Topic description and stories

Illustration of DNA molecules

DNA sequencing method lifts ‘veil’ from genome black box

23 Jan 2023

Many life-saving drugs directly interact with DNA to treat diseases such as cancer, but scientists have struggled to detect how and why they work –...

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Female hands rolling a marijuana joint

Cannabis users no less likely to be motivated or able to enjoy life’s pleasure

01 Sep 2022

Adult and adolescent cannabis users are no more likely than non-users to lack motivation or be unable to enjoy life’s pleasure, new research has...

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Man smoking

Autistic individuals may be more likely to use recreational drugs to self-medicate their mental health

01 Jul 2021

While autistic individuals are less likely to use substances, those who do so are more likely to self-medicate for their mental health symptoms...

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A cannabis setup inside a residential premises in the West Midlands. Image: West Midlands Police.

Cannabis farms are a modern slavery 'blind spot' for UK police, study suggests

15 Sep 2020

Migrants arrested for tending plants in the flats, houses and attics where cannabis is grown in bulk are often victims of trafficking and 'debt...

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Strategic partner: AstraZeneca

11 Nov 2019

Scientists at AstraZeneca, a global biopharmaceutical company, have been working with Cambridge University for more than two decades. What are the...

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Brexit puts UK’s ability to tackle drug-related crime at risk, say experts

03 May 2019

Brexit could threaten the UK’s ability to tackle drug-related crime linked to serious and organised crime, according to public health experts writing...

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Synthetic organs, nanobots and DNA ‘scissors’: the future of medicine

12 Oct 2017

Nanobots that patrol our bodies, killer immune cells hunting and destroying cancer cells, biological scissors that cut out defective genes: these are...

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Medications

Concerns over side effects of statins stopping stroke survivors taking medication

17 Jul 2017

Negative media coverage of the side effects associated with taking statins, and patients’ own experiences of taking the drugs, are among the reasons...

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Neurons

Milner Therapeutics Institute: a drug discovery ecosystem

28 Jun 2017

Tony Kouzarides is passionate about ecosystems: well-balanced communities that flourish on mutual and dynamic interactions. But the ecosystems that...

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Drugs: how to pick a winner in clinical trials

26 Jun 2017

When a drug fails late on in clinical trials it’s a major setback for launching new medicines. It can cost millions, even billions, of research and...

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Artist's impression of a nanobot

How to train your drugs: from nanotherapeutics to nanobots

23 Jun 2017

Nanotechnology is creating new opportunities for fighting disease – from delivering drugs in smart packaging to nanobots powered by the world’s...

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The bug hunters and the microbiome

21 Jun 2017

Trevor Lawley and Gordon Dougan are bug hunters, albeit not the conventional kind. The bugs they collect are invisible to the naked eye. And even...

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