‘Sleeping’ stem cells could aid regenerative medicine for brain repair
Scientists at the Wellcome Trust/ Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, have identified a new type of stem cell in the brain which they say has a high potential for repair following brain injury or disease.
New studies describe role of glutamate receptor ion channels in cancer progression
Two studies published in Open Biology and Cancer Cell, co-authored by Hugh Robinson, have shed new light on how glutamate receptor ion channels are involved in cancer progression
Study shows how muscles regulate their oxygen consumption
A new study by Randall Johnson published in Cell Metabolism shows that an enzyme called FIH determines how muscles consume oxygen. Without the enzyme, the need for oxygen increases during physical exercise. The finding is of potential significance to elite athletes, who have been found to have higher levels of FIH in their muscles than others.
Azim Surani to receive coveted Canada Gairdner International Award for discovery of genomic imprinting
Azim Surani of the Gurdon Institute and Davor Solter of the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics will receive Canada's top research award from the Gairdner Foundation in recognition of their work establishing the field of epigenetics with the discovery of genomic imprinting
The world's highest lab is uncovering the secrets of extreme fitness
Andrew Murray, part of the Xtreme Everest project, was interviewed by Wired Magazine on the difficulties of testing Sherpas in high altitude, low oxygen environments
How does the brain’s spatial map change when we change the shape of the room?
Study published in Science by Juljia Kupric examines the role of “metric” cells in the GPS of the brain
Dr Matt Mason awarded 2018 Pilkington Prize
The Pilkington Prize award acknowledges excellence in teaching at the University of Cambridge
How the brain tidies up memories during sleep
Connections between brain cells are refined during sleep in a way that makes a memory stand out without interfering with previously stored memories, new study by Ole Paulsen's group shows
The body in miniature - organoid research at Meritxell Huch's lab
Dr Laura Broutier from Huch's lab interviewed about recent advancements in organoids on the latest issue of Research Horizons
PDN scientists discover the secrets behind the cuttlefish’s 3D ‘invisibility cloak’
An international team of scientists led by Trevor Wardill has identified the neural circuits that enable cuttlefish to change their appearance in just the blink to eye – and discovered that this is similar to the neural circuit that controls iridescence in squids.
The honeycomb maze provides a novel test to study hippocampal-dependent spatial navigation
A powerful new tool for the study of spatial memory was today described in Nature as a significant improvement over the standard, the Morris Water Maze. The study was led by the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre in collaboration with PDN's Julija Krupic
Female sexual behavior in mice is controlled by kisspeptin neurons
An international research team which included Prof Bill Colledge has made a major advancement in understanding how the brain controls sexual behaviour, published in Nature Communications.
Meritxell Huch awarded WICB Medal
Dr Meritxell has received the 2018 Women in Cell Biology Early Career Medal from the British Society for Cell Biology
OCD film wins Openness Award for depiction of animal research at Cambridge
A series of films illustrating how research using animals is helping further our understanding of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) was awarded the 2017 Openness Award in the category of Website or Use of New Media
Scientists at PDN shed light on the mechanisms of early pregnancy loss
Using a newly developed technique to culture mouse and human embryos in vitro beyond implantation, PDN researchers led by Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz show how alteration of the first morphological transformation can lead to pregnancy termination
Dino Giussani given 2017 Nick Hales Award
Prof Giussani has received the prize from the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health & Disease
Harder for T cells to fight cancer in absence of VEGF-A
New research by Randall Johnson about the role of VEGF-A in helping T-cells in low oxygen environments makes the cover of Cancer Cell
Sheep are able to recognise human faces from photographs
Sheep can be trained to recognise human faces from photographic portraits – and can even identify the picture of their handler without prior training – according to new research from Jenny Morton's lab
Cambridge Postgraduate Pioneers - Sarah Harrison
Sarah Harrison, a final year PhD student at PDN, is featured in the University's Postgraduate Pioneer article series.
Skin found to play a role in controlling blood pressure
New study by Randall Johnson on eLife shows that skin reacts to the changes in oxygen in the air to regulate blood pressure and hearth rate
At the frontier of embryology - interview with Magda Zernicka-Goetz
The PDN scientist was interviewed by asian television channel NHK on her lab's recent advancements.
Scientific Reports: tiny Brazilian frogs are deaf to their own calls
New research by Matt Mason in collaboration with other scientists shows that two species of small forest frogs are unable to perceive the sound of their own voices
Genome editing reveals role of gene important for human embryo development
CTR researchers have revealed the role of the OCT4 gene in human embryos in the first few days of development. This is the first time that genome editing has been used to study gene function in human embryos.
The Super Abilities of Insects
Roger Hardie and Paloma Gonzalez Bellido talk about the amazing abilities of flies on BBC World Service Radio
PDN members awarded prizes at IFPA 2017
Nadejda Capatina, Hannah Yong and Joanna Rakoczy received prizes at the International Federation of Placenta Associations meeting in Manchester
PDN Part II student awarded John Ray Trust Science Prize
Léa Wenger received the prize for best research project
RNA docking and local translation control axon remodelling in vivo
New research by Christine Holt's lab published in Neuron shows that local mRNA translation is a key determinant in the branching of axons and thus important in building the complexity of the brain
Exploring the evidence around embryo mortality: Gavin Jarvis on F1000Research
In this blog post Gavin Jarvis talks us through his work and inspiration behind looking into the evidence to answer the question, 'how do we know how many embryos die?'
Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz featured on the Sunday Times
The latest edition of A Life in the Day focuses on Magdalena's embryo research.
Pre-oral gut contributes to facial structures in non-teleost fishes
Research by Martin Minařik, member of Clare Baker's lab, has been published on Nature