A movement is under way that will fast-forward the design of new plant traits. It takes inspiration from engineering and the software industry, and is being underpinned in Cambridge and Norwich by an initiative called OpenPlant.
Using new ‘pattern recognition algorithm,’ latest research highlights how birds are ‘fighting back’ against the parasitic Common Cuckoo in what scientists describe as an evolutionary ‘arms race’. They found that birds with the most sophisticated and distinctive egg patterning are those most intensely targeted by the cuckoo’s egg mimicry.
Cambridge academic among three honoured
̽»¨Ö±²¥ Senior Lecturer Dr Cinzia Cantacessi is one of two winners of the inaugural Odile Bain Memorial Prize for early career scientists who have made an outstanding contribution to the fields of medical and veterinary parasitology.
Despite political proclamation of increased environmental focus, experts argue that the European Union’s recent agricultural reforms are far too weak to have any positive impact on the continent’s shrinking farmland biodiversity, and call on member states to take action.
Reporting back from her time spent in the Kalahari Desert, PhD student Kirsty MacLeod describes the fascinating life of a gang of meerkats that includes an audacious boy called Bruce and a good-natured girl called Ru.
Miniature scaffolds made from collagen – the ‘glue’ that holds our bodies together – are being used to heal damaged joints, and could be used to develop new cancer therapies or help repair the heart after a heart attack.
Children who later develop autism are exposed to elevated levels of steroid hormones (for example testosterone, progesterone and cortisol) in the womb, according to scientists from the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge and the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark. ̽»¨Ö±²¥finding may help explain why autism is more common in males than females. However, the researchers caution it should not be used to screen for the condition.
A new technique developed at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge allows researchers to identify clusters of proteins on immune cells which are key to fighting off the body’s invaders.
Scientists at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge have identified a key chemical that can repair the damage to cells which causes a rare but devastating disease involving accelerated ageing. As well as offering a promising new way of treating the condition, known as Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), the discovery could help in the development of drugs against cancer and other genetic diseases and might also suggest ways to alleviate diseases that we associate with normal ageing.
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