Topic description and stories

Cambridge has played a central role in the story of genomics: from uncovering the structure of DNA through to inventing a super-fast way of reading the genetic code. Today, researchers are using genomic information to make more accurate diagnoses, enable personalised medicine, tackle threats like COVID-19, and even reconstruct the ancient history of humans.

Film: the race to sequence COVID-19

04 Oct 2021

The variant hunters are helping us to understand how and why the COVID-19 virus is spreading, allowing us to fight back against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Track and trace in Sierra Leone

30 Sep 2021

Professor Ian Goodfellow played a crucial role in helping to bring the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone to a close in 2014. His team's work helped...

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Four Cambridge researchers recognised in the 2022 Breakthrough Prizes

09 Sep 2021

Four University of Cambridge researchers – Professors Shankar Balasubramanian, David Klenerman, Suchitra Sebastian and Jack Thorne – have been...

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visualisation of the Covid-19 virus

Spread of Delta SARS-CoV-2 variant driven by combination of immune escape and increased infectivity

06 Sep 2021

Findings suggest infection control measures against variants will need to continue in the post-vaccination era.

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Coronavirus

Hospital-acquired COVID-19 tends to be picked up from other patients, not from healthcare workers

24 Aug 2021

The majority of patients who contracted COVID-19 while in hospital did so from other patients rather than from healthcare workers, concludes a new...

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DNA jigsaw

Rare genetic variants confer largest increase in type 2 diabetes risk seen to date

07 Jul 2021

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have identified rare genetic variants – carried by one in 3,000 people – that have a larger impact on the...

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How mass testing helped limit the spread of COVID-19 at the University of Cambridge

01 Jun 2021

A combination of testing programmes for staff and students, infection control measures and genomic surveillance helped reduce the number of cases of...

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David Klenerman and Shankar Balasubramanian receiving the MTP prize

Cambridge researchers awarded the Millennium Technology Prize

18 May 2021

British duo Professor Shankar Balasubramanian and Professor David Klenerman have been awarded the Millennium Technology Prize for their development...

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Journeys of discovery: rapid genome sequencing

18 May 2021

David Klenerman and Shankar Balasubramanian talk about their discovery of a revolutionary DNA sequencing technology – and the global impact that...

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Mother and child

Mothers can influence offspring’s height, lifespan and disease risk in unexpected ways – through their mitochondria

17 May 2021

Mitochondria - the ‘batteries’ that power our cells – play an unexpected role in common diseases such as type 2 diabetes and multiple sclerosis...

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DNA

Researchers call for greater awareness of unintended consequences of CRISPR gene editing

12 Apr 2021

CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing can lead to unintended mutations at the targeted section of DNA in early human embryos, researchers have revealed. This...

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Hunting for COVID-19 variants

22 Mar 2021

Professor Sharon Peacock explains the story behind the UK's world-leading SARS-CoV-2 genomics capability.

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