14
IMPACT | A formula for student success
100%
EMPLOYABILITY RATE OF STUDENTS WITH CRISPR TRAINING
130
STUDENTS RECEIVED FUNDING IN 2019/20 THROUGH AWARDS FROM THE 125 FUND
3.9BN
LETTERS MAKE UP THE HUMAN GENOME
A FORMULA FOR STUDENT SUCCESS As a generous supporter of the University, alumnus Raj Sitlani was welcomed along to The 125 Fund’s annual celebration event in 2019 to learn about the projects our talented students were working on thanks to your invaluable support. Speaking to students from the University’s Genome Engineering Lab on the night, he was fascinated to discover a whole new area of biomedical research and keen to learn how he could contribute to their work.
T
he students, PhD researchers Nadeen Solaiman and Ahmed Sidali, were exhibiting the latest developments in their research, which explores how gene editing can help in early diagnosis and in prevention of childhood bone cancers. One of the key strengths of the lab in which they are based is that it provides PhD and Masters students with training in how to use CRISPR technology. Led by Dr Kalpana Surendranath and Dr John Murphy, the Genome Engineering Lab aims to instruct young researchers in the theoretical and technical knowledge necessary to investigate complex problems of molecular and cellular biology, including the use of CRISPR. “CRISPR is a technology which involves a molecular tool, and what we do here in the lab is to design the specific features of this tool,” explains Dr Surendranath. “Imagine that the human genome is like an instruction book. This instruction book contains 3.9 billion letters which dictate how the millions of molecules inside each cell talk to each other and determine what we should and should not be doing in our everyday lives; everything from when we eat to how long we sleep at night,
etc. If you were to ask me, ‘Kalpana, I want to edit just one letter within this instruction book to change the fate of the human cell,’ I can do it for you using CRISPR. So, in this lab, we can rewrite the messages written in the DNA and create engineered human cells.
is endless. We are extremely proud that our students at all levels are doing it right here at Westminster.” As the technology of the decade, training in CRISPR is still rare, expensive and sought after by employers. “It’s like having a star stamp,” says
AS THE TECHNOLOGY OF THE DECADE, TRAINING IN CRISPR IS STILL RARE, EXPENSIVE AND SOUGHT AFTER BY EMPLOYERS “Of course, changes can be advantageous sometimes, but can also cause disease. We are looking at both aspects: trying to create changes to cure disease and create changes to make some cells more powerful to fight against diseases on their own. This technology offers multidisciplinary applications, including a better understanding of diseases and helps to design new medicines, improve crop production, fight mosquitoes and the list
Dr Surendranath. “It’s one of those key specialisations which employers are looking for.” Which so far has proven to be the case as each year, more incredible success stories come out of the lab. “To give you one example,” says Dr Surendranath, “one of our students originally came from Eastern Europe and her desire to do something significant with her life was so great that she moved to Birmingham and
