Thank you so much for your kind words and the great question! If we use the right starting cell type, we can theoretically produce any target cell type of interest. For instance, we use red blood progenitor cells, which are what we refer to as 'lineage-committed' - so they can only mature into red blood cells and not other cell types in the blood tissue. However, the technology we are developing could use any starting cell type from the blood tissue - so if we were to use haematopoietic stem cells (not lineage-committed), we could potentially produce other cell types in the blood tissue such as white blood cells and platelets.

Yes, absolutely! It is the key aim of using technologies such as the bioreactor. We start with a small number of stem cells or progenitor that have the capacity to divide and give rise to more stem/progenitor cells, under the right conditions. Once we get enough starting stem/progenitor cells, we then modify the bioreactor conditions to promote their maturation (also known as differentiation) to form red blood cells. Our research aims to identify these best conditions to grow and mature these cells within bioreactors, as well as the starting cell number and final cell numbers we can get from the bioreactor.

 Great question, thank you! It is both cutting edge and doable, however, currently it is expensive to mass produce them to be used in the clinic for blood transfusions. We can make a few millilitres in the lab, but existing technology does not support making 'units' of blood in a cost-effective manner (compared to donated blood costs). So you're correct - one of our key research aims is to design a 'bioreactor' technology that will make the red blood cell manufacturing process more efficient and hence cost-effective.

>This is very cool research that can impact so many lives! Thanks for the work that you do.
>
>My question is: Is it possible to also differentiate stem cells to other types of blood cells like platelets and white blood cells?

Hello, thank you for the great question! The starting cell type, known as BEL-A cells (developed by scientists at University of Bristol) that we work with, have been succesfully matured into red blood cells that are similar to native red blood cells found in the body - their biological signature and performance (e.g. oxygen-binding capacity) are comparable. Our aim of designing 'bioreactors' to mass manufacture these cells will be followed up with a list of criteria that we will check against to make sure that our bioreactor-produced cells are comparable to native red blood cells.

Thanks all, my time's up. It's been a blast. Please feel free to leave some feedback here: https://www.menti.com/alsm1ao6jy3h/0

I'm an advocate for better ventilation in schools and workplaces. I think it could make a significant difference both in terms of reducing the spread of covid, but also other airborne diseases.

There is an argument which says some of the reduction in R is due to immunity build up through prior infections and as such we may not be able to sustain R<1 indefinitely. Personally though I would prefer to gain immunity through a regular safe and effective vaccine rather than through infection. It is certainly the case that reductions in transmission provided by ventilation would reduce the effective reproduction number relative to what it would be otherwise, taking the edge of the peaks of waves that we might otherwise experience.

I don't believe though that ventilation/filtration is a silver bullet which will end the pandemic on its own. I think it is a tool in a multi-layered protection strategy that we should be implementing which includes vaccination, improved sick pay, mask wearing in some settings, messaging and testing.

We wrote an opinion piece about this in the BMJ earlier this year: https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o1

Wow it's a fascinating question and one which goes beyond my expertise as I don't work in evolution.
As far as I understand though we already have several species of non-human animals which would be considered sentient, but to some degree it depends on your definition.

I'm certainly not at the forefront of these efforts, but we have scientists looking at all sorts of emerging threats. Bird flu, for example has been a popular potential candidate to make the jump from animals to humans and thence to have human to human transmission.

In the UK we have NERVTAG - The New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group for example.

I'm not really a fan of horror as a genre. The last film that I watched that you could even describe coming close to that category is "The Orphanage" directed by Guillermo del Toro. I enjoyed that one, but generally it's not my thing.

It's a great question.
That we had a pandemic of a respiratory virus I think was predictable and predicted. In that sense we should have been better prepared.
The exact timing and type of pandemic, however, is harder to predict.

Probably the best analogy is to earthquakes. It is almost impossible to predict particular earthquakes on any useful timescale before they happen, but actually we can characterise how frequently earthquakes of particular size happen in the long run. So while we can't prepare for a particular event we can prepare for generalities. In Japan, for example, they have an annual disaster preparedness day precisely because they are aware that the risks of earthquakes (and other natural disasters) there is high. In the UK, our relatively lower risk means that it probably isn't worth while to undertake these preparations.

Whilst each flap of a butterfly’s wings does change the air pressure around it, this fluctuation quickly dissipates and is incredibly small in comparison to the large-scale changes in air pressure which determine the weather. Within a few centimetres of a flapping butterfly the disturbance it causes will have been dissipated by the surrounding air molecules, making it difficult to imagine how the minute changes caused by butterfly’s wing flaps could be amplified fast enough to manifestly change the forecasted weather to the degree required to trigger or avert a tornado.

Those are great questions. I'm afraid I will have to duck the first one because that isn't my area of expertise. I primarily work in developmental biology/pattern formation and epidemiology.
That said, there are lots of really interesting questions about stability and robustness of eco systems, which can be tackled using tools similar to the ones I employ.

In terms of Ian Malcolm, I'm pleased to think a mathematician was important enough to be one of the few people who should be afforded a sneak preview of Jurassic Park. I think they could have worked a little bit harder on his explanations of the mathematics of chaos in the film.
I think the butterfly effect is perhaps one of the most misunderstood "popular concepts" in all of science. It's an attempt to explain the fact that chaotic systems (like the weather) are typically extremely sensitive to their initial conditions, but I think it's been misappropriated to suggest we can calculate the probability of a hurricane arising from any flap of a butterfly's wings, which is not possible.

Primate cognition is not my field of study. However, it is true that lemurs have less developed cognitive skills than other primates, such as apes. On the other hand, lemurs use sensory modalities differently than other primates - for example, their olfaction is much more developed than those of apes or humans.

To trigger male mating behaviour I soack cotton strips with the chemical mixture and put the strips inside the enclosure, so the lemurs can smell the odour (but avoid it if they find it unpleasent).

Sorry, I have never been in Skansen in Stockholm

No, unfortunately they don't host gentle lemurs

In addition to lemurs, I have also worked with cotton-top tamarins during my PhD work. I loved them!

Psychology is not my field of study, but clearly humans have much in common with other primates and so primatology can help us to improve our understanding of human psycology via comparative studies.

No, lemurs are not suitable as pets. For example in Europe it is illegal.

I chose to use non-invasive methods to collect my data (behavioural data, feacal samples, and ano-genital odour samples via positive reinforcement training) both to avoid distress the study subjects (safeguard animal health) and to not affect the results. I avoided to use blood to analyse hormone levels and to capture animals to collect odour samples. In most cases I think we can opt for non-invasive methods, it is logistically more difficult but a better ethical choice - I believe.

The fact that they kiss each other! They do it to understand if the other animal eat something that could be interesting, but anyway is lovely to see!

It is not ideal to introduce a non-native species in a new environment. It could cause problems to native species both in terms of feeding resources and competition.

Unfortunately, due to the difficulties in managing this species in captivity, they are not common in European zoos. In Europe there are around twenty facilities that host gentle lemurs. Yes, reintroduction can only occur in their native habitat, which then needs to be protected

No! They are very different from you see in the movie ;-)

Lemurs are under threat mainly from the illegal burning of their habitat by people for conversion to rice plantations.

75% of the population around Lac Alaotra rely on fishing and weaving products as their main source of income. A healthy marshland leads to healthy fish stocks and a
self-sustaining growth of vegetation, both directly benefitting the
local community and economy.

However, there are several projects led by the international network of zoos and NGOs focused on the protection of this endangered species of lemurs and their habitat.

I think that we are heading to the right direction, working on education programmes with local communities and supporting eco-tourisms (which is the primary way for people to make a living while lemurs inhabit the same area). Nevertheless, the situation is really bad and we must act immediately if we want to help people and save animals.

Lake Alaotra and its surronding marshland is a rich habitat for wildlife, but also very much threatened wetland habitat due to its location in the middle of an important rice-growing region. We are currently unsure about the percentage of untouched habitat, but bear in mind that at national level it is estimated that almost 90% of forest is lost.