James Gurney

I have a keen interest in the public understanding of science and the scientific method. I present an online series on the History of Infection I also produce and edit a Rational/Skeptical podcast A History of infection and League of nerds podcast respectively. I’ve also been involved in a number of public outreach events and working local schools. I have also consulted on a number of online media projects detailing microbiology and immunology.
Research:
Co-evolution of bacteriophage and their hosts:Post doc project (Montpellier University 2). Investigating co-evolution in     bacteriophage under a number of different environments and the implications for phage therapy.
The ecological importance of combinatorial signaling in bacterial populations:PhD project (University of Nottingham). Investigating the importance and biological function of using multiple signals in bacterial communication. This work also made use of long term evolution and selection experiments in which I tried to alter the affinity for signal molecules in order to develop a response to non-cognate molecules. This work has lead to two publications and we are currently working towards a third.
Quorum Sensing inhibiting molecules:Final year research Project (University of Hertfordshire). The project involved using a bio-assay to determine if soil isolates are producers of a quorum quenching enzyme and if these enzyme could be isolated and characterised for the future purpose and novel anti microbial agents.
Microalgae as a source for feedstock oil to be converted into Biodiesel:Independent research carried out in conjunction with Brighton University. I was instrumental in the project design and obtaining funding. I also undertook the majority of the research.