News

How cells change their identity to become a different cell type and the route they follow to reach their final form is a fundamental unanswered question at the heart of developmental biology. In research published today in Cell Stem Cell, Cambridge scientists reveal, for the first time, that cells can actually follow a range of distinct molecular r…

New research, published today in Nature, reveals how increasing brain stiffness as we age causes brain stem cell dysfunction, and demonstrates new ways to reverse older stem cells to a younger, healthier state.The results have far reaching implications for how we understand the ageing process, and how we might develop much-needed treatments for age…

Professor Austin Smith from the Wellcome – MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute is one of the first round of researchers from the UK and Japan funded to tackle major global challenges in collaborative projects announced today, Friday 9th August 2019. The projects are the first to be funded through the Joint Call between UK Research and Innovation (UKR…

A combination of heart cells derived from human stem cells could be the answer to developing a desperately-needed treatment for heart failure, according to new research part-funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and published in Nature Biotechnology. Researchers have found that, by transplanting an area of damaged tissue with a combination o…

Scientists have discovered that a specific brain cell known as a ‘projection neuron’ has a central role to play in the brain changes seen in multiple sclerosis (MS). The research, published today in Nature, shows that projection neurons are damaged by the body’s own immune cells, and that this damage could underpin the brain shrinkage and cognitiv…

In a ceremony held yesterday evening (25th June) at Girton College, Professor Anna Philpott received one of this year’s Pilkington Prizes for teaching excellence at the University of Cambridge.The Pilkington Prize awards were endowed and inaugurated in 1994 by Sir Alastair Pilkington to acknowledge excellence in teaching. The prizes are awarded to …

To raise awareness of myelopathy and to address gaps in our knowledge of the condition and how best to treat it, Cambridge Stem Cell Institute Affiliate, Dr Mark Kotter and colleague Ben Davies, together with Iwan Sadler, have launched Myelopathy.org, a charity that aims to give patients a voice and effect change.Myelopathy is caused by arthritic c…

A pioneering group of biologists, physicists and mathematical modellers in Cambridge have studied the genetic activity of over 100,000 embryonic cells to establish the molecular blueprint of mouse early embryo development. This new research provides fundamentally important information on how mammalian embryos develop during gastrulation, a key sta…

Two PhD students from the Wellcome – MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute are embarking on a 6000km journey in a customised Renault 4L to support children and schools in Morocco, and to raise awareness of stem cell research at a global scale. PhD students Daniel and Marion.On Thursday 21 February, Marion Perrin and Daniel Bode will set off from Biarri…

An active ingredient in eye drops that were being developed for the treatment of a form of eye disease has shown promise for treating an aggressive form of blood cancer. Scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome – MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge and their collaborators have found that this compound, which targ…

Prof Robin Franklin has been featured in an article published in iNews, where he talks about Multiple Sclerosis research and how vital it is to increase the funding available to study the disease.Robin is a senior scientist at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and Director of the Cambridge MS Society Centre for Myelin Repair. He is a world leader i…

Scientists have developed a successful method to make truly personalised predictions of future disease outcomes for patients with certain types of chronic blood cancers. The study from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, the University of Cambridge, and their collaborators, combined extensive genetic and c…

On Friday (28th) and Saturday (29th) of September, Researchers from the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute took part in the largest public science event in Europe, European Researchers Night.Led by the Wellcome Genome Campus, LifeLab aims to bring cutting edge research to communities with limited access to science through a range of talks, hands on acti…

Blood stem cells produce all blood cell types throughout life, including red blood cells that transport oxygen throughout our body and white blood cells called lymphocytes that help us fight infections. New research using cutting-edge single cell technologies reveals that the regulation of the balance between red and white blood cell production, al…

Adult humans have many more blood-creating stem cells in their bone marrow than previously thought, ranging between 50,000 and 200,000 stem cells. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Wellcome – MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute developed a new approach for studying stem cells, based on methods used in ecology.The results, published t…