delivering bioscience solutions to global challenges Collective Impact Report

Transcription

1 delivering bioscience solutions to global challenges Collective Impact Report

2 UK National Institutes of Bioscience: Collective Impact Report Biological sciences are key to the overall security, economic success and environmental protection of the UK. The National Institutes of Bioscience is a strategic partnership that brings together eight of the UK s leading research institutes to ensure the effective delivery of a national strategy in bioscience and maximise the impact of the Institutes long-term research programmes. The Institutes are delivering bioscience solutions to global challenges such as food security, climate change and healthy ageing and contributing to make the UK a world leader in agricultural technology by helping to drive the UK Government s Agri-Tech strategy. The Institutes world-class research is helping to drive the UK s bioeconomy which provides 36.1Bn gross value added (2% of the national total) and 600,000 jobs 1. The Institutes are helping to keep the UK at the forefront of global bioscience research through: converting research excellence into economic development opportunities providing high-quality postgraduate and postdoctoral training establishing fruitful collaborations with businesses, industry, national and international research organisations supporting policy development As a result, the Institutes are leading to wealth and job creation, and generating high returns for the UK economy (see pg 10). This document highlights some of the benefits of bioscience research carried out by the to the UK economy and society between Member Institutes receive core funding from the BBSRC and over the past 5 years they have attracted over 1Bn from public, private and charitable sources. Collective Impact Report 3

3 Improving Lives and Livelihoods Food Security By 2050 the world population is expected to reach 9.6 billion which will require an increase in food production of over 50% 2,3. The Pirbright Institute and The Roslin Institute are helping to minimise farming losses due to livestock diseases. Scientists at Pirbright contributed to the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme which was achieved in 2010 preventing the illness and death of millions of livestock. Wheat genetics research at the John Innes Centre has improved bread-making quality and disease resistance, with an economic benefit of 8.7Bn globally 10. Climate Change To meet regulatory climate change targets, alternatives to fossil fuels are required. Researchers at the Institute of Biological and Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) and Rothamsted Research are optimising the growth of energy crops. Biofuels will contribute to meet the predicted 20% increase in energy demands by Healthy Ageing By 2086, almost one in three people in the UK will be over Researchers at the Babraham Institute are investigating the ageing process and ways improve lifelong health. They have recently shown that the movement of mitochondria in nerves declines during normal ageing. This is likely to contribute to age-related frailty, waning memory and susceptibility to degenerative disorders. New work indicates that it may be possible to reverse this decline. 4 Collective Impact Report 5

4 Outputs: Measuring Impact Between , the National Institutes of Bioscience published 5,748 articles. Their scholarly impact is over twice the world average*. collaborations with Between , the National Institutes of Bioscience have produced over 200 patents** and generated around 5,000 jobs/year. countries around the world Over 50% of the Institutes publications are a result of international collaborations. The Institutes collaborate with researchers in 126 countries around the world. Joint centres such as the Centre of Excellence for Plant and Microbial Science, the International Centre for Research on Avian Diseases and the International Livestock Research Institute have been established by the John Innes Centre, The Pirbright Institute and The Roslin Institute respectively, to work with laboratories in China and Africa to tackle the global challenge of food security. Rothamsted Research is part of The Global Farm Platform, an international partnership of academic institutions working to optimise sustainable livestock production. *measured as citations per paper normalized for subject, year and document type. InCites data, **Scopus, Partner Institutes 6 3,000+ Scientists and Support Staff 5,748 Between articles published 1Bn ,000+ Attracted in funding from public, private and charitable sources patents produced jobs created per year Collective Impact Report 7

5 Transforming ideas into innovation Research at the Institutes has led to new products and companies. For example as a result of George Lomonossoff s work at the John Innes Centre, Medicago Inc. is able to produce 10 million doses of flu vaccine in plants in 30 days. At The Pirbright Institute, Luke Alphey s research on the genetic control of pest insects led to the creation of Oxitech Ltd, which was recently sold to a USbased biotechnology company for $160M 6. Collaborative work between the John Innes Centre and The Institute of Food Research led to the development and launch in 2011 of the nutritionally-enhanced broccoli Beneforté. Easter Bush Campus has the largest concentration of animal science related expertise in Europe. It houses the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The Roslin Institute and Scotland s Rural College (SRUC). Babraham Research Campus brings together around 60 independent biomedical organisations developing technologies and treatments for human healthcare. Incubating excellence and driving the bioeconomy The Institutes are engaging in collaborative research and forming strategic partnerships with the world s leading research organisations and companies driving investments by multinational companies in UK Research and Development. Aberystwyth Innovation and Enterprise Campus will be next to IBERS and harbour new infrastructure and facilities to drive demand-led innovation in the biosciences field. Norwich Research Park is home to The Institute of Food Research (IFR), The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) and The John Innes Centre as well as to over 40 technology-based businesses, making it one of Europe s largest concentrations of research in food, health and environmental sciences. The Research and Innovation campuses that are being developed around seven of the eight Institutes that comprise the are furthering interactions with industry and contributing to maximise the impact of the Institutes research. RoCRE Rothamsted Centre for Research & Enterprise Rothamsted Centre for Research and Enterprise is a unique hub for commercial agricultural technology businesses. 8 Collective Impact Report 9

6 A national asset with proven economic impact Independent assessments* of the economic impact of research carried out at the indicate that every 1 of research funding invested generates between 8-15 Gross Value Added (GVA) for the UK economy GVA Generated by The Roslin Institute for the UK economy GVA Generated by The Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) for the UK economy GVA Generated by the The John Innes Centre for the UK economy 8.18 GVA Generated by The Institute of Food Research for the UK economy GVA Generated by The Pirbright Institute for the UK economy *using HMT Green Book Analyses. GVA figures are not available for the Babraham Institute, The Genome Analysis Centre and Rothamsted Research. The annual contribution of the work carried out at Rothamsted Research towards feeding the UK has been calculated to be over 3Bn per year (Rothamsted Research and the Value of Excellence: A Reflection Paper by Sean Rickard Ltd. October 2015). The are working in research areas which the Government identified as being key to drive economic growth: Big Data, Synthetic Biology, Regenerative Medicine, Agri-Science and Energy, and are delivering the BBSRC s strategic research priorities: Agriculture and Food Security; Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy; and Bioscience for Health. The value of the agri-food sector to the UK economy is 96.9Bn 7. The are underpinning the delivery of the Government s Agri-Tech strategy by leading consortiums for innovation excellence that will enable our food to be produced more efficiently and sustainably whilst creating jobs and growing the UK economy. Examples of how the are improving livestock productivity and supporting environmentally sustainable agriculture include: The Roslin Institute has developed a genetic test that is being used by pig breeding companies around the world to select animals that are not susceptible to a disease that costs UK pig farmers up to 3.7M each year 8. In 2013, scientists at The Pirbright Institute developed a new method to produce a safer, more stable vaccine for foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) which will help to control FMDV in countries where the disease is endemic, and could significantly reduce the threat to countries currently free of the disease. The 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak cost the UK over 6Bn 9. BIOECONOMY SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT World-class Bioscience Agriculture and food security BETTER PUBLIC POLICY AND SERVICES Industrial biotechnology and bioenergy SKILLED PEOPLE AND JOBS Bioscience for health UK 10 Collective Impact Report 11

7 The push-pull pest management system developed by scientists at Rothamsted Research and ICIPE has been successfully adopted by more than 100,000 farmers in East Africa, tripling maize yields and supporting sustainable farming. Research at the John Innes Centre into wheat genetics contributes 400M to the UK economy per year by increasing yield and disease resistance 10. The UK s industrial biotechnology and bioenergy activities provide just under 1Bn gross value added to the UK s economy and supports around 8,800 jobs. This sector is predicted to grow by 40% in the next 5 years 11. The cross-institute Cropping Carbon programme is improving fast-growing perennial trees and grasses as a sustainable source of renewable energy. The willow breeding programme at Rothamsted Research has identified lines with high biomass production traits, they have received regulatory approval and are now in the market. This research will aid the UK s transition to a low carbon economy and mitigate the effects of global climate change. The conversion of biomass into fuels, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals has the potential to generate over US $230Bn by The Biorefining Centre at the Institute of Food Research (IFR) and the BEACON biorefining centre for excellence which builds on research already underway at IBERS, are working to develop new materials from plant-based waste. Bioscience research helps improve health and wellbeing throughout life. Changing lifestyles and longer life-spans are key drivers of research into diet-related disease and healthy ageing. Basic cell biology research at the Babraham Institute has led to new cancer therapies 13 and insights into the ageing process which will pave the way for better stem cell therapies and applications in regenerative medicine. The regenerative medicine market exceeded $3 billion in 2010 and by 2019 is expected to be over $35Bn 14. IFR s transformation into the Centre for Food & Health (working title), which will integrate bioscience excellence with clinical expertise, represents a step-change in food and health research. By reducing the incidence of dietrelated disease, IFR will contribute to reduce the costs of food-related chronic ill health in the UK, which is estimated at 16Bn per year and predicted to rise to 50Bn by 2050 if no action is taken

8 Informing policy Further Information Senior staff at the are members of committees that help inform national and international policy such as the Synthetic Biology Leadership Council, the FSA s Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food, the UK Government s Advisory Committees on Nutrition and Dangerous Pathogens. Furthermore, the Institutes undertake commissioned research from Government Departments to inform policy and engage with senior civil servants from various Departments, including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department of Health, in their roles as policy fellows. Public acceptance and appropriate regulation will be required to maximize the impact and benefits of the Institutes research programmes. Institute researchers are actively engaging with the public, funders and policy makers to ensure that the full potential of technologies such as genetic manipulation and cell reprogramming can be realised. Collectively as the, the Institutes have released joint statements and issued responses to Government enquiries. Further information about the research priorities and socio-economic impacts of the Institutes that comprise the can be found in the links below: The Babraham Institute undertakes innovative, worldleading life sciences research to generate new knowledge of the biological mechanisms underpinning ageing, development and the maintenance of health and wellbeing. Its long-term strategic research programmes examine the development and ageing of the immune system, the causes and consequences of changes in the epigenome and lipid signalling pathways that control cell growth and nutrient sensing. The Babraham Research Campus established in 1998 is now home to 60 early stage bioscience companies employing over 550 people on site. Over 50% of the companies on the campus are collaborating with researchers at the Institute and using its scientific facilities. goo.gl/5t8tsx The Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) is an internationally recognised research and teaching centre at Aberystwyth University. The Institute s strategic research programmes focus on improving agricultural and livestock productivity by producing forage crops and cereals with improved nutrient and water-use efficiency and by developing methods to increase the efficiency with which ruminants use their feed. The Institute is also working with Rothamsted Research on optimising the production of biofuels from perennial crops to help reduce the need for fossil fuels. goo.gl/cy1epz Please check the website for the latest case studies and activities. 14 Collective Impact Report 15

9 The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) is a national genomics and bioinformatics centre which addresses problems in agriculture, sustainable energy, food and nutrition, through novel approaches in genomics. TGAC specialises in developing strategies for big data bioinformatics. The new bioinformatics tools that are being developed at TGAC are significantly improving the analysis and annotation of plant, animal and microbial genomes. This is aiding crop breeding programmes and shedding light on the genetic mechanisms responsible for vertebrate diversity. goo.gl/bhh5mp The Institute of Food Research (IFR) is a world leader in applied and translational research in food and health for societal benefit. IFR has a key role in training food and health scientists and in providing evidence-based policy advice for government and industry. The long-term strategic research carried out at IFR is helping to develop nutrionally-enhanced foods and reduce the incidence of food poisoning and gastrointestinal disease. IFR manages the National Collection of Yeast Cultures and a series of publicly available databases that help the food industry develop new, safer and healthier products. goo.gl/k2kl3b Rothamsted Research is the longest running agricultural research station in the world. Over its 170 year history, Rothamsted Research has built an enviable international reputation as a centre of excellence for science in support of sustainable land management and its environmental impacts. The Institute s strategic research programmes aim to deliver sustainable farming systems and innovative approaches to pest management. Scientists at Rothamsted are also working on optimising the nutritional composition and yield of crops. goo.gl/sfuxuj The Pirbright Institute is a world leading centre of excellence for research and surveillance to control and prevent virus diseases of farm animals and viruses that spread from animals to humans. The Institute s highly innovative fundamental and applied bioscience contributes to global food security and health, improving the quality of life for animals and people. The Pirbright Institute hosts the state-of-the-art high containment laboratories of the BBSRC National Virology Centre. goo.gl/ea3m0d The Roslin Institute is affiliated with the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, the University of Edinburgh, and is at the heart of the Easter Bush Research Campus, which has the largest concentration of animal science related expertise anywhere in Europe. The Institute undertakes research on the health and welfare of animals and seeks to apply findings in basic animal sciences to human and veterinary medicine, the livestock industry and food security. The work carried out on infectious diseases, neurobiology, development and reproduction traits paired with a world-leading functional genomics capability is improving livestock productivity and reducing the spread of disease to humans. goo.gl/y8nign The John Innes Centre (JIC) is an international centre of excellence and world-leading in plant and microbial sciences. Work at the JIC focuses on sustainably increasing crop yields by understanding the key biological processes that affect plant growth and plant-pest and pathogen interactions. Further research into plant and microbial metabolism is leading to the development of new natural products such as antibiotics, herbicides and biocatalysts. goo.gl/4zezvq 16 Collective Impact Report 17

10 1. Th e In s tit u te of Fo od Re se ar ch References The British bioeconomy: An assessment of the impact of the bioeconomy on the United Kingdom economy. Capital Economics, 11 June Concise report on the World Population Situation in UN, Food Security Overview. World Bank, Resources Futures. A Chatham House Report, Later Life in the UK. Age UK, Press Release: Intrexon to acquire Oxitec, pioneer of innovative insect T he P ir control solutions addressing global challenges. 10 August Food statistics pocket book, DEFRA Economic Impact of the Roslin Institute, BiGGAR Economics (2013) 9. Livestock Disease. POSTNOTE. Houses of Parliament, 2011 b ri g ht In s titute Th e Inst itute o f B i o lo gical, E nvironm ental an d Rural S ciences 10. Impact of the John Innes Centre, Brookdale Consulting (2013) 11. Biotech Britain: An assessment of the impact of industrial biotechnology and bioenergy on the United Kingdom economy. Capital Economics, 10 June Sustainable returns Industrial Biotechnology done well. Jonathon Porritt (2013) 13. PI3-kinase: from basic cell biology to new cancer therapies. BBSRC Impact Evidence Report (2014) 14. Foresight - The Future of Manufacturing. Government Office for Science, 2013 osli n In he R T 18 ntre Ce nes n I n Joh stitu te 15. Foresight report: Tackling obesities. Future Choices, 2013

11 Contact us NIB Coordinator and Secretariat The Roslin Institute Easter Bush Campus Midlothian EH25 9RG +44 (0)