Topic description and stories

algae

Green energy from algae

25 Jun 2010

Visitors to this year's Royal Society Summer Exhibition will have a chance to discover how scientists from the University of Cambridge are studying...

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Flower

Seeding growth: plant sciences

01 May 2010

The study of plants is blossoming in Cambridge, with new facilities, new research and soon a major new institute.

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Pollination

All abuzz about petals

01 May 2010

The amazing diversity of flowers is a biological mystery that has long intrigued scientists. Dr Beverley Glover explains how new understanding of...

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Simply leaf

Promoting green innovation

01 Feb 2010

A regional knowledge transfer project is linking the region's top plant science research with businesses wanting to develop new products.

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13 - grapes

Scientists get to the root of ancient case of sour grapes

17 Dec 2009

Scientists in Cambridge have discovered that a lowly grape variety grown by peasants, but despised by noblemen, during the Middle Ages was the mother...

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Nazca lines

Forest clearances sealed ancient civilisation’s downfall

02 Nov 2009

An ancient South American civilisation which disappeared around 1,500 years ago helped to cause its own demise by damaging the fragile ecosystem that...

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Rice

Supercharged rice: the answer to famine?

26 May 2009

An ambitious project that aims to increase rice yields could provide the solution to future food shortages.

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bee

Getting a grip: ‘Velcro’-like structure helps bees stick to flowers

14 May 2009

When bees collect nectar, how do they hold onto the flower? Cambridge University scientists have shown that it is down to small cone-shaped cells on...

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Vulpia grass

Displaying the foundations of evolutionary thinking

01 May 2009

Collaboration between the University Herbarium and Microsoft Research Ltd has made a unique botanical collection available to a world-wide audience...

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Plants

Plants not guilty of making greenhouse gases

14 Jan 2009

A study led by scientists at Cambridge University and Royal Holloway, University of London, has shown that plants are not guilty of creating tens of...

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Sainsbury Laboratory

Cambridge botanist awarded ‘America’s Nobel’ Prize for medical research

12 Sep 2008

David Baulcombe, the Professor of Botany at Cambridge University, is being honoured with the 2008 Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research for his...

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plant image

Synthetic biology takes root

01 Sep 2008

Creating circuits from multiple components is routine in engineering. Can living systems be constructed using similar principles?

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