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20/05/2025

The rise and rise of proteostasis

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the 2023-2024 Institute Review.

Proteostasis, the myriad mechanisms that ensure our proteins work correctly, is key to healthy ageing. We speak to Dr Della David and Dr Rahul Samant about their cutting-edge research, why proteostasis is such a growing area of strength at the Institute, and how the new UK Proteostasis Network will help accelerate research in the field.

20/05/2025

Adapting to change and challenge

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the 2023-2024 Institute Review.

Understanding how things work underpins the Institute’s past, present and future. Dr Simon Cook, Institute Director and head of the Signalling programme, explains why he’s an evangelist for discovery research, how this quest for understanding is reflected in the Institute’s science, its people and the ecosystem of the Babraham Research Campus, and looks ahead to the next four years’ work.

20/05/2025

Immunology, interactions and interplay

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the 2023-2024 Institute Review.

As we age, our bodies become more prone to infection and disease, and vaccination becomes less effective. Dr Martin Turner, Head of the Immunology programme, talks about why a deeper understanding of the immune system is key to lifelong health and why—after almost 30 years at the Institute—the programme’s research continues to excite.

20/05/2025

Diet, DNA and destiny

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the 2023-2024 Institute Review.

For some, living longer brings opportunities, but for others it heralds ill health. Ameliorating deficits in healthspan requires deeper understanding of the complex changes in biological functions that lead to ageing. Dr Gavin Kelsey, Head of the Epigenetics programme, talks about the programme’s science, ambitions for the next four years, and shares a small secret about what helps fuel his research.

20/05/2025

Director to director: Becoming Babraham

This feature was developed by Louisa Wood from a conversation between Simon Cook and Richard Dyer to mark the 30th anniversary of the naming of the ÂÌñÉç and published in the 2023-2024 Institute Review.

Thirty years on from the Institute’s official renaming, former director Richard Dyer (1994-2005) and current director Simon Cook reflect on shared history, the essence of Babraham and where another thirty years might take us.

18/12/2023

Natural born killers

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the 2021-2022 Review.

Dr Arianne Richard talks about T cells, how knowing more about how they operate could open up new vaccines against viruses and new therapies for cancer, and why the Institute is the best place for her to tackle these questions.

18/12/2023

From Latin to the lab

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the 2021-2022 Review.

Dr Philipp Voigt joined the Institute in December 2021 to set up a new group in the Epigenetics programme. But on leaving school he wanted to teach maths and Latin. Here, he explains the biological conundrums he aims to answer – and why Latin grammar could yet come in handy.

18/12/2023

From tiny worms to big discoveries

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the 2021-2022 Review.

Dr Della David reflects on her first 12 months at the Institute, reveals the roots of her own scientific curiosity, and explains how a tiny, transparent, short-lived worm is enabling her to discover new ways of promoting healthy ageing.

18/12/2023

Delving deeply into development

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the 2021-2022 Review.

Dr Peter Rugg-Gunn talks about the challenges of studying early human development, his group’s groundbreaking discoveries, and why he believes the Human Development Biology Initiative – a five year, £10m project funded by Wellcome – will lead to a step change in the field.

18/12/2023

Time flies

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the 2021-2022 Review.

Joining a new organisation and building your research team during a pandemic isn’t ideal but new group leader Dr Ian McGough is pleased he’s found his niche, and gorgeous trail running routes, alongside a very warm welcome.

17/10/2023

The legacy of liposomes: how fundamental research keeps on giving

The history of liposomes from discovery to vaccine delivery. This narrative was written by Honor Pollard and Louisa Wood as part of the  

29/11/2021

Promoter Capture Hi-C: from academic tool to £1.5M startup

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2019-2020.

Fundamental research is vital for science and society. Many medical and technological revolutions are rooted in basic research, yet those roots can be hard to trace. Today, spinouts are key to turning academic bioscience into healthcare treatments. Dr Stefan Schoenfelder, a group leader in the Institute’s Epigenetics programme and co-founder of Enhanc3D Genomics, discusses taking a tool developed for fundamental research and building a business around it.

29/11/2021

How yeast is reshaping ideas on ageing

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2019-2020.

Healthy ageing is one of society’s most pressing concerns, but basic questions like why we age remain a mystery. Dr Jon Houseley, a group leader in the Institute’s Epigenetics programme, studies the ways in which yeast cells adapt to new environments. As well as uncovering new connections between adaptation and ageing, his research is challenging our ideas about ageing itself.

29/11/2021

A remarkable partnership

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2019-2020.

Great science depends on teamwork, yet genuine partnerships are rare, especially those which sustain success over decades. Dr Len Stephens and Dr Phill Hawkins, both group leaders in the Institute’s Signalling programme, have worked together for more than 30 years. Here, they reflect on their research, their relationship – and their distinctly different approaches to fishing.

29/11/2021

Back to basics

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2019-2020.

Setting up a new group is exciting and daunting. Two group leaders who joined the Signalling programme in 2019 – Dr Hayley Sharpe and Dr Rahul Samant – talk about their research and the supportive, collaborative and open environment that they say marks out the Institute.

29/11/2021

Responding to the COVID crisis

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2019-2020.

As well as exposing weaknesses in healthcare systems and supply chains, the coronavirus pandemic has underscored the importance of fundamental research and collective effort. During 2020, scientists rose to the challenge of developing new vaccines and effective treatments for Covid-19. Institute immunologists Dr Michelle Linterman and Professor Adrian Liston describe how their labs responded and the lessons we must learn.

29/11/2021

The essential element

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2019-2020.

Oxygen makes up 21% of the Earth’s atmosphere and plays a pivotal role in biological systems. Despite this, huge gaps remain in our understanding of how this essential element regulates cell signalling pathways and affects our immune system – questions that Dr Sarah Ross aims to answer.

05/08/2019

Riding the data wave

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2018

Big data is revolutionising science. But as well as changing physics, chemistry and biology, it’s changing the nature of science itself. Institute researchers Wolf Reik and Stefan Schoenfelder and bioinformatics expert Simon Andrews reflect on how big data is re-shaping not only the way they work, but how they think. And we discover how bioinformatics – once considered a geeky corner of biology by some – has become central to scientific progress.

05/08/2019

Welcome to the lipidome

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2018

Once neglected as too dull to study and too sticky to work with, lipids are at last stepping out of the shadows. Institute Director Michael Wakelam and lipidomics facility manager Andrea Lopez-Clavijo explain the challenges of working with these cellular Cinderellas and share their excitement of research in a field that’s finally giving up its secrets.

05/08/2019

New horizons for immunology

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2018

New group leaders bring new skills, new expertise and new perspectives, and 2018 saw three new group leaders join the Institute’s Immunology programme. Professor Adrian Liston, Dr Claudia Ribeiro de Almeida and Dr Sarah Ross talk about their research, their ambitions and what makes the Institute such a special place to work.

01/07/2018

Vaccinations: a Global Challenge

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2017

The Institute’s research is having a major impact on global public health. Although the first vaccines were developed more than two centuries ago, infectious diseases such as malaria and influenza still affect millions of people each year. By improving our understanding of the immune system and its response to modern vaccines, the Institute is paving the way for better vaccines that will protect more people from life-threatening diseases.

01/07/2018

The Sounds of the Genome

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2017

The Institute does world-leading research, and using public engagement to enthuse, excite and inspire is a key part of our mission. This year, we teamed up with two innovative artists to transform our data into a virtual reality experience. The result, CHROMOS, is allowing new audiences to discover the DNA drama that goes on inside the nucleus of a single cell.

01/07/2018

Informing Policy on Ageing

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2017

Ensuring that the Institute’s world-leading research has a direct impact on people’s health means translating – and contextualising – our science for many audiences. For parliamentarians and policy makers, healthy ageing is among the 21^st century’s most pressing problems. So as well as pioneering research on healthy ageing, we’re ensuring science is accessible to decision makers through our knowledge exchange programme.

01/07/2018

Making the Most of Signalling Research

This feature was written by Becky Allen for the Annual Research Report 2017

Bringing together the Institute’s researchers with scientists in the 60 companies on the Babraham Research Campus is helping turn innovative ideas into new benefits for human health – fast. Over the past two years, members of the Signalling research programme have transformed a conversation over coffee into a collaboration that could deliver new ways of treating some of the most intractable human cancers.