News

Alex Jenkin, project manager at the Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme (GPSEP), a team administered by the Sainsbury Laboratory, has been selected to join an international group of 95 women in science on a three-week expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula. Photo by Nataliia Kuksa.The expedition, departing from Ushuaia, Argentina, in November i…

As parents of identical twins will tell you, they are never actually identical, even though they have the same genes. This is also true in the plant world. Now, new research by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) is helping to explain why ‘twin’ plants, with identical genes, grown in identical environments continue to display unique ch…

Plant science researchers from SLCU and the University of Helsinki have identified key regulatory networks controlling how plants grow ‘outwards’, which could help us to grow trees to be more efficient carbon sinks and increase vegetable crop yields. As we crane our necks to stare up in awe at the height of the world’s tallest trees, it’s easy to f…

An interdisciplinary collaboration between structural biologists and plant scientists has revealed another layer in the signalling pathway of strigolactone – a plant hormone that plays a key role in shoot branching and other plant development processes.Published in Nature this week, researchers from the University of Washington and Sainsbury Labora…

SLCU researchers have demonstrated that the circadian clock is more complex than a simple ‘on-off switch’ when it comes to controlling cell division.The ability of a cell to replicate itself is what defines cells as living things. This elegant process where a parent cell divides into two daughter cells hides an incredibly complex series of biochemi…

 Sainsbury Lab awarded Silver Athena SWAN awardSainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) has been recognised for its ongoing commitment to gender equality by achieving a Silver Award under the Athena SWAN Charter.This award recognises the progress that SLCU has made in addressing gender equality since its Bronze Award in 2014. SLCU Director …

Current Biology recently interviewed Giles Oldroyd about his research and goals in science and life."It is particularly important for me to work in an environment where I feel supported both as a person and as a scientist. I want to be taken seriously whether I have a blue mohawk or I wear a dress."Giles joined SLCU in October last year. He is lead…

Plant biomathematicians at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) have developed a new tool that enables them to listen in on cell-to-environment conversations. The tool’s wide-ranging application means it could help speed-up the development of strategies to combat plant and animal pathogens. SLCU plant biomathematicians, Dr Anna Gogl…

SLCU's Director Ottoline Leyser & SLCU Group Leader Giles Oldroyd discuss opportunities plants will provide for the future of agriculture on BBC 4's Today programme.Listen to the programme (interview starts at 22:12).

SLCU Director Ottoline Leyser examines the European Court of Justice's recent ruling on genetically modified crops in her feature for The Conversation. Written by Professor Ottoline LeyserThe European Court of Justice has made an important ruling on genetically modified crops. Since 2003, new crop varieties produced by genetic modification have had…

Go behind the scenes with SLCU researcher Dr Annalisa Rizza to find out about her work. Inside Cambridge is a new video series produced by the University of Cambridge on life at the University.Go behind the scenes in this episode with two University of Cambridge researchers. What are they researching? How do they do it? What are their laboratories …

SLCU Director, Professor Ottoline Leyser, was presented with the OlChemIn Award 2018 in recognition of her outstanding research on plant hormones. The award was presented at the Auxins and Cytokinins in Plant Development International Symposium (ACPD2018) in Prague on 4 July 2018. 

Dr Edwige Moyroud has been honoured by the Linnean Society of London with the 2018 Bicentenary Medal for her discoveries on the evolution and development of nanoscale architecture in flower petals. Dr Moyroud now leads a research group at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU), which is studying how flowers form patterns on their peta…

Professor Elliot Meyerowitz has been awarded the 2018 Gruber Genetics Prize by the Gruber Foundation for his "groundbreaking work in identifying the basic regulatory and biochemical mechanisms underlying the development of plants."He shares the $500,000 award with Professor Joanne Chory, Director of the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laborato…

HFSP funding to investigate cellular growth and stresses in plantsSLCU's Professor Henrik Jönsson is part of an international collaboration that has received funding from the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) to develop the first integrated model in plants investigating the effects from cellular growth and stresses on nuclear shape and genetic …