Kat Arney

Last updated

Kat Arney
Born
Katharine Luisa Arney

Italy
NationalityBritish
Alma mater University of Cambridge (PhD)
Known forScience blogging
Science podcasts
Scientific career
Fields Cancer research
Institutions
Thesis Epigenetic modification in the mouse zygote and regulation of imprinted genes  (2002)
Doctoral advisor Azim Surani [1]
Other academic advisors Amanda Fisher [1]
Website katarney.wordpress.com

Katharine Luisa Arney is a British science communicator, broadcaster, author, [2] and the founder and creative director of communications consultancy First Create the Media. [3] She was a regular co-host of The Naked Scientists , a BBC Radio programme and podcast, and also hosted the BBC Radio 5 Live Science Show [4] and the BBC Radio 4 series Did the Victorians Ruin the World [5] She has written numerous articles and columns for Science , [6] The Guardian , [7] New Scientist [8] the BBC and others. [9] [10]

Contents

Education

Arney was educated at the University of Cambridge where she was awarded a PhD in 2002 for research into epigenetic modification in the mouse zygote and regulation of imprinted genes. [11] Her PhD was supervised by Azim Surani [1] [12] and included research on Insulin-like growth factor 2 and the H19 gene. [13] She went on to do postdoctoral research at Imperial College London working in the laboratory of Amanda Fisher. [1] [14] [15]

Career

Arney is a strong advocate for involvement of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), but "hates pink" - she considers attempts to make science look more "girlie" to be patronising and unnecessary. [16]

From 2004 to 2016 she was science communications manager for Cancer Research UK. [17] One notable success in this role was the "#NoMakeupSelfie" hashtag as it trended in August 2014; this was noted by CRUK's social media team who used a photograph of Arney – one of the charity's main media spokespeople – to publicise the SMS number for donations. After more than 5 million views, the hashtag raised in excess of £8 million for Cancer Research UK. [18]

Her first book, Herding Hemingway’s Cats, which was published in January 2016 by Bloomsbury Publishing, covers the state of knowledge of the human genome, the advances made since the 1950s and what remains unknown. It also addresses misconceptions about epigenetics and non-DNA inheritance. [19] [20]

In 2020 she published the book Rebel Cell: Cancer, Evolution, and the New Science of Life's Oldest Betrayal. [21]

Her sister Helen Arney is a musician with whom she sometimes collaborates. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zygote</span> Diploid eukaryotic cell formed by fertilization between two gametes

A zygote is a eukaryotic cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information of a new individual organism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epigenetics</span> Study of DNA modifications that do not change its sequence

In biology, epigenetics is the study of stable changes in cell function that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence. The Greek prefix epi- in epigenetics implies features that are "on top of" or "in addition to" the traditional genetic basis for inheritance. Epigenetics most often involves changes that affect the regulation of gene expression, and that persist through cellular division. Such effects on cellular and physiological phenotypic traits may result from external or environmental factors, or be part of normal development. It can also lead to diseases such as cancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euchromatin</span> Lightly packed form of chromatin that is enriched in genes

Euchromatin is a lightly packed form of chromatin that is enriched in genes, and is often under active transcription. Euchromatin stands in contrast to heterochromatin, which is tightly packed and less accessible for transcription. 92% of the human genome is euchromatic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cancer Research UK</span> Cancer research and awareness charity

Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Cancer Research UK conducts research using both its own staff and grant-funded researchers. It also provides information about cancer and runs campaigns aimed at raising awareness and influencing public policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CREB-binding protein</span> Nuclear protein that binds to CREB

CREB-binding protein, also known as CREBBP or CBP or KAT3A, is a coactivator encoded by the CREBBP gene in humans, located on chromosome 16p13.3. CBP has intrinsic acetyltransferase functions; it is able to add acetyl groups to both transcription factors as well as histone lysines, the latter of which has been shown to alter chromatin structure making genes more accessible for transcription. This relatively unique acetyltransferase activity is also seen in another transcription enzyme, EP300 (p300). Together, they are known as the p300-CBP coactivator family and are known to associate with more than 16,000 genes in humans; however, while these proteins share many structural features, emerging evidence suggests that these two co-activators may promote transcription of genes with different biological functions.

Karen Heather Vousden, CBE, FRS, FRSE, FMedSci is a British medical researcher. She is known for her work on the tumour suppressor protein, p53, and in particular her discovery of the important regulatory role of Mdm2, an attractive target for anti-cancer agents. From 2003 to 2016, she was the director of the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in Glasgow, UK, moving back to London in 2016 to take up the role of Chief Scientist at CRUK and Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomas Lindahl</span> Swedish-British scientist

Tomas Robert Lindahl FRS FMedSci is a Swedish-British scientist specialising in cancer research. In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with American chemist Paul L. Modrich and Turkish chemist Aziz Sancar for mechanistic studies of DNA repair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cell potency</span> Ability of a cell to differentiate into other cell types

Cell potency is a cell's ability to differentiate into other cell types. The more cell types a cell can differentiate into, the greater its potency. Potency is also described as the gene activation potential within a cell, which like a continuum, begins with totipotency to designate a cell with the most differentiation potential, pluripotency, multipotency, oligopotency, and finally unipotency.

Ming-Ming Zhou is an American scientist who focuses on structural and chemical biology, NMR spectroscopy, and drug design. He is the Dr. Harold, Golden Lamport Professor, and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacological Sciences. He is also the Co-Director of the Drug Discovery Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, as well as Professor of Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance</span> Epigenetic transmission without DNA primary structure alteration

Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance is the transmission of epigenetic markers and modifications from one generation to multiple subsequent generations without altering the primary structure of DNA. Thus, the regulation of genes via epigenetic mechanisms can be heritable; the amount of transcripts and proteins produced can be altered by inherited epigenetic changes. In order for epigenetic marks to be heritable, however, they must occur in the gametes in animals, but since plants lack a definitive germline and can propagate, epigenetic marks in any tissue can be heritable.

Tony Kouzarides, FMedSci, FRS is a senior group leader Gurdon Institute, a founding non-executive director of Abcam and a Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Cambridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanda Fisher</span> British cell biologist

Dame Amanda Gay Fisher is a British cell biologist and Director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) London Institute of Medical Sciences at the Hammersmith Hospital campus of Imperial College London, where she is also a Professor leading the Institute of Clinical Sciences. She has made contributions to multiple areas of cell biology, including determining the function of several genes in HIV and describing the importance of a gene's location within the cell nucleus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nessa Carey</span> British molecular biologist

Nessa Carey is a British biologist working in the field of molecular biology and biotechnology. She is International Director of the technology transfer organization PraxisUnico and a visiting professor at Imperial College London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keiko Ozato</span> Japanese American geneticist

Keiko Ozato is a Japanese American geneticist whose research has focused on gene regulation in the developing immune system; She is best known for her contributions to immunogenetics and epigenetics in isolating the IRF8 transcription factor that aids humans in fighting off disease and for identifying the BRD4 protein that regulates cellular and viral genes that can invoke epigenetic memory. She is Senior Investigator at the Section on Molecular Genetics of Immunity at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland and a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Arney</span> British presenter, stand-up comedian and musician

Helen Arney is a British presenter, stand-up comedian and musician. She has toured with the Uncaged Monkeys alongside comedian Robin Ince and Professor Brian Cox.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Ferguson-Smith</span> Mammalian developmental geneticist (born 1961)

Anne Carla Ferguson-Smith is a mammalian developmental geneticist. She is the Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and International Partnerships at the University of Cambridge. Formerly head of the Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge, she is a Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge and serves as President of the Genetics Society.

Azim Surani is a Kenyan-British developmental biologist who has been Marshall–Walton Professor at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute at the University of Cambridge since 1992, and Director of Germline and Epigenomics Research since 2013.

Professor Susan J. Clark is an Australian biomedical researcher in epigenetics of development and cancer. She was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2015, and is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Senior Principal Research Fellow and Research Director and Head of Genomics and Epigenetics Division at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Clark developed the first method for bisulphite sequencing for DNA methylation analysis and used it to establish that the methylation machinery of mammalian cells is capable of both maintenance and de novo methylation at CpNpG sites and showed is inheritable. Clark's research has advanced understanding of the role of DNA methylation, non-coding RNA and microRNA in embryogenesis, reprogramming, stem cell development and cancer and has led to the identification of epigenomic biomarkers in cancer. Clark is a founding member of the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) and President of the Australian Epigenetics Alliance (AEpiA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Hargreaves</span> American biologist

Diana Hargreaves is an American biologist and assistant professor at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and member of The Salk Cancer Center. Her laboratory focuses on epigenetic regulation by the BAF (SWI/SNF) chromatin remodeling complexes in diverse physiological processes including development, immunity, and diseases such as cancer.

Victoria Sanz Moreno is a Spanish scientist. She is professor of cancer cell biology at Queen Mary University of London.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Arney, Kat (2010). "Ada Lovelace day – Professor Amanda Fisher". katarney.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Telling tales about science , Women in Science and Engineering Campaign.
  3. ↑ "First Create the Media".
  4. ↑ "interview with Kat Arney". CSICOP. 22 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "Did the Victorians Ruin the World". BBC.
  6. ↑ "Articles by Kat Arney at Science magazine". sciencemag.org. AAAS. 4 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Articles by Kat Arney at The Guardian". The Guardian . London.
  8. ↑ Arney, Kat (2015). "Epigenetics". New Scientist. 228 (3051): 39. Bibcode:2015NewSc.228...39A. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(15)31765-6.
  9. ↑ "Articles by Kat Arney at Cancer Research UK". cancerresearchuk.org.
  10. ↑ "Kat Arney". Education in Chemistry . Royal Society of Chemistry . Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  11. ↑ Arney, Katharine Luisa (2002). Epigenetic modification in the mouse zygote and regulation of imprinted genes (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC   894595629.
  12. ↑ K. L. Arney; S. Erhardt; R. A. Drewell; M. A. Surani (2001). "Epigenetic reprogramming of the genome—from the germ line to the embryo and back again". The International Journal of Developmental Biology. 45 (3): 533–540. PMID   11417896.
  13. ↑ Arney, Katharine L (2003). "H19 and Igf2 – enhancing the confusion?". Trends in Genetics. 19 (1): 17–23. doi:10.1016/S0168-9525(02)00004-5. PMID   12493244.
  14. ↑ Arney, Katharine L.; Fisher, Amanda G. (2004). "Epigenetic aspects of differentiation". Journal of Cell Science . 117 (19): 4355–4363. doi:10.1242/jcs.01390. PMID   15331660.
  15. ↑ Kat Arney's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  16. ↑ 'I hate pink. It is hugely patronising to think making things pink will get girls into science' Times Educational Supplement .
  17. ↑ speaker profile, NCRI conference
  18. ↑ The lessons that CRUK learned from nomakeupselfies, Third Sector.
  19. ↑ Anon (2016). "Nonfiction Book Review: Herding Hemingway's Cats: Understanding How Our Genes Work by Kat Arney". Publishers Weekly .
  20. ↑ Herding Hemingway's Cats: Understanding How Our Genes Work ISBN   978-1-4729-1004-2
  21. ↑ Kat Arney (20 October 2020). Rebel Cell: Cancer, Evolution, and the New Science of Life's Oldest Betrayal. BenBella Books, Incorporated. ISBN   978-1-950665-51-8.
  22. ↑ "Kat Arney | Author | Education in Chemistry".
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