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Research in the School of Mathematics & Statistics in the University of Glasgow has been influential in answering a long-standing question: where do we come from? The fleshing-out of the 'out of Africa' theory has been the focus of two documentary series, The Incredible Human Journey and Meet the Izzards, and has generated income for DNA testing companies in the UK and US by enabling them to offer `deep DNA' tests revealing one's roots from far back in history. The Incredible Human Journey aired on BBC 2 in 2009, reaching 10.2 million viewers altogether, has been watched 100,000 times on YouTube and was broadcast in shorter format in Australia and Canada before being released as a DVD. Meet the Izzards was broadcast on BBC 1 in 2013 to over 3 million people.
The domestication of animals — some ten thousand years — ago has allowed important insights into the origins and spread of farming across the globe and the impact that had on human biology and culture. Research carried out by an international research group, led by Aberdeen and Durham Universities, has brought understanding of this fundamental change in human history to a broader public, resulting in impacts on culture and quality of life. The research findings have featured widely in TV and radio programmes, both in Britain and abroad. The main researcher was also invited to participate in a six-month (privately-funded) experimental sailing expedition that traced the migration route of ancient Austronesian settlers into the pacific, which led to the collection of unique samples for research. The voyage resulted in a film and a book.
Leicester's world-leading research into exceptionally well preserved fossils has crucially underpinned the successful establishment of a new UNESCO World Heritage Site in China. The Chengjiang Fossil Site in Yunnan Province is officially recognised by UNESCO as having "Outstanding Universal Value", containing fossils of soft-bodied sea-life dating from 530 million years ago. The fossils occur in a region where the minerals industry is a key economic driver: granting of World Heritage Site (WHS) status has removed the threat of encroaching commercial mining activities, secured conservation of the site, and paved the way for further sustainable, non-invasive tourism. The same research serves as a vehicle for raising awareness about the evolution of life, the history of biodiversity and the importance of `blue skies' research in the UK.
African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus; referred to as `AWDs' hereafter for brevity) have been classed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for 22 years. Large, well-managed captive breeding programmes provide a safety net to restore wild populations. However, the management of the AWD population has been difficult owing to an incomplete family record of captive AWDs, which risks introducing genetic disorders caused by inbreeding. A genetically informed management plan developed by University of Glasgow researchers has provided a genetic measure of diversity and establishes a genetically informed pedigree, which is used in the European Endangered Species Programme for African Wild Dogs. This has introduced a more informed means to manage the captive AWD population, to maintain the genetic diversity of the species across the European zoo network (roughly half the world's captive AWD population), with 53 zoos in 16 European countries (and Israel) currently participating.
John Dupré has been engaged in an intensive investigation of contemporary genomic science and its implications for policy, practice and public understanding. His research has been at the forefront of criticism of popular deterministic understandings of genetics, challenging public assumptions, and informing debates over the relevance of genomics/genetics to understandings of a wide range of issues of public concern, including health and illness, ideas of `human nature', `normality', and gender and `race', as well as philosophical issues like the possibility of free will. His research questioning both Darwin's idea of the `Tree of Life', and interpretations of human evolution in evolutionary psychology, has contributed to public discussion and understanding of evolution. In sum, Dupré's work has had an impact on media and public understandings of, and debates about, science, as well as on UK science policy.
The International HapMap project was a major international research collaboration to map the structure of common human genetic variation across populations from Europe, Asia and Africa. Mathematical Scientists from the University of Oxford played key roles in the development of statistical methods for the project, along with its overall design and management of the International HapMap Project.
Companies have used HapMap as the primary resource to design genome-wide microarrays to make novel discoveries in, for example, pharmacogenetic studies. The size of this market is estimated at $1.25 billion.
One novel discovery has led to a genetic test that is predictive of sustained viral suppression in patients treated for chronic hepatitis C. An estimated 2.7 to 3.9 million people are affected by HCV infection. This test is sold commercially by the company LabCorp and is a significant contributor to the company's testing volume. Finally, the project has been important in widening the public understanding of genetic variation.
Impact on productivity, the economy and the environment: UK dairy farmers can select the best animals for breeding using analysis of a wide range of traits, leading to improved productivity, greater efficiency and reduced environmental impact, because of UoE research creating a UK Test Day Model (TDM) and an overall Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI)
Beneficiaries: The principal beneficiary is the dairy industry, specifically dairy farmers who are able to generate higher profits. This has benefits for UK consumers and the economy by keeping milk prices lower. The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with more efficient dairy farming practices has global benefits.
Significance and Reach: The genetic evaluation system enabled by the PLI and TDM has resulted in a financial benefit to the UK dairy industry of an estimated £440M over the period 2008-2013.
Attribution: The quantitative genetic research was led by Dr Sue Brotherstone and Professor Bill Hill of the School of Biological Sciences, UoE, with colleagues at Roslin Institute (UoE; UoA6) and SRUC (also returned with UoE in UoA6) as described below.
This case study describes the societal and cultural impact of the development of DNA-based tools for distinguishing between different lineages of the human Y chromosome, which is male-determining and passed down from father to son. The availability of highly discriminating DNA markers has had two main impacts: (i) illumination of the link between the Y chromosome and patrilineal surnames, triggering the development of genetic genealogy, the investigation by the public of historical family relationships through DNA testing; and (ii) application of Y-DNA markers in forensic casework, with particular utility in rape cases where male and female DNAs are mixed.
This case study explores the impact of a University of Cambridge theoretically-informed programme on how the human body is understood in different historical settings. The major way the non-academic public encountered this research was through an exhibition `Assembling Bodies' at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, seen by over 100,000 people. Visitor documentation and external reviews show that this exhibition successfully provoked its viewers to think in new ways about human bodies, including their own. It has also inspired new creative initiatives in art and writing.
Different aspects of Professor Paul Watson's research on artificial insemination and semen preservation techniques, have delivered impact in agricultural, human healthcare and ecological spheres. They have contributed to commercial breeding practices, particularly in pigs, providing substantially improved efficiencies and reliability. Research on reducing transmission of infectious agents by semen during storage in liquid nitrogen has been applied to human AI, informing and driving changes in practice to protect against contamination leading to infection. In the field of conservation, the RVC's research has made a significant contribution to international efforts directed at the survival of highly endangered species, supporting preservation of biodiversity.