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The South East has a Gross Value Added (GVA) of £158 billion (approx $290 billion / €230 billion). This is similar to that of Norway and Austria. |
With a population of eight million and a workforce of 4.2 million, the South East is the largest region in the UK. |
Approximately 287,200 VAT registered enterprises are present in the South East, more than any other UK region. |
The South East is the largest exporter in the UK, with £29 billion (approx $52 billion / €41 billion) of goods moved in 2004. |
The labour force is highly educated with 90% of the working age population holding an academic qualification and over one third of the workforce holding a degree. |
Workers with good language skills are readily available in the region due to the truly international workforce of 585,000 people who were born outside of the UK. |
Around nine working days a year are lost per employee due to sickness, the lowest amount for a UK region. |
The region is home to 24 universities and higher education institutes, where nearly 200,000 study. This includes the University of Oxford, one of the most prestigious universities in the world. |
South East universities work very closely with business, with over 2800 research conracts won annually, higher than any other UK region. |
The region's 24 universities and higher education institutes supply over 73,000 graduates per annum. |
£4.66 billion (approx $3.06 billion / €2.43 billion) is spent on R&D annually, nearly one quarter of UK expenditure. |
South East organisations undertaking R&D employ 45,800 people, which is almost 25% of the UK R&D workforce. |
The South East has the highest number of patents granted in the UK. The statistics show that 820 patents, over 20% of the UK total were granted to firms based in the South East in 2004-5. |
There are 6,540 foreign-owned companies in the South East. |
With three international airports, 11 sea ports, 108 motorway junctions, 77 train stations and access to the Channel Tunnel, the South East has one of the most extensive transport infrastructures in Europe. |
Heathrow, the world's busiest international passenger airport, is home to over 90 airlines serving approximately 186 destinations. It handles over 67 million passengers and 1.3 million tonnes of freight each year. |
It takes 35 minutes to travel through the Channel Tunnel between the UK and mainland Europe. Most major towns in the South East are connected by rail to central London with a journey time of under an hour. |
Almost one third of the land in the South East (637,000 hectares) is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), more than any other UK region. |
In 2004-5, the South East had the second lowest crime rate in England with 8,983 reported crimes per 100,000 people. |
94% of the South East population is in good or fairly good health, which is higher than any other UK region. |
Eurostar has set a record for the quickest train journey between Paris and London of just 2 hours, 3 minutes and 39 seconds, meaning a typical journey will take just over 2 hours when the line opens in November 2007. |
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| Genetic tinkering helps scientists tackle dengue fever |
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23 February 2010
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Scientists in the South East have developed a new strain of mosquito which could provide the answer to dengue fever, with an Oxfordshire-based firm helping to develop a new concept for tackling the disease.
No known vaccine or treatment currently exists for Dengue fever, which is said to result in up to 100 million cases per year. With 40 per cent of the world's population said to be at risk, finding a way to tackle the virus, which causes severe flu-like symptoms, has become an important priority for pharmaceutical companies and health practitioners.
Now, researchers and scientists at Oxitec and the University of Oxford believe they may have found an innovative way to combat the dengue virus, which is spread through the bite of infected female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
The team have developed a strain of genetically-altered male mosquitoes who they intend to release into the wild and mate with wild females.
The next generation of female mosquitoes would be flightless, which they believe could suppress the native mosquito population, leaving the female carriers less capable of spreading the disease and less attractive to their mates.
Luke Alphey, who has worked on the project with the Oxford University spin-off firm Oxitec, said the idea offered an effective means to tackle the disease at source.
"The technology is completely species-specific, as the released males will mate only with females of the same species," he explained.
"It's far more targeted and environmentally friendly than approaches dependent upon the use of chemical spray insecticides, which leave toxic residue."
Anthony James, Distinguished Professor of microbiology & molecular genetics and molecular biology & biochemistry at the University of California, Irvine, who also worked on the study, said there was "urgent demand" for new ways of dealing with dengue fever.
"Controlling the mosquito that transmits this virus could significantly reduce human morbidity and mortality," he explained.
The results of the study have been published in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, with hopes that the process could be adapted to other mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and West Nile fever.
Progress by the South East team is the latest indicator of the region's strength in the medical development and life sciences sector, with Oxfordshire being ear-marked as a so-called 'super cluster' by the government as it looks to capitalise on a highly-skilled workforce and the knowledge capital within the local universities.
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