The films form part of the national campaign, ‘Addressing Global Challenges’, aiming to highlight how the biosciences relate to global challenges of today and tomorrow. The news-style pieces are anchored by the well-known broadcaster Natasha Kaplinsky and were premiered during Biology Week 2018.

In a bid to reflect the rapid pace of discoveries and exciting breakthroughs within biosciences, the campaign collected diverse stories from a range of leading educational institutions, including Queen's, to showcase some of the most exciting achievements taking place.

Leading organisations featured in the campaign include:

• Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute
• Babraham Institute
• Cranfield University
• Fios Genomics
• Imperial College London
• John Innes Centre
• Oxford Nanoimaging
• Queen’s University Belfast IGFS
• RebelBio
• SynbiCITE
• UCB
• University of East Anglia
• University of Manchester Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
• Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology Centre
• Zoological Society of London

The programmes capture the innovations and revelations at the forefront of scientific endeavour, as well as the practical applications that these breakthroughs will have for this generation and the next. They tell stories not just of science but of biologists themselves across the breadth of sub-disciplines.

The IGFS film focuses on the research carried out by Dr Sharon Huws and her team at the Medical Biology Centre, exploring ways of reducing methane emissions by livestock; and also researchers like Dr Connor Black in the ASSET lab in the David Keir Building, who explained how using the highly specialist iKnife machine could better detect food ingredients and therefore improve food-authenticity monitoring. 

The Queen's film also features interviews with IGFS Director, Prof Nigel Scollan; IGFS founder Prof Chris Elliott; and Mr Alan Bristow, Head of Group Quality and Technical at Devenish Nutrition, speaking about the strong links between IGFS research and innovation and practical application among the local agri-food industry. 

Speaking ahead of the launch of the 'Addressing Global Challenges' campaign, Dr Mark Downs FRSB, chief executive of the Royal Society of Biology said: “Advances in biosciences continually drive societal development, with the work being produced by researchers constantly changing the way we address challenges on a global scale.”

Simon Shelley, Head of Industry News at ITN Productions, added: “We’re delighted to be partnering with the Royal Society of Biology to produce a programme exploring the importance of biology in today’s world. We’re excited to embark on the programme and engage with professionals throughout the biology sector and beyond to tell that story. We hope the content can be used to share best practice, innovation and ideas to shape a sustainable future.”

To view all the films included in the campaign, visit this page of the RSB website.