Molecular and cellular dissection of morning and evening chronotypes in drosophila melanogaster
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: Genetics
Abstract
For many of us life is mainly spent indoors, so we are no longer exposed to the natural variations in light and temperature that characterise the day-night cycle. . Moreover, the rhythm of life is such that for many people the economic or social call to start a new day comes hours before the endogenous call from the body clock. The combined effect of these two lifestyles causes a discrepancy between internal and external timing which, can be more or less pronounced for late rising 'owl' or early rising 'lark' chronotypes. This creates a clock dysfunction that is not only reflected in temporal disorientation and sleep problems, but also in pathologies such as obesity, mental illness, cardiovascular disease and cancer. To improve the quality of life, new policies and interventions that consider the issue of TIME are urgently required. However, to translate the insights of circadian biology into real life, a comprehensive understanding of how the circadian clock works is a prerequisite. The fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal model organism for the study of circadian rhythms because the clock mechanism shares the same design and molecular components with mammals. Our collaborator, Dr Sharma (Bangalore), applied artificial selection to create flies that are 'owls' or 'larks' in their timing of emergence from the pupa a character that is under circadian control. These populations offer a unique opportunity to study how these 'chronotypes' come to exist, because they can be analysed at the molecular and cellular levels to identify their underlying genetic and anatomical substrates. By taking a large scale approach embracing the whole system (systems biology) we will be able to ascertain whether the main differences between 'owls' and 'larks' reside in the genes that control the core of the clock in the brain, or in those that are involved in its rhythmic output via peripheral organs, or both. Our work will contribute to a fuller comprehension of the biology of the circadian clock, and provide a novel framework for understanding human chronotypes. In addition, by focusing on emergence, a key process in the insect life-cycle, it will have implications within applied entomology for future medical, industrial and agricultural interventions.
Technical Summary
It has become apparent in recent years that the human circadian system shows natural variation in terms of the chronotypes that are expressed (eg 'larks' versus 'owls'). Given the underlying conservation of the fly and human circadian mechanism at the molecular level, fly chronotypes represent a potentially powerful model system to study such variation. Our collaborator in India, has generated selected fly lines that show early day and late day circadian eclosion, which have a significant phase difference in adult emergence, but only a small difference in circadian period. We plan to study these 'chronotypes' by subjecting them to a modified QTL analysis in order to identify their underlying genetic bases. We shall complement this genomic analysis with global expression profiling using an Affymetrix platform. It is hoped that these two approaches may identify all the differences between early and late flies irrespective of whether they originate from changes in the coding or in the regulatory regions of genes. Any candidate genes identified from the genomic and/or expression studies will be subsequently disrupted with the use of mutants or RNAi, to validate their contributions to the chronotype. We shall also generate a number of novel constructs using GAL4/UAS and FLP/FRT , to dissect out the anatomical substrates that underlie the two phenotypes, and to assess the importance of central versus peripheral clocks in generating these phase differences in behaviour. We suspect that our results will provide a novel theoretical framework by which to understand the origins of human chronotypes.
Planned Impact
Our study of fly chronotypes and their underlying genetic, molecular and anatomical substrates will provide a novel perspective and theoretical framework by which to study human chronotypes. Given the current public concern about the chronically 'jet-lagged' human population, our work may have some direct implications for remedial action in terms of adapting chronotypes to their optimal temporal environments. The similarities between flies and mammals in the genetic basis of their circadian system, also means that any new genes that we identify that underlie fly chronotypes, may have interesting mammalian homologues (or analogues), with similar functions. While the research is 'pure', there are further downstream implications for our research, even if these are not immediate. Other beneficiaries apart from the academic beneficiaries would thus be 1. The medical profession. 2. The pharmaceutical industry who might be interested in our genes as potential targets. 3. Agricultural and medical entomologists interested in controlling problem insects using eclosion as a target. 4. Policymakers who are concerned about the effects of our 'round the clock' lifestyles, and the additional burden this puts on the health services. 5. The public, who is always very curious and responsive to issues concerning the body clock. As with all basic research, it could be many years down the line before any of the discoveries we will make might be translated into drugs, treatments and policies. However, the work of many chronobiologists (including ourselves) has produced, through the years, a tangible effect on the culture and the knowledge of the UK (and the Western world). Nowadays everybody is aware of the existence of a body clock and of its tremendous power in regulating our lives. We have many years of experience in talking to schoolchildren and their teachers, to the general public in open lectures, to artists and to the press. We also communicate with the medical profession and with applied researches in the form of publications, and by dissemination at conferences. We will update our websites, open to anyone, so that any informed citizen will have the opportunity to understand the problems we are concerned with in our research and to echo them to policy makers. Furthermore, we are open to collaborations with any interested groups, academic, or commercial. Our project will also contribute to the cultural and economic growth of the UK by enhancing the skills of the staff that will be working on the proposed research. Staff will gain specialised skills through performing advanced laboratory techniques and data analysis. These are generally and widely applicable to their subsequent career progression in molecular biology. In addition, transferable skills that will be acquired in the form of public speaking, computing and writing are again widely relevant to any professional forum. Finally, we will contribute to the success of the UK through high quality publications in top scientific journals. This is an essential metric for the evaluation of the international prestige of a nation with political and economic repercussions.
Organisations
- University of Leicester (Lead Research Organisation)
- Jagiellonian University (Collaboration)
- BioFly (Collaboration)
- University of Groningen (Collaboration)
- University of Padova (Collaboration)
- Oxitec Ltd (Collaboration)
- Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (Collaboration)
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Collaboration)
- University of Valencia (Collaboration)
- Institute of Neurobiology Alfred-Fessard (Collaboration)
- University of Würzburg (Collaboration)
- University of Münster (Collaboration)
- Jawaharlal Nehru Cent for Adv Sci Resear (Project Partner)
Publications
Barberà M
(2020)
Melatonin in the seasonal response of the aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum.
in Insect science
Bartok O
(2013)
Adaptation of molecular circadian clockwork to environmental changes: a role for alternative splicing and miRNAs.
in Proceedings. Biological sciences
Breda C
(2020)
Norpa Signalling and the Seasonal Circadian Locomotor Phenotype in Drosophila.
in Biology
Damulewicz M
(2017)
Cryptochrome Is a Regulator of Synaptic Plasticity in the Visual System of Drosophila melanogaster.
in Frontiers in molecular neuroscience
De Azevedo RVM
(2020)
Disrupted Glutamate Signaling in Drosophila Generates Locomotor Rhythms in Constant Light.
in Frontiers in physiology
Hansen CN
(2019)
Locomotor Behaviour and Clock Neurons Organisation in the Agricultural Pest Drosophila suzukii.
in Frontiers in physiology
Hut R
(2013)
Latitudinal clines: an evolutionary view on biological rhythms ,
in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Kijak E
(2014)
Drosophila melanogaster as a model system of aluminum toxicity and aging.
in Insect science
Kyriacou CP
(2013)
Animal behaviour: monarchs catch a cold.
in Current biology : CB
Description | BACKGROUND For many of us life is mainly spent indoors, so we are no longer exposed to the natural variations in light and temperature that characterise the day-night cycle. Moreover, the rhythm of life is such that for many people the economic or social call to start a new day comes hours before the endogenous call from the body clock. The combined effect of these two lifestyles causes a discrepancy between internal and external timing which, can be more or less pronounced for late rising 'owl' or early rising 'lark' chronotypes. This creates a clock dysfunction that is not only reflected in temporal disorientation and sleep problems, but also in pathologies such as obesity, mental illness, cardiovascular disease and cancer. To improve the quality of life, new policies and interventions that consider the issue of TIME are urgently required. However, to translate the insights of circadian biology into real life, a comprehensive understanding of how the circadian clock works is a prerequisite. To fulfill this aim, we study the circadian clock of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, which shares the same design and molecular components with mammals. In this project we focus on eclosion, the emergence of the adult fly fom the pupal case. Under light-dark (LD) conditions, the vast majority of flies emerge about 1 h after lights on. However, a few flies hatch even earlier and others emerge much later during the day. In some strains the percentage of early or late eclosions is particularly high. Flies that eclose at unusual times, either earlier in the morning or late in the evening can be considered as showing lark and owl chronotypes, respectively. By studying strains where the majority of flies behave as larks or owls we can try to identify the genetic bases of chronotypes. In particular, we can study whether chronotypes depends upon changes in the period of the clock, upon phase differences or both. RESULTS TO DATE. THE GENETIC BASES OF CHRONOTYPES. In this project we took advantage of the available Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP), a collection of 162 inbred D. melanogaster lines, fully sequenced (illumina sequences, 8.5x coverage minimum) generated from a natural population in Raleigh North Carolina by the laboratory of Trudy Mackay. These lines are a community resource for genome wide association mapping. We have screened all the lines for lark and owl eclosion phenotypes and we have performed genome-wide association analyses for these traits. Through these analyses, we have identified a set of genes that are possibly involved in maintaining a precise phase of eclosion (irrespective of it being early or late) and another set that differ between 'larks' and 'owls'. We will validate those observations with independent tests. Currently we are performing an experiment to identify regions of the genome that co-segregate with an early or late phenotype. Among all DGRP lines we have identified two, one (E) that shows consistently early and one (L) that shows consistently late eclosion. We have crossed the two lines together and then the F1 to one of the parental lines. We have phenotyped more than 600 individuals derived from the last cross and selected the 100 more extreme early and the 100 more extreme late for DNA extraction. We have extracted DNA individually from each of the 200 flies and we constructed a bar-code library for RAD sequencing. Unfortunately, RAD sequencing revealed much less recombination than expected, which limits the interpretation of these data. We also collected (every 6h) four day old (i.e. one day before eclosion) E and L pupae across the 24 h, both under LD and DD conditions. We extracted RNA and reverse transcribed it, and we are ready to send the cDNA for sequencing. We hope to identify transcripts that are differentially expressed between the two lines. CHRONOTYPES: PERIOD, PHASE OR BOTH. This part of the project involves the production of novel luciferased-based reporters that are expressed in chosen sub-sets of clock cells. During the first year of the grant we have produced the plasmids and the flies lines for this approach. The original design is based upon a transcription STOP cassette, positioned in front of the luciferase coding sequence, that can be removed in elected cells by site-specific recombination. Inexplicably this approach does not seem to work and we do not obtain sufficient luciferase protein expression, although we can detect its mRNA. We have checked the sequence carefully and we do not have unwanted mutations in our constructs. We currently think that the destabilised version of luciferase we used in our constructs is too unstable in Drosophila cells. To remedy this failure and achieve what we set out to do, we have cloned a new series of constructs where we used wild type luciferase and where we substituted the transcription STOP with a translation STOP cassette, instead. Preliminary experiments suggest this approach is working. |
Exploitation Route | Our work focus on eclosion, a key process in the insect life-cycle. Thus we believe it will have implications within applied entomology for future medical, industrial and agricultural interventions. Our work will contribute to a fuller comprehension of the biology of the circadian clock, and provide a novel framework for understanding human chronotypes. |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Environment Healthcare |
URL | http://tinyurl.com/chronotypes |
Description | We led the development of an international consortium INsecTIME which has applied for a Marie Curie Initial Training Network Our research is internationally recognised. We led the development of a consortium, INsecTIME, which spans seven EU countries plus Israel and brings together leading Universities and three successful SMES. INsecTIME's strategic objective is to advance the current knowledge on insect timing with the simultaneous development of a new breed of young researchers that have extensive inter-disciplinary skills for molecular genetic intervention and manipulation of economically important insects. |
First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Education,Environment |
Impact Types | Cultural Economic |
Description | A new cryostat facility for the Biological Sciences |
Amount | £8,125 (GBP) |
Funding ID | MBSP College fund for equipment/infrastructure |
Organisation | University of Leicester |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2012 |
End | 12/2012 |
Description | BBSRC responsive mode |
Amount | £440,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | BB/P010121/1 |
Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2017 |
End | 03/2020 |
Title | 10x UAS Integrase |
Description | PhiC31 integrase under control of 10 UAS elements. P-element plasmid |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - in vitro |
Provided To Others? | No |
Title | 13xLexAOP Integrase |
Description | PhiC31 Integrase under conmtrol of 13LexAOP. P element plasmid |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - in vitro |
Provided To Others? | No |
Title | 20x UAS Integrase |
Description | PhiC23 integrase under control of 20x UAS.P-element plasmid |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - in vitro |
Provided To Others? | No |
Title | 20x UAS Integrase flies |
Description | transgenic D melanogaster carrying the [20x UAS Integrase] construct |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - non-mammalian in vivo |
Provided To Others? | No |
Title | Integrase 10x UAS flies |
Description | transgenic D melanogaster for the construct [Integrase 10x UAS ] |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - non-mammalian in vivo |
Provided To Others? | No |
Title | per-STOP-DGFPHA |
Description | Destabilised GFP HA tagged under control of the per promoter and part of PER coding sequence. Expression requires removal of the transcriptional STOP by PhiC31 integrase mediated recombination. P-element plasmid. |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - in vitro |
Provided To Others? | No |
Title | per-STOP-DLucHA |
Description | Destabilised Luciferase HA tagged under control of the per promoter and part of PER coding sequence. Expression requires removal of the transcriptional STOP by PhiC31 integrase mediated recombination. P-element plasmid. |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - in vitro |
Provided To Others? | No |
Title | tim-ATG-FRT-GFP-STOP-FRT-Luciferase |
Description | the timeless promoter is cloned in front of the coding sequence of GFP, which is surrounded (from codon 2 to after the STOP) by FRT sites. Recombination by FLIPPASE removes the GFP coding sequence resulting in expression of Luciferase. |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - in vitro |
Provided To Others? | No |
Title | tim-ATG-FRT-GFP-STOP-FRT-Luciferase, flies |
Description | flies expressing GFP in tim neurons. After cross with flies expressing FLP in a subset of clock neurons those will express luciferase. |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - mammalian in vivo |
Provided To Others? | No |
Title | tim-STOP-DGFPHA |
Description | Destabilised GFP HA tagged under control of the tim promoter. Expression requires removal of the transcriptional STOP by PhiC31 integrase mediated recombination. P-element plasmid |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - in vitro |
Provided To Others? | No |
Title | tim-STOP-DLucHA |
Description | Destabilised Luciferase HA tagged under control of the tim promoter. Expression requires removal of the transcriptional STOP by PhiC31 integrase mediated recombination.P-element plasmid. |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - in vitro |
Provided To Others? | No |
Title | tim-STOP-DLucHA flies |
Description | transgenic D melanogaster carrying the [tim-STOP-DLucHA] construct |
Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - non-mammalian in vivo |
Provided To Others? | No |
Title | Gene expression in early and late eclosion Drosophila strains |
Description | Drosphila pupae were sampled the day before eclosion at 4 h intervals in the Early and Late strains, and gene expression was profiled by RNA-seq. All the sequence reads were deposited in the Sequence Reads Archive (SRA) at the NCBI database under accession number SRP056783. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2015 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | one publication and will contribute to future grant submissions |
URL | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA275941 |
Description | Cinchron |
Organisation | Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic |
Department | Institute of Entomology |
Country | Czech Republic |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017. Coordinator: Prof Kyriacou, Leicester. |
Collaborator Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017 |
Impact | Application, no outputs yet |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Cinchron |
Organisation | BioFly |
Country | Israel |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017. Coordinator: Prof Kyriacou, Leicester. |
Collaborator Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017 |
Impact | Application, no outputs yet |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Cinchron |
Organisation | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
Country | Israel |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017. Coordinator: Prof Kyriacou, Leicester. |
Collaborator Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017 |
Impact | Application, no outputs yet |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Cinchron |
Organisation | Institute of Neurobiology Alfred-Fessard |
Country | France |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017. Coordinator: Prof Kyriacou, Leicester. |
Collaborator Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017 |
Impact | Application, no outputs yet |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Cinchron |
Organisation | Jagiellonian University |
Department | Department of Biology and Cell Imaging |
Country | Poland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017. Coordinator: Prof Kyriacou, Leicester. |
Collaborator Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017 |
Impact | Application, no outputs yet |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Cinchron |
Organisation | Oxitec Ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017. Coordinator: Prof Kyriacou, Leicester. |
Collaborator Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017 |
Impact | Application, no outputs yet |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Cinchron |
Organisation | University of Groningen |
Country | Netherlands |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017. Coordinator: Prof Kyriacou, Leicester. |
Collaborator Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017 |
Impact | Application, no outputs yet |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Cinchron |
Organisation | University of Münster |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017. Coordinator: Prof Kyriacou, Leicester. |
Collaborator Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017 |
Impact | Application, no outputs yet |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Cinchron |
Organisation | University of Padova |
Department | Department of Biology |
Country | Italy |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017. Coordinator: Prof Kyriacou, Leicester. |
Collaborator Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017 |
Impact | Application, no outputs yet |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Cinchron |
Organisation | University of Valencia |
Country | Spain |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017. Coordinator: Prof Kyriacou, Leicester. |
Collaborator Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017 |
Impact | Application, no outputs yet |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Cinchron |
Organisation | University of Wurzburg |
Department | Biozentrum |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017. Coordinator: Prof Kyriacou, Leicester. |
Collaborator Contribution | Application to a MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS Innovative Training Networks (ITN), January 2017 |
Impact | Application, no outputs yet |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | ABC Radio Interview (Melbourne, Australia) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Interview to ABC Radio , Melbourne, Australia, covering our research on the genetics of diurnal preference and circadian clocks |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | An Introduction to biological clocks |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Big Bang at Leicester Grammar School, Leicester Grammar School, 25 February 2017, Leicester, UK |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Behavioural Genetics |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Participants in your research or patient groups |
Results and Impact | Invited seminar no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Big Bang at Leicester Grammar School |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | presentation on the circadian clock and its impact on humans and the natural world. People who attended understood the importance of the circadian clock, its impact on health and wellbeing and how to look for sign of the clock in every day life |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Big Bang event at Leicester Grammar School |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | The hands onb activity we presented sparked lots of interests on Genetics and use of fruit fly for medical or fundamental research from parents and pupils We were asked to take part the following year |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Biological rhythms |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | |
Results and Impact | Talk to 5-6th formers no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Drosphila as a model organism |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Dynamic DNA day, organised by Genie 13 Sept 2013, presentation and hands on activities to year 9 students powerpoint presentation leaflets no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Dynamic DNA Day |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | every year 600 pupils and their teachers experience a Genetic Journey that many will always remember. every year more school ask to take part that we can possibly accomodate |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2007,2008,2009,2011,2013,2014,2015 |
URL | http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/genetics/genie/outreach/dynamic-dna |
Description | Dynamic DNA Day 14-15 September 2011 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | |
Results and Impact | Dynamic DNA is GENIE's flagship outreach event for Year 9 students. Every year in September we run two Dynamic DNA days where 600 students and their teachers will experience a Genetic Journey that many will always remember. Dynamic DNA is a day full of fun and learning for students and teachers alike; the day encompasses an informal lecture and over 18 hands on activities all themed around DNA and genetics, including: building a mini DNA model extracting DNA from a banana solving a crime using a DNA fingerprint making a DNA bracelet Hands on activity for students no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | Dynamic DNA Day 2013 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | |
Results and Impact | 24 hands on activities were made available to 557 year 9 students from 13 schools, across tw0 days hands on activities no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Genes and Behaviour |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Lecture to six formers of the Loughborough Grammar School, Loughborough, Leicester. no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Genes and Biorythms |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Genie public lectures 2011 no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | Genetics |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Lecture on Genetics to 35 primary school pupils from Stoneygate School, Great Glen, Leicester no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | How fruit flies teach us about Genetics and the Brain! |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | National Science & Engineering Week Talks 2012 25 students Year 12/13 no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Interview BBC Radio Leicester 2014 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | To improve understanding of other's thinking |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p025jkkb |
Description | Interview to The Marker. Daily economic newspaper (Israel) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | An article discussing our research entitled "Find it difficult to get up in the morning ? The reason lies in the fruit fly" (in Hebrew). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.themarker.com/news/1.2735883 |
Description | Lecture on Genetics |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | |
Results and Impact | Lecture to year 8 schoolchildren, Stoneygate School, Great Glen, Leicester no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | Leicester Grammar Junior School visit |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | We presented a talk on circadian rhythms and the use of Drosophila as a model system to about 61 year 5 & 6 pupils. We showed the flies and how we measure circadian rhythms in activity/rest. We talked about chronotypes and how we can assess them in humans. We had a drawing competition, a 'fly race' competition and a discussion at the end The visit was considered positive by 15 and very positive by 31 pupils. Instead 15 pupils did not enjoy it. The science teacher was very impressed and we werer asked to contribute another project in March/April 2015 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Loughborough Grammar school visit |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | About 50-60 years 11-13s pupil attended the lecture which was very well received increase interest from pupils |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Measuring circadian rhythms |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | stand with multiple acitivities and examples on how to measure circadian rhythms. Very good turnout of people who asked many questions about the circadian clock, sleep and how improve their sleep/wake cycle |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://nearme.thebigbangfair.co.uk/Event/?e=2520 |
Description | Model organisms |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | You tube video on the use of Drosophila in scientific research video: no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
URL | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOGeTdcnqFM |
Description | Molecular analysis of the circadian clock |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Primary Audience | Participants in your research or patient groups |
Results and Impact | invited seminar no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Press release: genetics of 'larks' and 'owls' (2015) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | May 14, 2015. Press release by the University of Leicester, entitled "Geneticists clock genetic differences between 'larks' and 'owls' ". To accompany our study published in Frontiers in Neurology. The press release led to media coverage all over the world, and was followed by interview requests from various newspapers and radio stations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2015/may/geneticists-clock-genetic-differences-bet... |
Description | Radio interview (Perth, Western Australia) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | interview with 882 6PR Radio (Perth, Western Australia) covering our work on genetic differences associated with morningnenss/eveningnes preference in fruit-flies |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | School visit (Oundle) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | About 60-70 sixth form students attended a lecture to inform them on the circadian clock There was great interest about the subject and the talk was followed by an interview to be broadcasted on the school radio |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2014 |
Description | Should creationism ever being taught in schools? |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The Big Questions Series 4 - Episode 12 (BBC). Interview no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | The biological clock |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Neuroscience day, invited seminar no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | The clock within us |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | |
Results and Impact | Lecture to sixth form Biology and year 11 Science students (~ 150 students) no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
URL | http://in.news.yahoo.com/learning-protein-turns-grasshoppers-swarming-pests-090506043.html |
Description | The clock within us |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Public Lecture: The clock within us. Uppingham School, 15 November 2017, Uppingham, UK |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | The neurogenetics of the circadian clock |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Participants in your research or patient groups |
Results and Impact | Invited seminar no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
URL | http://www.sciencecodex.com/read/new_insight_into_why_locusts_swarm-83424 |
Description | Wurzburg open day |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Open day in Wurzburg, Germany together with our European collaborators. The workshop showed the importance of rhythmicity and photoperiodism in humans and the natural world. The attendees demonstrated increased interest and awareness after attending our activities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | York Festival of Ideas |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Presented a lecture on the importance of our body clock for health and wellbeing. This was in the context of a symposium on sleep and the body clock. The participants left with increased awareness about the subject. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |