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Latest News VIEW MORE

Visualization of brain structures helps to model function

Boosting immunity in the fight against bacteria

Paper sensors remove the sting of diabetic testing

Understanding the growth of coral reefs

Carbon emissions smoked

Drinking water sucked from the dusty desert air

Thursday, January 03, 2019

Visualization of brain structures helps to model function

State-of-the-art techniques and software help researchers recreate cellular brain structures and model biochemical processes that support the brain’s energy demands.

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Computer simulations and virtual reality are used by KAUST researchers and collaborators in France to visualize the energetic coupling between neurons and astrocytes and to improve understanding of brain metabolism.

The human brain uses more energy than any other organ, accounting for around 20 percent of all glucose-derived energy. Neurons can’t meet their own energy requirements: they depend on supporting glial cells and the neurovascular system to supply various forms of sugar fuel. However, it is still unclear how this neuro-glio-vasculature network manages the brain’s energy demands.

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Image: 3D reconstructions from serial-section electron micrographs showing an astrocyte (green) ensheathing a pyramidal neuron (grey) and interfacing with a blood vessel (red).
© 2018 Corrado Calì

Monday, December 31, 2018

Boosting immunity in the fight against bacteria

A key protein is shown to be responsible for activating and controlling plant immune responses to bacterial infection.

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Supporting plants to cope with bacterial invaders is vital for developing sustainable agriculture. Now, KAUST researchers have shown that a transcription factor protein, known to be involved in drought tolerance and root growth, also plays a vital role in coordinating and maintaining plant immunity.

KAUST’s Ronny Völz, under the supervision of group leader, Heribert Hirt, along with co-workers in France, sought to shed light on the signaling cascades that prompted immune responses to bacterial infection in plants.

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Image: Ronny Völz tends to his Arabidopsis plants.
© 2018 KAUST

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Paper sensors remove the sting of diabetic testing

Inkjet-printed device helps monitor a patient’s blood sugar levels without painful needles.

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A technique that enables biologically active enzymes to survive the rigors of inkjet printing presents a promising alternative to routine blood screening exams faced by diabetic patients. The KAUST-led team used this approach to make disposable devices that can measure glucose concentrations in human saliva.

Strips of pH-sensitive paper are commonly used to test whether a liquid is acidic or alkaline. Researchers are now working to apply similar principles to create paper sensors that quickly indicate disease biomarkers. Key to this approach is replacing traditional electronic circuitry in the sensors with low-cost plastics that can be manufactured quickly and in large quantities.

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Image: A page of sensors made from conducting plastics and living enzymes.
© 2018 Eloïse Bihar

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Understanding the growth of coral reefs

Determining the growth dynamics of Red Sea coral reefs has enabled researchers to establish a baseline to assess the effects of environmental change.

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Researchers have measured the dynamics of coral reef growth in the central Red Sea, establishing a baseline that can be used to evaluate how the reefs are affected by climate change or events, such as the global bleaching event of 2015-2016.

To get a complete picture of reef growth, the team measured the accretion and erosion of carbonates and estimated the ecosystem carbonate budget at various distances from the shore. The analysis showed net erosion at the nearshore site, a balance between erosion and accretion at the midshore site, and significant reef accretion offshore.

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Image: Calcification along the reef framework is very high at offshore sites such as this one, which is dominated by hard corals.
© 2018 Anna Roik

Sunday, December 09, 2018

Carbon emissions smoked

Helpful microbes inhale CO2 through a porous cylindrical electrode and exude useful chemicals.

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Microbes could become key allies in global efforts to curb carbon emissions and avoid dangerous climate change. A group of microbes called chemolithoautotrophs consume CO2 through their natural metabolism, spitting out small organic molecules as a byproduct. These microbes could be enlisted to convert industrial CO2 emissions into valuable chemicals, thanks to a new concept developed by Pascal Saikaly and his team at KAUST.

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Sunday, November 25, 2018

Drinking water sucked from the dusty desert air

An inexpensive hydrogel-based material efficiently captures moisture even from low-humidity air and then releases it on demand.

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A simple device that can capture its own weight in water from fresh air and then release that water when warmed by sunlight could provide a secure new source of drinking water in remote arid regions, new research from KAUST suggests.

Globally, Earth’s air contains almost 13 trillion tons of water, a vast renewable reservoir of clean drinking water. Trials of many materials and devices developed to tap this water source have shown each to be either too inefficient, expensive or complex for practical use. A prototype device developed by Peng Wang from the Water Desalination and Reuse Center and his team could finally change that.

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Image: An inexpensive material created from a hydrogel is able to moisture from low-humidity air then release when required.
© 2018 Renuyen Li

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Graduate Programs

BESE offers four degree granting programs. In all programs students are offered modules consisting of lectures, seminars, and laboratory classes, and are expected to conduct independent research. BESE boasts state-of-the-art facilities and resources, including some of the most advanced equipment in the world for genomics, proteomics, imaging/characterization, nanofarication, and capability to explore global marine environments.

BIOSCIENCE

MARINE SCIENCE

PLANT SCIENCE

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

BIOSCIENCE

The Bioscience Program provides an introduction to living systems with courses in cell and molecular biology and biophysics. The program is comprised of two tracks of self-contained courses consisting of lectures, seminars and laboratory classes. Each course provides an in-depth review of the subject and examples of current research in the field.

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MARINE SCIENCE

The goal of the Marine Science Program is to develop an integrated understanding of the Red Sea’s ecosystem as well as marine ecosystems in general, including fundamental biology at the molecular and genomic levels, symbiosis with algae and prokaryotes (Bacteria and Archaea), associated communities of fish and corals and the physical and chemical environment that impacts and shapes them. This understanding could have an impact on global carbon cycling, endangered species and how we manage the harvesting of resources from the Oceans.

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PLANT SCIENCE

The goal of the Plant Science Program is to develop a thorough understanding of plant growth and function under challenging environmental conditions, such as those found in Saudi Arabia. The fundamental biology of plants is studied at a range of levels (e.g. genomic, proteomic, metabolomics), and the interactions of plants with their environment, both abiotic (heat, salt, and drought) and biotic (pathogens and symbionts) are investigated. Application of this knowledge will allow development of plants with enhanced tolerance to environmental stresses and help to establish sustainable agriculture systems in arid regions of the world.

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ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

The Environmental Science and Engineering Program (EnSE) prepares students to work on many of the world’s most pressing challenges. There is a worldwide concern with the availability of clean water; EnSE examines methods to purify and reuse water, as well as to reduce contamination of existing reserves. The focus of the program is on examining the impact of humans on our environment through resource exploitation; including over-consumption, land degradation, and pollution of water. The results of these efforts may offer solutions to water scarcity, soil contamination.

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FACULTY COMMUNITIES

Research at the BESE Division brings students, faculty, and researchers together to push the frontiers of science through collaborative inquiry into issues of global and regional significance.

The Faculty at BESE belong to one of two communities: Bioscience and Biological Engineering or Environmental Science Engineering. Those communities cover the following Research Areas.