News

12 Feb 2019

Steve Jackson to receive ARC Foundation Léopold Griffuel Award

Steve Jackson wins prestigious cancer research award from the Fondation ARC pour la recherche sur le cancer.Fondation ARC is the largest French foundation dedicated entirely to cancer research, and is funded by public donations. Their mission is to support research in the fight to eradicate cancers, with an ambitious goal to "cure 2 cancers out of …

22 Jan 2019

A new LOPIT on the block

The Lilley Group have published a new paper in Nature Communications that combines the LOPIT-DC and hyperLOPIT spatial proteomics approaches.Proteins can adopt multiple functions which are controlled by their subcellular location, binding partners, and post-transcriptional and post-translational modification status, significantly increasing the fun…

21 Jan 2019

Part III Project Symposium 2019

On Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th January, the Department held its annual Part III undergraduate students' Project Symposium.The start of Lent Term here in the Department of Biochemistry would not be the same without the traditional Part III Project Symposium. For those unfamiliar with the Cambridge system, these are fourth year undergraduate stud…

15 Jan 2019

Department Research Day 2019

On Monday 14th January, the Department held its annual Research Day at Robinson College, Cambridge.Throughout the day, delegates were treated to a series of fantastic talks from our postdocs and final year PhD students, highlighting the breadth and quality of research within our Department.Liz Willstead, Senior Research Grants Administrator, commen…

8 Jan 2019

OOPS! A new method to capture the RNA-binding proteome!

The Lilley Group, and collaborators, have published a simple and cost-effective method to capture the RNA-binding proteome in Nature Biotechnology.To date, the major method used to determine the repertoire of RNA-binding proteins in cells has been limited to the study of proteins that bind polyadenylated-RNA since it uses oligo(dT) to purify RNA:pr…

7 Dec 2018

Fred Sanger - A short film by Birgitta Olofsson

Dr Birgitta Olofsson has produced a short film about the life and research of the double Nobel Prize-winning scientist Fred Sanger.Birgitta is an alumna of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and is currently a Director of Studies and Bye-Fellow at Newnham College.

22 Nov 2018

Paul Dupree named a 2018 Highly Cited Researcher

We are pleased to announce that Paul Dupree has been named a 2018 Highly Cited Researcher, with the Dupree group's research among the top 1% most cited works worldwide in the 'cross field' category.Professor Dupree commented that: "I'm very proud to be named a 2018 Highly Cited Researcher. This reflects the outstanding work of our group members ove…

31 Oct 2018

Professor Peter Leadlay retires

Professor Peter Leadlay, Herchel Smith Professor of Biochemistry, is retiring today, Wednesday 31st October.Last month former members of the Leadlay Group held a Symposium in Peter's honour, attended by 130 delegates, to celebrate his research and illustrious career within our Department. Although this Symposium was a fantastic tribute, we cannot l…

16 Oct 2018

Cambridge Postgraduate Open Day

The University of Cambridge, alongside the Cambridge Departments and Colleges, invite you to the Cambridge Postgraduate Open Day on Friday 2nd November 2018.The Postgraduate Open Day is open to all those seeking to apply for postgraduate study at the University and will provide opportunities to meet department staff, explore the Colleges and find o…

11 Oct 2018

Kathryn Lilley receives HUPO Award for Distinguished Achievement in Proteomic Sciences

Congratulations to Kathryn Lilley who has been presented with the Human Proteome Organisation's Award for Distinguished Achievement in Proteomic Sciences.Proteomics is the study of all the proteins within a given sample, from cells in culture to clinical tissue biopsies. Analysis of the changes in the abundance of proteins, their biochemical modifi…

9 Oct 2018

Higher order from high disorder

Katherine Stott and colleagues have published a new paper in PNAS that offers insight into the mechanism of DNA condensation and decondensation in eukaryotic cells.Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is transforming the world of structural biology through the imaging of samples at atomic resolution without the need for crystallisation. Despite its w…

4 Oct 2018

Andras Solt wins Glover Research Award

Congratulations to Andras Solt on winning the Department's Glover Research Award for the 2018-2019 academic year.Andras is a postgraduate student in the Nietlispach Group. He is now in the final year of his PhD collaborating with Novartis, having previously taken a year during his undergraduate degree in molecular biology at UCL to work as an Indus…

1 Oct 2018

Second Year Postgraduate Poster Sessions 2018

The Department of Biochemistry's annual Second Year Postgraduate Poster Sessions were held on Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th September.At the end of September, our second year PhD students presented posters in the Sanger Building describing their research. The general standard was excellent and was easily equivalent to that experienced in any int…

24 Sep 2018

Reading the DNA book without opening it

The Taipale Group and their collaborators have published a paper in Nature that identifies five mechanisms by which proteins can read genetic information from the tightly packaged form of DNA found inside human cells.Every human cell contains around two meters of DNA. In order for this to fit inside the microscopic space of a cell nucleus it has to…

19 Sep 2018

Evolutionary repurposing of a promiscuous enzyme

The Hollfelder and Hyvönen labs have published a detailed molecular description of the chemistry at play during the evolution of a new function.Promiscuous enzymes that accelerate multiple chemically distinct reactions were once regarded as oddities, as the enormous catalytic power of enzymes was thought to be irrevocably connected to precise subst…