of its range. Read the paper here.
TimeTeller: A tool to probe the circadian clock as a multigene dynamical system
Meet our Principal Investigators
Find out more about our PIs and the important work they lead on.
Inspired minds, inspired places
The Biomedical Sciences Directorate (BMS) has a vision to build world-class Discovery Science and Translational Medicine programmes in partnership with the University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire (UHCW); deliver interdisciplinary educational programmes; and transmit new knowledge to the wider world through an exciting public engagement interface.
Home to 40 Principal Investigators, including clinical and non-clinical academics, BMS has several joint appointments with other departments to drive interdisciplinary work.
Leading edge research centres and programmes
Our Principal Investigators lead key University-wide research centres, externally supported research programmes and innovative education initiatives:
Leading edge research centres and programmes
Our Principal Investigators lead key University-wide research centres, externally supported research programmes and innovative education initiatives:
Events and seminars
Leading Lights lecture: Prof Stephen Royle
Joint BMS/MRCDTP/INS/ABRC event: The (Good) Life of a Scientific Editor, Dr Alejandro Montenegro Montero, Executive Editor, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), USA
BMS Seminar: Professor Steffen Scholpp FRSB, Living System Institute, Biosciences, University of Exeter
Warwick-Cambridge Quantitative Cell Biology Meeting
BMS Seminar: Dynamics and mechanics of epithelial cells in 2D and 3D, Professor Andreas Janshoff, Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Göttingen
Biomedical Sciences News
Long-range formation of the Bicoid gradient requires multiple dynamic modes that spatially vary across the embryo
Morphogen gradients provide essential positional information to gene networks through their spatially heterogeneous distribution, yet how they form is still hotly contested, with multiple models proposed for different systems. Here, we focus on the transcription factor Bicoid (Bcd), a morphogen that forms an exponential gradient across the anterior-posterior (AP) axis of the early Drosophila embryo. Using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy we find there are spatial differences in Bcd diffusivity along the AP axis, with Bcd diffusing more rapidly in the posterior. We establish that such spatially varying differences in Bcd dynamics are sufficient to explain how Bcd can have a steep exponential gradient in the anterior half of the embryo and yet still have an observable fraction of Bcd near the posterior pole. In the nucleus, we demonstrate that Bcd dynamics are impacted by binding to DNA. Addition of the Bcd homeodomain to eGFP::NLS qualitatively replicates the Bcd concentration profile, suggesting this domain regulates Bcd dynamics. Our results reveal how a long-range gradient can form while retaining a steep profile through much of its range. Read the paper here.
TimeTeller: A tool to probe the circadian clock as a multigene dynamical system
Meet our Principal Investigators
Find out more about our PIs and the important work they lead on.