Nexxus Scotland

Tyers, Mike

Professor Mike Tyers
Director of the Scottish Universities Life Science Alliance and CH Waddington Chair in Systems Biology

As one of Canada’s leaders in functional genomics, Professor Mike Tyers has helped advance our understanding of the genetic and biochemical networks that dictate cellular behaviour.

It was something of a coup, then, when Professor Tyers agreed in November 2007 to move to Scotland to head the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA), a research sharing partnership between the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews and Strathclyde that is supported by the Scottish Funding Council.

Research in the life and biomedical sciences has progressed so rapidly in recent years that Professor Tyers, who is now based at the University of Edinburgh, predicts that what might have passed for biological science fiction only a few years ago will soon be reality, providing vital new approaches against cancer and other diseases.

“With several individual human genomes now sequenced in their entirety, and the complete analysis of large cohorts of patient genomes underway, this a very exciting era for biology and medicine,” said Professor Tyers.

The first composite human genome sequence cost roughly a billion dollars, but improved techniques are rapidly homing in on the $1000 genome. Each of the some 25,000 genes in the human genome come in many subtly different forms; this variation is the basis for individual traits, such as susceptibility to infection and genetic disease. 

However, the genome sequence is just the beginning; Professor Tyers describes it as a ”parts list without assembly instructions“. His research efforts aim to understand how these parts are assembled and controlled, and to assess how they interact.

Professor Tyers uses these genome-scale studies to answer fundamental questions about how cells grow and divide, and the protein degradation pathways that are vital to cell signalling.

He says, ”If we can understand how cells function, we can identify how genetic variation and environmental influences cause disease susceptibility, and improve early intervention and therapy for complex disorders, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and mental illness.”

Part of Professor Tyers’s remit at SULSA is to develop the cross-fertilisation of research, facilities and expertise from Scotland’s universities, to not only maintain Scotland’s position as a global innovator, but also to increase that reputation in the long-term by helping take new technologies towards market.

The organisation supports three areas of research; cell biology (cellular structure and function), systems biology (the interactions of all the parts); and translational biology (the application of research discoveries towards treating human disease).

“A lot of careful thought was given to how best to construct SULSA as a catalyst for science in Scotland,” says Professor Tyers. “It aims are very much aligned with my own research interests and I saw it as a great opportunity.”

Professor Tyers points to notable early successes in attracting world-class talent to SULSA, including two top recruitments from industry, Professor Manfred Auer (University of Edinburgh), formerly Executive Director of Innovative Screening Technologies at the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research in Vienna, Austria and Professor Andrew Hopkins (University of Dundee), who joined from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, where he designed and constructed major computational platforms to aid drug discovery.

SULSA has also significantly improved shared research infrastructure in Scotland. Some 24 facilities and technology platforms have been supported since SULSA’s inception, including several new platforms established by SULSA, including the purchase of one of only seven OMX microscopes in the world.

The new microscope, situated at the University of Dundee, goes beyond the resolution limitations of existing microscopes and researchers can, for the first time, view intricate processes within cells, which could lead to vital discoveries in the treatment of cancer and other diseases.

Another flagship platform is the Scottish Metabolomics Facility, a SULSA-funded joint research project between the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow. This new facility allows researchers to measure how cell metabolism is changing in response to a variety of factors, including the presence of diseases.

Equally crucial to the future success of Scotland’s life sciences industry, says Professor Tyers, is a continuing emphasis on quality training of new scientists. SULSA has made a sustained investment in this sector through over 50 new PhD studentships distributed across the SULSA institutions.

Professor Tyers explains, “Scotland already achieves much more in the life sciences than might be expected from a small country. To continue to compete in a knowledge-based economy, however, it needs a constant stimulus of new talent and investment to make the new discoveries.

“The solution to all of the world’s problems is going to come from technology and science, and if we don’t invest, we simply won’t have the answers.”