News

The research team that developed a biosensor that first recorded that a distinct gradient of the plant growth hormone gibberellin correlated with plant cell size has now revealed how this distribution pattern is created in roots.Starting when a plant embryo forms within a seed and continuing throughout the plant lifecycle, undifferentiated stem cel…

Chris Whitewoods will join the SLCU research leadership team to head a new research group focused on understanding how plants pattern themselves in three dimensions. We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Chris Whitewoods, who will be joining us in March 2021.Dr Whitewoods, who has been appointed as a David Sainsbury Research Career Dev…

 SLCU's François Nédélec has joined Andrea Musacchio, from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, and Thomas Surrey, from the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, to study one of the most fundamental processes in life – cell division. Their project has been awarded a prestigious ERC Synergy Grant, valued at 11 million …

Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) researchers, as part of a multidisciplinary international team, have uncovered a mechanism controlling subtle changes to the architecture of cell walls in plant roots that bolsters their defence against Phytophthora palmivora without negatively affecting plant growth.Each year 30 to 40 percent of the…

Professor Giles Oldroyd is among 63 other scientists from around the world elected this year as Members and Associate Members of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO).EMBO Membership honours distinguished scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the life sciences, including 88 Nobel Laureates. It is an international organi…

Inside every living cell, there is a network of protein filaments providing an interior scaffold controlling the cell’s shape called the cytoskeleton. Research from the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) suggests that this relationship might actually be two-way, with cell geometry itself having the capacity to influence the organisati…

Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser DBE FRS, Director of the Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the national funding agency investing in science and research in the UK. Professor Leyser has a long-term interest in inclusiveness and engagement in sc…

Professor Giles Oldroyd has been recognised for his outstanding contributions to science in plant-microbe interactions with his election as a fellow of the Royal Society. Announced today by President of the Royal Society, Dr Venki Ramakrishnan, 51 new Fellows, 10 Foreign Members and one Honorary Fellow have been selected for their outstanding contr…

SLCU Director Professor Ottoline Leyser has been awarded the 2020 Waddington Medal by the British Society for Developmental Biology (BSDB).The Waddington Medal is the only national award in Developmental Biology. It honours outstanding research performance as well as services to the subject community. The medal is awarded annually at the BSDB Sprin…

Scientists have discovered new filamentous structures within plant cell walls that influence cell growth and help build complex three-dimensional cell shapes. Combining two types of high-performance microscopes, the researchers identified pectin nanofilaments aligned in columns along the edge of the cell walls of plants. The filaments, which are 1,…

A team of Cambridge scientists working at the intersection between biology and computation has found that random gene activity helps patterns form during development of a model multicellular system.We all start life as a single cell, which multiplies to produce specialised cells that carry out different functions. This complex process relies on pre…

Professor Ottoline Leyser talks to Professor Brian Cox about her admiration for Nobel Prize winning geneticist, Barbara McClintock and explains the two great principles she uncovered.  In series 2 of the Royal Society'sPeople of Science, Professor Brian Cox discovers the scientific inspirations behind six Royal Society Fellows, including SLCU's Dir…

We were delighted to welcome Sixth Form students from Hinchingbrooke School to SLCU this week to meet our scientists and solve a botanic-inspired crime. SLCU hosted 25 A Level Biology students from Hinchingbrooke School for a tour of our building, cafe table chat with our scientists about what they do and Science Escape Room.Reactions to the visit …

An international collaboration of scientists working to optimise arbuscular mycorrhizal associations to improve sustainability in agriculture has demonstrated new insights into how signalling pathways promote symbiotic microbial associations with plants. The team from the University of Cambridge, Aarhus University, Université de Grenoble Alpes and …

Cambridge researchers have captured the visible nanostructure of wood in its live hydrated state for the first time using an advanced low-temperature scanning electron microscope. Architects and engineers are increasingly considering wood as a lighter and more sustainable construction alternative to steel and concrete. While wood has been used in b…