News

An international team of researchers has demonstrated a way of overcoming one of the major stumbling blocks that has prevented the development of a vaccine against HIV: the ability to generate immune cells that stay in circulation long enough to respond to and stop virus infection.In a study published in 2009, results from a clinical trial carried …

A new diagnostic test developed from research carried out at the University of Cambridge and the University of Dundee has been launched with the aim of helping eliminate the disease known as African sleeping sickness.Sleeping sickness, or Human African Trypanosomiasis, is caused by parasites transmitted by tsetse flies in sub-Saharan Africa and has…

With the official launch of the next stage in the Government’s Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, Cambridge can have a key role to deliver jobs, growth and investment for the East of England.With its pre-eminent strengths in life sciences, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC) will be looking to work with the Government and partners in a number of …

Much of the world-changing research at the University of Cambridge is underpinned by postdocs - qualified researchers with fixed term contracts.With more postdoctoral researchers than most other institutions, Cambridge sees postdocs as key to its future research strength. Now, a gift from the members of the Collegiate Campaign Board will annually s…

The latest issue of Research Horizons focuses on future therapeutics and provides a snapshot of cutting-edge research from across the University of Cambridge. Nanobots small enough to move around our bloodstream, damaged hearts repaired with ‘off-the-shelf’ pieces of beating tissue, genetic diseases cured by ‘molecular scissors’ that snip out and r…

Gene editing using ‘molecular scissors’ that snip out and replace faulty DNA could provide an almost unimaginable future for some patients: a complete cure. Cambridge researchers are working towards making the technology cheap and safe, as well as examining the ethical and legal issues surrounding one of the most exciting medical advances of recent…

Our immune systems are meant to keep us healthy, but sometimes they turn their fire on us, with devastating results. Immunotherapies can help defend against this ‘friendly fire’ – and even weaponise it in our defence.An army of cells constantly patrols within us, attacking anything it recognises as foreign, keeping us safe from invading pathogens. …

Professor Tony Kouzarides is passionate about ecosystems: well-balanced communities that flourish on mutual and dynamic interactions. But the ecosystems that excite him are not made up of plants, animals and environments. They’re made up of experts.Kouzarides is the founding Director of the Milner Therapeutics Institute, which is due to open in 201…

When a drug fails late on in clinical trials it’s a major setback for launching new medicines. It can cost millions, even billions, of research and development funds. Now, an ‘adaptive’ approach to clinical trials and a genetic tool for predicting success are increasing the odds of picking a winner. “Did not meet primary endpoint.”Prosaic words, bu…

Nanotechnology is creating new opportunities for fighting disease – from delivering drugs in smart packaging to nanobots powered by the world’s tiniest engines. One way that researchers are attempting to improve the safety and efficacy of drugs, such as those used to treat cancer, is to use a relatively new area of research known as nanothrapeutics…

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have designed antibodies that target the protein deposits in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease, and stop their production. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, which affects nearly one million people in the UK and about 50 million worldwide. One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer…

Dr Trevor Lawley and  Professor Gordon Dougan are bug hunters, albeit not the conventional kind. The bugs they collect are invisible to the naked eye. And even though we’re teeming with them, researchers are only beginning to discover how they keep us healthy – and how we could use these bugs as drugs.Both researchers lead groups at the Wellcome Tr…

The stirrings of a revolution are starting to ripple through hundreds of laboratories. It’s a revolution that aims to result in new medicines – faster and with fewer failures – and it’s being led by three UK universities and three global pharmaceutical companies. In January 2016, the tech transfer offices (TTOs) of Cambridge, Imperial College and U…

It is almost impossible for an injured heart to fully mend itself. Within minutes of being deprived of oxygen – as happens during a heart attack when arteries to the heart are blocked – the heart’s muscle cells start to die. Dr Sanjay Sinah leads a team of stem cell biologists in the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. Over the past five years, with fun…

Cambridge-based start-up Bicycle Therapeutics has recently raised £40 million from a range of investors to bring its cancer drug candidates to clinical trials.The company is developing a new class of drugs called ‘Bicycles’, which are based on small protein chains, or peptides, which have been chemically constrained, and have a similar shape to a b…