Research News

Whole genome sequencing offered to breast cancer patients is likely to identify unique genetic features that could either guide immediate treatment or help match patients to clinical trials for over 15,000 women a year, say scientists at the University of Cambridge.

Albert Einstein’s violin has been identified by Dr Paul Wingfield, composer of a musical drama about Einstein’s life as a violinist.

It is with great sadness that the University shares the news of the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon, founder of the Gurdon Institute.

University of Cambridge alumnus Professor John Clarke has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis, for their work revealing quantum physics in action.

When Bifidobacterium breve, widely available in probiotic drinks, is present in the gut of pregnant females it boosts the placenta’s production of pregnancy hormones to reduce the likelihood of complications like preeclampsia and miscarriage.

Students from less wealthy backgrounds are more likely to attend schools where learning a language to GCSE is treated as optional – and not necessarily strongly encouraged – new research shows.

Researchers find different genetic profiles related to two trajectories that autistic children tend to follow. One linked to early diagnosis, and communication difficulties in infancy. The other linked to later diagnosis, increased social and behavioural difficulties in adolescence, and higher rates of conditions like ADHD, depression, and PTSD.

Scientists have, for the first time, directly visualised and quantified the protein clusters believed to trigger Parkinson’s, marking a major advance in the study of the world’s fastest-growing neurological disease.

A new book warns that the school system may be “broken beyond repair”, claiming that it is deepening inequality and making children ill.

Scientists behind the trial say they are “on the brink of a new class of treatments” and that the findings take us another step closer to stopping disease progression in MS.

Celebrations at the University of Cambridge honour the life, work and legacy of Sir Robert Edwards, whose work revolutionised fertility treatment through the invention of in vitro fertilisation.

Two Cambridge researchers have been named Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering in recognition of their exceptional contributions to their fields.

The University has been selected as the lead delivery partner for the British Academy’s new East of England Early Career Researcher Network (ECRN) cluster. Cambridge will work closely with the other delivery partners, Anglia Ruskin University and the University of East Anglia, to support early career researchers in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences across the region.

Research uncovers how a poet-physician turned the innovation in assisted reproduction into a moving story and amplified the women involved.

The Artificial Intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, appeared to improvise ideas and make mistakes like a student in a study that rebooted a 2,400-year-old mathematical challenge.

Mortality after emergency abdominal surgery is more than three times higher in the least developed countries compared to the most developed. Yet among those who undergo surgery, injuries tend to be less severe – raising concerns that those most critically injured are not even reaching the operating theatre.

Three Cambridge researchers are among 77 early-career researchers who have been awarded a total of £120 million to lead vital research, collaborate with innovators and develop their careers as the research and innovation leaders of the future.

Life-saving opportunities to prevent suicide among autistic people are being missed because systemic barriers make it difficult for them to access NHS support during times of mental health crisis, according to new research.

People who care informally for sick or disabled friends and relatives often become invisible in their own lives. Focusing on the needs of those they care for, they rarely get the chance to talk about their own emotions or challenges, and this can lead to them feeling increasingly stressed and isolated.  

A short profile of a migrant NHS worker that taps into values of duty and hard work produces a 20-point swing in positivity towards EU immigration among British voters, according to a Cambridge psychology experiment.