News

A team of UK scientists have identified the mechanism behind hardening of the arteries, and shown in animal studies that a generic medication normally used to treat acne could be an effective treatment for the condition.Artery hardening happens to everyone as they age...but up until now we haven’t known what controls this process and therefore how …

Researchers have developed a method that could drastically accelerate the search for new drugs to treat mental health disorders such as schizophrenia.Psychiatric disorders are increasingly recognised as disorders of the whole bodySabine BahnMental health disorders are the leading cause of disability worldwide, accounting for 31% of total years live…

PolyProx Therapeutics, a new biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer, today announced that it has raised £3.4m of seed capital.A spin-out of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge, PolyProx Therapeutics is based on over a decade of research and int…

Scientists in Cambridge and London have developed a catalogue of DNA mutation ‘fingerprints’ that could help doctors pinpoint the environmental culprit responsible for a patient’s tumour – including showing some of the fingerprints left in lung tumours by specific chemicals found in tobacco smoke.Mutational signatures ... allow us to treat tumours …

Around four million people in the UK carry genetic variants that protect them from obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, suggests new research from the University of Cambridge. The team say the discovery could lead to the development of new drugs that help people lose weight.This study drives home the fact that genetics plays a major role in …

A prescription drug to treat high blood pressure has shown promise against conditions such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and forms of dementia in studies carried out in mice and zebrafish at the University of Cambridge.The drug will need to be tested in patients to see if it has the same effects in humans as it does in mice. We need to be cautious, …

A new tool to predict an individual’s prognosis following a prostate cancer diagnosis could help prevent unnecessary treatment and related side effects, say researchers at the University of Cambridge.We believe this tool could significantly reduce the number of unnecessary – and potentially harmful – treatments that patients receive and save the NH…

A second person has experienced sustained remission from HIV-1 after ceasing treatment, according to a study published today in Nature.At the moment the only way to treat HIV is with medications that suppress the virus, which people need to take for their entire lives, posing a particular challenge in developing countriesRavindra GuptaThe case repo…

Wren Therapeutics secures £18 million in funding to tackle protein misfolding diseasesA biopharmaceutical company set-up by Cambridge academics from St John's College to develop drugs to treat illnesses such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson’s and more than 50 other related diseases has won £18 million in a Series A financing round.Wren Therapeutics raised…

Scientists devise method using genetic data and lifestyle to work out who should be screened.Women may be able to go to their GP to find out their risk of getting breast cancer and choose whether or not to be screened, if a new online calculator devised by scientists is successful.Cancer Research UK scientists have worked out a way to assess women’…

Automated phone calls may help patients to take medicines as prescribed, pilot study suggests Remembering to take medication is vital for managing long term health conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or multiple conditions. Latest research from the University of Cambridge suggests that using interactive voice response (IVR) tec…

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, has announced up to £100 million of public capital for an innovative children’s hospital for the east of England. This will be a new facility that is purpose-built to meet the needs of the region’s youngest patients, integrating mental and physical health and combining the highest qua…

“Placental organoids” could be the future of pregnancy and conception research say researchersResearchers have successfully managed to develop “mini placentas” or placenta organoids in the laboratories that could transform research of pregnancy, conception, stillbirth, miscarriages and pregnancy diseases and disorders.The results of the study devel…

AI system may accelerate search for cancer discoveriesSearching through the mountains of published cancer research could be made easier for scientists, thanks to a new AI system.The system, called LION LBD and developed by computer scientists and cancer researchers at the University of Cambridge, has been designed to assist scientists in the search…

The University of Cambridge is teaming up with Microsoft to tackle the problem of 'brain drain' in AI and machine learning research. The software giant will help increase AI research capacity and capability at Cambridge by supporting visiting researchers, postdoctoral researchers, PhD students and interns from the UK, EU and beyond. The Microsoft R…