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Sainsbury Laboratory

Read more at: Professor of Quantitative Plant Development appointed
Dr James Locke

Professor of Quantitative Plant Development appointed

Dr James Locke has been appointed as the Professor of Quantitative Plant Development at the University of Cambridge, a new single tenure professorship that will build on the University’s strengths in plant science research.


Read more at: Festival of Plants 2023
Carlos Lugo Vélez, Eashan Saikia and François Nédélec demonstrating their cytoskeleton simulation game Bugtiply

Festival of Plants 2023

Join the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) at this year's Festival of Plants on Saturday 10 June 10:00 - 17:00. The Cambridge University Botanic Garden's annual Festival of Plants is a day for exploring the wonderful world of plants


Read more at: Symbiotic and pathogenic fungi may use similar molecular tools to manipulate plants
Models of the structures of FOLD proteins from a pathogen (blue) and a symbiotic fungus (orange) superimposed onto each other to show how similar they are. Image by Albin Teulet

Symbiotic and pathogenic fungi may use similar molecular tools to manipulate plants

Symbiotic and pathogenic fungi that interact with plants are distantly related and don’t share many genetic similarities. C omparing plant pathogenic fungi and plant symbiotic fungi, scientists at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) have discovered that these remote relatives are using a similar group of proteins to manipulate and live within plants.


Read more at: Meet Sebastián Moreno Ramirez
Sebastián Moreno Ramirez working with Arabidopsis thaliana plants

Meet Sebastián Moreno Ramirez

Humans of SLCU Taking inspiration from Humans of New York, each week we will feature people from our SLCU community. Meet Sebastián… Dr Sebastián Moreno Ramirez | Research Associate Twitter @seba_moreno_r Sebastián is a plant development biologist studying stem cells, in particular the shoot apical meristem dynamic (SAM)...


Read more at: Meet Cara Bootman
Cara Bootman pictured in Sainsbury Laboratory

Meet Cara Bootman

Humans of SLCU Taking inspiration from Humans of New York, each week we will feature people from our SLCU community. Meet Cara... Cara Bootman | Senior HR Co-ordinator Cara joined SLCU in March this year as our Senior HR Co-ordinator. Cara's office is in the Admin Office on the Ground Floor and she holds a HR drop-in...


Read more at: Meet Sonal Yadav
Dr Sonal Yadav with background of microscopy image of shoot meristem of Arabidopsis thaliana

Meet Sonal Yadav

Taking inspiration from Humans of New York, each week we will feature people from our SLCU community. Sonal joined SLCU in January 2023 as a Research Associate and is working in three research groups - Alexander Jones, Henrik Jönsson and Elliot Meyerowitz. She recently defended her PhD from IISER Mohali under the guidance of Dr Ram Kishor Yadav.


Read more at: Modelling the evolution of novelty

Modelling the evolution of novelty

Understanding the evolution of novelty through computational modelling The most striking outcome of evolution is the emergence of novel forms of life, with new abilities and interesting shapes, colours and sizes. In an Essays in Biochemistry review , Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University’s (SLCU) Enrico Sandro Colizzi...


Read more at: Meet Albin Teulet
Albin Tuelet pictured in SLCU building with labs in background

Meet Albin Teulet

Taking inspiration from Humans of New York, each week we will feature people from our SLCU community. Albin's research f ocuses on understanding the molecular strategies employed by beneficial/symbiotic microorganisms to facilitate their interaction with their host. He is specifically interested in investigating how these microorganisms are able to suppress the host's immune response by utilising effector proteins.


Read more at: Meet Raymond Wightman
Raymond Wightman reading the user manual on the day the Leica Stellaris 5 was installed in October 2022

Meet Raymond Wightman

Taking inspiration from Humans of New York, each week we will feature people from our SLCU community. Ray joined SLCU in 2011 as a postdoc in Elliot Meyerowitz’ group working on shoot apical meristem development. Together with a small team, he now runs SLCU's microscopy facility where they train and support researchers in the use of light and electron microscopes.


Read more at: Science of the extremes – what does it take for plants to survive?
Frost on green leaves

Science of the extremes – what does it take for plants to survive?

Dora's research focuses on understanding how plants respond and adapt to weather extremes. Her work is revealing just what it takes for plants to survive, including work that has identified a mechanism that plants use to cope with cold at dawn