• Question: what is the greatest discovery you have made?

    Asked by gpap08 to Amy, Karen, Sarah, Vijay, Will on 8 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by oh5924.
    • Photo: Vijay Yadav

      Vijay Yadav answered on 8 Jun 2012:

      I discovered that our gut secretes a hormone that regulates our bone density. You can understand better in this video.

    • Photo: Will Reynolds

      Will Reynolds answered on 8 Jun 2012:

      Hi Gpap08. The best discovery I have made is a new reaction to make molecules that have never been made before, using a Ruthenium metal catalyst. I am trying to use these molecules to make new medicines.

    • Photo: Sarah Martin

      Sarah Martin answered on 8 Jun 2012:

      Hi gpap008, mine is working out how fast plants recycle old bits of protein – which is really important so it can make the new proteins it needs to defend itself against changing weather. Plants can’t just go sit in the shade on a hot day! So instead they re-cycle proteins they don’t need any more and make new ones that help them cope with heat. So every plant is about 5% recycling itself every day!

    • Photo: Karen Reed

      Karen Reed answered on 8 Jun 2012:

      Stopping the action of the gene mbd2 stops bowel cancer.
      Also I’ve got a list of hundreds of genes that get turned on in the earliest of stages of colon cancer – its just a small matter of working out which ones are important and make a difference so my greatest discoveries are yet to come.

    • Photo: Amy Birch

      Amy Birch answered on 9 Jun 2012:

      Hi gpap08! I discovered that cognitive stimulation (doing lots of crosswords, reading books, learning new skills) can prevent memory loss as you get older, and this seems to be caused by an increase in a protein in the brain called NGF. This protein helps to protect your nerves from dying and may even help to increase the number of neurons you have in the hippocampus, a brain region that is vital for memory.

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