Research
Institute of Life Sciences
The scientific mission of the Institute of Life Sciences covers two macro-areas:
- Agricultural Sciences and Plant Biotechnology
- Biomedical Sciences
Our aim is to provide a multifaceted and challenging scientific environment to a broad spectrum of students: undergraduates, postgraduates and PhD. Courses and research activities span from classical and molecular human and plant biology to preclinical and clinical sciences, plant biotechnology, food quality and nutraceutics, agroecology and agrobiodiversity, and novel sustainable agricultural systems. Strong emphasis is placed on technological innovation.
Lecturers have strong scientific expertise often acquired in a multidisciplinary international environment.
Research carried out in the macro-area Agricultural Sciences and plant Biotechnology addresses two main domains: plant sciences and agronomy, with a focus on various aspects of plant biology, food and energy crops, agrobiodiversity, and agroecosystem management.
Research carried out in the macro-area of Biomedical Sciences addresses the physiology and pathophysiology of the cardiovascular system, the development of new diagnostic techniques, and the application of nanotechnology to medicine.
Researchers from Sant’Anna School, Universities of Pisa, Aachen, Copenhagen, Heidelberg have found that oxygen, as a diffusible signal that is involved in the control of stem-cell activity in plants grown under aerobic conditions, suggests that the spatially distinct distribution of oxygen affects plant development
The study was published in Nature journal with the collaboration of Fondazione Monasterio and the la School of Cardiovascular Medicine & Sciences of King’s College - London under the supervision of Giovanni Aquaro, Fabio Recchia and Mauro Giacca
Sir John Gurdon deliver his lectio magistralis address at Sant'Anna School. In 2012, the Nobel Prize Committee awarded Gurdon its prize in physiology or medicine
