• Question: What things have you discovered that no one else has?

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      Asked by 493fscd22 to Ruth, John, Emma, Andrew, Dilip on 9 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by 399fscd26, JIMMY BRADLEY@69, 558fscd26, justin0208, aimee, AbbyG&the313, Sarah-Louise Thompson, MEGAN, lisa, harri G, billy.
      • Photo: John Gleeson

        John Gleeson answered on 9 Nov 2015:

        Ruth and Emma probably have way more than me on this one since they are further into research then me.

        I proved that the two small protein fragments that I work with are resistant to being digested in your intestines and stomach. It was often believed that they were resistant but I proved this and published it in a scientific journal. Once we prove something we have to get it published and it gets reviewed by other scientists in our area. And once it’s accepted people can then see your work and use it in their own work.

      • Photo: Andrew Quigley

        Andrew Quigley answered on 9 Nov 2015:

        I’m still pretty new to research so I haven’t got any new discoveries published just yet. Trying to discover something that nobody else has done before takes time, I’m hoping to publish something in the next few months though. (fingers crossed 🙂 )

      • Photo: Ruth Hamill

        Ruth Hamill answered on 9 Nov 2015:

        We found associations between particular genetic markers and beef tenderness. A lot of our initial work was testing known markers from international studies in Irish cattle and pigs to see would they work in our populations. Many didn’t but some did. We then developed markers in one gene in particular which was novel in beef and we found that the markers we discovered had potential to be able to discern tender from intermediate and tough beef, which was exciting for us, because very few genes have been associated with tenderness so far.

        In my PhD studies, we found that Irish hares were less closely related to their nearest neighbours, the Scottish hare than they were to Italian and Scandinavian hare populations. We then had to come up with a potential explanation why this might be the case. It raised some interesting questions about their past population ranges.

      • Photo: Emma Feeney

        Emma Feeney answered on 11 Nov 2015:

        During my PhD I looked at taste genetics in children, in schools around Ireland. I found that a gene that affects how we perceive tastes was linked to willingness to try new foods. Some people have a form of the gene that means that they taste can certain compounds as really bitter, and those people are called Supertasters. About 1/4 of people in Ireland are Supertasters. I saw that Supertaster children were much less likely to have tried green vegetables, but it didn’t affect their overall diet. Whether or not people ate healthily was much more affected by their environment, and the foods that were available to them, than that one gene. Its really interesting, because it shows just how important our environment is in our food choices.

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