August 15, 2017, by Liz Cass
Nottingham in the news: Day 7
The University of Nottingham is celebrating a summer of successes as it prepares to welcome students for the new academic year. For the next few weeks we’ll be profiling a daily story that put Nottingham in the news.
Our research makes international news
Jeremy the Lefty Snail – on top.
Have you heard of Dollies four clones? Fillings that can heal your teeth? Or plastic bags made from recycled prawn shells.
All of these stories have made the headlines but did you know they all originated in Nottingham?
One of our favourites is Jeremy the Left Twisting Snail. It’s a sad tale of loneliness, unrequited love and genetic rarity – and now the bitter sweet story of Jeremy the lefty snail has inspired one talented YouTuber to write a ballad dedicated to the sinistral gastropod who looks destined to always be unlucky in love.
Jeremy’s international notoriety can be traced back to October last year when his scientist Dr Angus Davison got in touch with the Press Office asking for our help.
He told us that Jeremy was a ‘one in a million’ left-handed, anti-clockwise spiralling snail who is a mirror image of other ‘normal’ brown garden snails.
Dr Davison needed offspring from Jeremy to be able to study the genetics of this rare condition, which may offer valuable insights into a common understanding of body asymmetry in other animals, including humans.
‘Uncle’ Jeremy and snail babies
The trouble is, his rare genetic deformity makes it impossible for him to mate with other normal garden snails and another of these extremely rare creatures was needed to make a perfect match.
We decided the only way to put an end to his loneliness was to harness people power to help find him a similarly coiling mate. And following an appeal via the national media and a #snaillove hashtag on Twitter, Jeremy became an overnight international media sensation, with his story featuring on primetime BBC current affairs and comedy programmes including Have I Got News For You and No Such Thing as the News.
For more on Jeremy’s escapades read our news round up.
Clearing course listings for EU and UK students will be released on the evening of Wednesday 16 August. Our Clearing hotline will open at 8am on Thursday 17 August. Places are still available for qualified international students (outside the EU) on many of our undergraduate courses starting in September 2017. Visit our Clearing pages.
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