Advancing Neuroinclusion Best Practices Round Table 24 September 2025 | 2pm Venue: Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, 47 Bateman St, Cambridge CB1 7AF ( How to find us ) There’s no need to book, just come along on the day. Attend Online: Join the live Zoom Webinar More information: events@slcu.cam.ac.uk About...
Plant cell sculptors: How key proteins take on different roles to shape development
Trichomes on an Arabidopsis thaliana leaf (here shown using electron microscopy) are formed by a single cell adopting this spiked shape (top images). Arabidopsis plants without a SCAR/WAVE gene cannot form properly shaped trichomes, because their inner cytoskeleton control is impaired (bottom images). Images by Sabine...
Cambridge scientists uncover the genetic pathways behind petal pattern evolution New research reveals how repeated genetic changes in Hibiscus flowers have led to the loss of visually striking bullseye patterns despite their advantage in attracting pollinators like bumblebees. Scientists at the Sainsbury Laboratory at the...
How circadian clocks maintain robustness in changing environments
Cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus in the Green Mother Machine. A freeze-frame of a timelapse movie. Cells are entrained in the chip upon exposure to 12 h darkness and then observed under free-running, continuous light conditions (medium LL, 20 μmol m−2 s −1 ). Phase contrast images are shown in the background in grey...
Cambridge Engineering brings mathematical beauty to life at the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show
The Department of Engineering’s Design and Technical Services team will bring mathematical beauty to life with a Fibonacci spiral wall, designed and built for the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge exhibit at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show (20-24 May, 2025). We have been able to push the boundaries of traditional fabrication...
The Pollinator Patch at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025
Illustration of the planned Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge Blooming Numbers exhibit for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025. Melanie Sadler designed The Pollinator Patch to showcase the incredible diversity of plants that can be grown in a small area to support bees, butterflies, and other important pollinator species ...
New research reveals key mechanisms behind cell division
Root meristem of Vicia faba (broad bean) cells in anaphase and prophase stages of mitosis. Image from archive of Josef Reischig and licenced under CC BY SA 3.0 license as a part of Wikimedia Czech Republic 's GLAM initiative. New research reveals key mechanisms behind cell division A breakthrough in the study of cell...
Blooming Numbers: Unveiling the wonders of quantitative plant science at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025
The Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge is thrilled to announce its participation in the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, where it will unveil an interactive plant science exhibit, Blooming Numbers , as part of the new GreenSTEM section highlighting research, innovation and technologies. The exhibit will take...
Groundbreaking insights into the genetic toolkit underlying plant adaptation to land
Groundbreaking insights into the genetic toolkit underlying plant adaptation to land Sequencing the genomes of over a hundred liverworts has uncovered ancient plant adaptation mechanisms, with researchers pinpointing genes linked to temperature and rainfall changes. Researchers at the Sainsbury Laboratory, University of...
Seedlings salute the sun by coordinating multiple mechanical and chemical processes
Research into the mechanisms underlying the uncurling of the apical hook in illuminated Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings shows inner side hook cells show differential irreversible extensibility; auxin and pH gate growth but do not explain differential extension; subepidermal longitudinal force accelerates opening and CMT reorientation; and light-triggered depletion in auxin signaling is gated by wall properties.
