It’s a worm a millimetre long made up of only 1,000 cells and I am watching it curling, uncurling and grazing on its bacterial food with a string of its cells brightly illuminated in green. These are stem cells and what the researchers want to know is just how those cells know what they are doing – whether they should divide more or turn into another cell type. Amazingly, the molecules involved are the same as those involved in human cancer. If we can understand and then control the molecules in this tiny worm, we will breaking through to learning more about the causes – and cures – of cancer.
Two days touring the laboratories of the science fellows at Oxford’s Hertford College (I am three weeks into a new job as the college’s principal) is a mind-blowing experience for an enthusiast keen to overcome his scientific illiteracy. No half-questions here. These are men and women seeking to explain the origins of matter and the molecular structure of life. It is what a university should do.
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In a knowledge economy, universities will be more important than ever. There is a wave of new scientific opportunity to be explored and disseminated and creating great minds by great teaching is never more important. Full Guardian article