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Running over two days (24 and 26 March), students attended talks held in the Ray Dolby Centre and explored the multiverse with Dr Matthew Bothwell, a maths workshop delivered by NRICH and explored Must Farm with Department of Archaeology and the Cambridge Archaeological Unit. 

Workshops held in the Department of Computer Science and Technology allowed students to get hands on with mini robots while sessions at the Department of Material Sciences and Metallurgy found out what happens when you freeze a squash ball with liquid nitrogen in sessions exploring the science of temperature, structure and materials. 

The Cambridge University Vet School gave students the opportunity see what a career as a vet could involve by getting hands-on with animal x-rays, discovered how each professional works together to treat animals as well as meeting some of the school’s cows and horses to learn how veterinarians diagnose and treat these large animals. 

Students investigated physics in workshops held by the outreach team at the Department of Physics as well as discovering coding with Raspberry Pi, understanding the human body and the history of medicine with the Whipple Museum, learning how to disagree well with Dr Elizabeth Phillips from The Woolf Institute, how to get creative through a poetry workshop and how antibodies save lives. 

We were delighted to welcome KS2 pupils from Cheveley Primary School, Hope Street School, Kettlefields Primary, St Andrews Primary, Meldreth Primary School, St Anthonys Prep, Mayfield Primary, Stephen Perse, William Westley Primary School, Wetheringsett Manor, Isle of Ely Primary School, Holme Court School, St Laurence Catholic Primary School, and the University of Cambridge Primary School. 

Our group of KS3 pupils came from Hope Street School, Marshland High School near King’s Lynn, Thomas Clarkson Academy from Wisbech, Wetheringsett Manor, Lymm High School from Warrington, Rickmansworth School, Impington Village College, Ipswich High School, The Duston School from Northampton, Charter School North Dulwich, Heritage School Cambridge, Ballard School from Hampshire and The Harleston Sancroft Academy from Norfolk. 

We are also delighted that we have a growing number of homeschool pupils joining us on both days. One parent said: “"I want to thank you for all your time and support to help my son to attend activities on both days. It was fantastic and he has learned a lot and actively interacted with the academics and children he met. Now he likes science even more!" 

Another said: "Just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the festival yesterday- organisation, the quality of presentations, communication. Thank you!" 

Now in their fourth year, the Cambridge Festival schools days are offering students the opportunity to experience studying at Cambridge with a series of curriculum linked talks and hands on workshops.    

The Cambridge Festival runs from 16 March – 2 April and is a mixture of online, on-demand and in-person events covering all aspects of the world-leading research happening at Cambridge. The public have the chance to meet some of the researchers and thought-leaders working in some of the pioneering fields that will impact us all.

Over 1,200 KS2 and KS3 pupils from across the region and beyond flocked to the Cambridge West site to experience studying at the University of Cambridge with a selection of lectures and workshops held as part of the Cambridge Festival.

Chad Cox for Cambridge FestivalPupils wear blue scrubs, masks, and caps stand attentively indoors, conveying focus and teamwork in a medical setting.

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Yes

Students from every background belong at Cambridge. Discover how the skills you gain here open doors to exciting careers. Learn about the financial support available. Hear what makes Cambridge unique. Find out how to apply.

Cambridge University was recently ranked best in the UK 2026 for "producing the most employable graduates", as judged by recruiters at top companies around the world. We spoke to Graham Philpott, Cambridge’s Head of Careers, about the key factors that shape employability for Cambridge students.

The study, published in the journal Science, reveals that the power of plant genomes lies not only in their protein-coding genes, but also in ancient regulatory DNA sequences that control where, when and how strongly to turn on gene expression.

In animals, many of these regulatory DNA sequences, called cis-regulatory elements, persist across deep evolutionary time as conserved non-coding sequences (CNSs).

These sequences are central to evolution. For example, humans and chimpanzees share about 98% of the same protein-coding genes. The differences between humans and chimps lies not in their genes, but in the regulatory DNA that controls when and where these genes are switched on.

Scientists have long searched for similar ancient regulatory sequences in plants, but with limited success. Now, The Conservatory Project team has revealed the hidden ancient regulatory sequences that have been hiding in plain sight.

Professor Madelaine Bartlett, who co-led the study and is a group leader at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University, explained: “Plant genes are continually shuffling themselves around, which makes the links between genes and their master switches extremely hard to spot.

“Repeated duplication of entire genomes, followed by gene loss and rearrangement, hide relationships between genes and their master switches from us. As a result, it was thought CNSs were rare in plants and those we knew about were thought to be young, in evolutionary terms.”

The missing manual of plant evolution

The team designed a new gene-centric computational platform that used genetic data from 284 plant species, generated by the global plant research community, to detect conserved regulatory DNA across deep time while accounting for gene duplication and rapid divergence.

They identified over two million ancient gene master switches, which control gene expression across 284 plant species from 73 plant families. This includes DNA switches that pre-date the emergence of flowering plants over 300 million years ago.

The vast and previously hidden trove of ancient regulatory DNA sequences has stood the test of evolutionary time, remaining stable and controlling plant development despite millions of years of genetic shuffling.

“The power in plant genomes isn’t just in their genes – it’s also in the DNA switches that control them,” said Bartlett. “By identifying regulatory sequences that have been conserved for hundreds of millions of years, we can begin to pinpoint the most important switches controlling plant traits.”

A new tool to inform crop engineering

The ability to engineer crop traits with speed and precision is crucial as agriculture grapples with the triple threat of climate change, increasing levels of crop disease and rising food demands.

However, the challenge is no longer whether plants can be engineered, but which exact DNA sequences should be targeted to produce predictable and beneficial traits – such as drought tolerance or pest resistance.

In crop gene editing, the focus has moved on from simply ‘knocking out’ or duplicating genes to a more sophisticated approach targeting the DNA sequences that regulate these genes.

Editing coding sequences is a heavy-handed approach. If a gene is knocked entirely, it often results in drastic changes that are too abnormal for agricultural use. What plant breeders want is the ability to ‘fine-tune’ traits - that’s the job of cis-regulatory elements.

For example, the CLAVATA3 gene in tomatoes plays a crucial role in regulating fruit size. If the CLAVATA3 gene itself is mutated, it results in big, ugly, misshapen tomatoes, but if the regulatory sequences are mutated, the result is something more intermediate and useful. CLAVATA3 genes act similarly in maize.

Mutations in non-coding, regulatory DNA nudge a gene’s expression and function, causing, for example, a fruit to be slightly larger. These subtle shifts are often exactly what agriculture needs. Once dismissed as ‘junk’, identifying these ancient non-coding DNA sequences will be key for the future of crop trait editing.

“For my lab, and others, this dataset is a treasure trove,” said Bartlett. “We now have thousands of regulatory elements to explore, both to understand plant evolution, and to manipulate in agriculture. We haven’t found all the CNSs yet, but now we have the tools to look.”

The project was led by the labs of Madelaine Bartlett (Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University), Idan Efroni (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem), and Zachary Lippman (Cold Spring Harbor), together with joint first co-authors Kirk R. Amundson from University of Massachusetts Amherst and Anat Hendelman from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

The Conservatory data set for 284 plant species is available here.

This research was supported by the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation, Israel Science Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, U.S. National Science Foundation, USDA AFRI and The Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

Reference

Kirk R. Amundson, Anat Hendelman, Danielle Ciren, Hailong Yang, Amber E. de Neve, Shai Tal, Adar Sulema, David Jackson, Madelaine E. Bartlett, Zachary B. Lippman, Idan Efroni (Science, 2025). 'A deep-time landscape of plant cis-regulatory sequence evolution'. DOI: 10.1126/science.adt8983

An international project has uncovered millions of ancient DNA ‘switches’ that have been regulating plant genes for up to 300 million years – a discovery that could pave the way for more precise engineering of crop traits.

By identifying regulatory sequences that have been conserved for hundreds of millions of years, we can begin to pinpoint the most important switches controlling plant traits.Madelaine Bartlett

The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright ©University of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Lowland peatlands, such as the East Anglian Fens and Somerset Levels, are rich in carbon and have been prized for their ability to support productive agriculture. Since the 1600s, some 90% of UK lowland peat has been drained to this end. This peatland also contributes an estimated 4% to the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions. But by using wetland-adapted crops and machinery, soil can be farmed in a wetter state, helping to reduce peatland emissions while remaining economically productive and potentially benefitting nature.

In a new study published in the journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence, researchers have found that bird numbers in paludiculture sites are three times higher than on drained grasslands, and match those of natural wetlands. They surveyed bird communities in natural wetlands, paludiculture sites growing bulrush (Typha), and drained, grazed grasslands in the Netherlands. 

Birds that are wetland specialists including Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, and Sedge Warbler were recorded alongside typical grassland bird species - creating a unique and diverse bird community. The paludiculture sites also contained several bird species of European or global conservation concern, namely Eurasian Oystercatcher, Meadow Pipit, and Eurasian Coot. 

Although paludiculture does not replicate natural wetlands, the findings show it can function as an important habitat within wetland-grassland landscapes. This could provide more spaces for wetland specialist species if cutting and harvesting are timed to minimise disturbance during the breeding season.

Dr Catherine Waite in the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology and co-lead author of the study, said: “As pressures on land continue to grow, research like this provides vital insight into how different land management choices affect nature. This evidence is key to informing local and landscape level management decisions that balance environmental and human needs.”

Dr Joshua Copping, an RSPB Conservation Scientist and co-lead author, said: “We know that paludiculture can reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with farming on peat, but our findings show its potential for wildlife too. Farmed wetlands support bird communities simply not found on drained grasslands. As the sector develops, paludiculture could help deliver a just transition for farmers who wish to continue farming while contributing to a nature-rich landscape.”

Paludiculture could aid in the reduction of land use emissions from peatland, thereby contributing to the Net Zero ambition. This approach offers a way to continue productive farming while providing climate and nature benefits, potentially serving as a viable alternative to full peatland restoration in some areas. Paludiculture could also support food and fibre production, delivering social and economic value alongside environmental gains.

Unlocking paludiculture’s potential will require investment, advisory support, and strong markets for wetland crops. A project led by the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) South West, in collaboration with the RSPB, is developing best practice for establishing and managing bulrush crops, including trials at RSPB Greylake, Somerset. Funded by Natural England’s Paludiculture Exploration Fund, this project is also testing whether bulrush can help remove excess nutrients from surrounding farmland, to improve wetland condition.

Alice Groom, RSPB Head of Sustainable Land Use Policy, who was not involved in this study, said: “To deliver nature recovery, reduce emissions, and support farm businesses, we must explore techniques like paludiculture. Drained peatlands are degrading fast, and we are running out of time to rely on current methods. Combined with wetland restoration, re-wetting peat through paludiculture offers a path to a more resilient farming future while tackling the climate and nature crises.”

Will Barnard, FWAG South West, who was not involved in this study, said: “As an entirely new agricultural sector within the UK, paludiculture inevitably requires vision and external support. If we can harness the boundless energy and innovation of the farming sector, it offers the rare opportunity to blend real commercial growth with lowering our environmental footprint and helping nature.”

The team says that with the right policy support, investment, and continued research, wetter farming could play a key role in creating nature-positive, climate-resilient landscapes while supporting communities and farmers through a just transition.

Reference: Copping, J.P. et al: 'Typha-based paludiculture offers potential for greater bird species abundance and diversity than drained agricultural grassland.' Ecological Solutions and Evidence, Feb 2026. DOI: 10.1002/2688-8319.70169

Adapted from a press release by the RSPB.

Research led by the University of Cambridge and the RSPB shows that farming wetland-adapted crops on wetter peat - known as paludiculture - can support richer and more diverse bird communities than drained grassland.

This evidence is key to informing local and landscape level management decisions that balance environmental and human needs.Catherine WaiteBen Andrew rspb-imagesReed bunting, Emberiza schoeniclus, perched in reedbed.

The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright ©University of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

YesLicence type: Attribution-Noncommerical

The study, carried out in mice and further validated using human tissue, may explain why some tiny, newly-formed tumours disappear, while others manage to survive and eventually grow into cancer.

Tumours arise when our DNA accumulates errors, or mutations, causing the cells to grow faster and ignore signals that would otherwise instruct damaged cells to die before they can cause harm. However, these same mutations can also accumulate in the tissues of healthy people during ageing without developing into cancer.

To examine why this should be the case, scientists at the University of Cambridge have been studying what additional factors influence tumour formation at the very early stages and what determines whether they persist and develop into cancer.

Previous collaborative work by the team had shown that when a newly-formed microscopic tumour first emerges in a tissue, it can be removed by other mutant cells surrounding it, which compete for space within the tissue. But this does not always happen. Scientists have puzzled for some time over why some of these so-called ‘incipient tumours’ manage to outwit the body’s defences and flourish, creating the conditions for advanced disease to develop.

To answer this question, a team led by scientists at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, modelled early stages of cancer in the upper part of the mouse digestive tract.

The researchers replicated key features of human disease by exposing mice to a chemical found in tobacco smoke, a known cancer risk factor. This causes mutations in the cells lining the oesophagus (gullet), leading to the development of microscopic tumours, most of which disappear naturally as described above – but some persist.

The team then tracked these nascent tumours over time, from the point when they were made up of just over a handful of altered cells (around 10 cells) through to later stages of disease. They analysed the tumours and surrounding cells using high‑resolution confocal microscopy and a range of tools, including single‑cell RNA sequencing and genetic cell tracking, to understand what each cell was doing. In addition, the team grew three-dimensional tissue in the lab, allowing them to model the interactions between the tumour cells and surrounding tissue.

In findings published today in Nature, the researchers found that at these early stages, the tumour sends a ‘distress signal’ to nearby fibroblasts – supportive ‘first-aid’ cells in the underlying tissue. This communication triggers a response that closely resembles wound healing. The fibroblasts behave as though the tissue has been damaged, producing a fibrotic scaffold around the tumour cells. This creates a supportive micro‑environment – a ‘pre-cancerous niche’ – that shelters the tumour from being cleared and helps it persist and grow.

Remarkably, the researchers found that this fibrotic scaffold alone was enough to give healthy, non-mutant cells tumour-like properties, even in the absence of cancer-causing mutations. This suggests that beyond genetic alterations, early tumours are shaped by how healthy cells in the underlying tissue respond, with lasting consequences for disease progression.  

When the researchers examined tissue from early-stage oesophageal cancers in humans, they found similar clusters of tumour cells sending stress signals, as well as the same fibrotic scaffolding seen in the mouse models, demonstrating that this mechanism is also relevant in people.

Dr Greta Skrupskelyte from the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, one of the lead authors, said: “A decade ago it was assumed that it is the mutated cells themselves that determine whether or not a cancer arises. Our findings show that the way healthy tissue responds to the emergence of early tumours also plays a crucial role in whether disease develops.”

When the team blocked the communication between the tumour cells and the underlying tissue, they found that the pre-cancerous niche did not form efficiently, and far fewer early tumours survived.

Dr Maria Alcolea, also from the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, said: “Understanding the mechanisms that allow these newly-formed microscopic tumours to persist and develop into cancer opens up new possibilities for preventing the disease before it takes hold.

“If we can find a way to block tumour cells from communicating with surrounding tissue, we may have a new way to stop cancer in its tracks.”

The researchers say the findings could also, in future, help improve early diagnosis of oesophageal cancer, a disease that is often caught at a late stage, when treatment options are more limited.

Dr Skrupskelyte added: “Although the clinical aspects of our work are at a very early stage, it has given us some biomarkers – red flags – that could help identify cancer much earlier. If validated, it could help us catch oesophageal cancer at a much earlier stage, when it is far easier to treat.”

The research was mainly funded by Worldwide Cancer Research, the Wellcome Trust, The Royal Society, the Medical Research Council and the Isaac Newton Trust.

The University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust (ACT) are fundraising for Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, a new hospital that will transform how we diagnose and treat cancer, with early detection at the heart of its mission. Set to be built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, the hospital will bring together clinical excellence from Addenbrooke’s Hospital and world-leading researchers at the University of Cambridge. The research carried out there aims to change the lives of cancer patients across the UK and beyond. Find out more here.

Reference

Skrupskelyte, G et al. Precancerous niche remodelling dictates nascent tumour persistence. Nature; 4 March 2026; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10157-8

Image

The survival of emerging tumours (labelled in red) is dictated by reciprocal interactions with the fibroblast-derived niche (labelled in greyscale) - presented in side view and top down view as 3D rendered confocal images (nuclei, blue).

Cambridge scientists have shown that when tumours first emerge, interactions with healthy cells in the underlying supportive tissue determine their ability to survive, grow, and progress to advanced stages of disease.

The way healthy tissue responds to the emergence of early tumours also plays a crucial role in whether disease developsGreta SkrupskelyteUniversity of CambridgeEmerging tumours (labelled in red) and the fibroblast-derived niche (grey), plus top-down view showing nuclei (blue)

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YesLicence type: Attribution

From Bradford to Cambridge and back again, Arcellia Sasu-Twum shows how taking a chance and backing herself academically helped her to reach her dream job.

A University of Cambridge-led team says that the emerging market for voluntary biodiversity credits could support the rewilding of nature-depleted land - but only as top-up funding to other market approaches that support nature restoration, like carbon credits.

Conservation projects can sell biodiversity credits, through brokers, to individuals or organisations who want to voluntarily offset their damage to nature. The money is used to carry out the restoration project, with any surplus providing a financial return to the landowners.

This study is the first to measure the biodiversity gain likely to be achieved on an arable farm undergoing rewilding, and use this to calculate the potential value of the restoration on the emerging voluntary biodiversity credit market.

The team surveyed the species present at two very different rural sites in England: a conventional arable farm and potential nature recovery site - Boothby in Lincolnshire, and a former arable farm that has been rewilded over the past 20 years to become a leading example of nature recovery – the Knepp estate in West Sussex.

Comparison of the sites indicated that biodiversity at Boothby farm will increase by between 69% and 92% after 30 years - a biodiversity gain worth an estimated £1.5 million in voluntary biodiversity credits.

But with costs to restore the site - including site management and monitoring - estimated to be fifteen times higher than this, the team says the voluntary biodiversity credit market alone will not be enough to fund nature recovery.

Despite this, the team says voluntary biodiversity credits are an important component of financing nature restoration alongside other approaches like carbon credits.

Voluntary biodiversity credits work globally, and offer flexibility to projects in terms of how they approach nature recovery - which could be a particular benefit for rewilding projects. Rather than specifying the particular habitat types that must be created, as England’s mandatory ‘biodiversity net gain’ system does, this voluntary scheme only requires that biodiversity value increases - and pays out in proportion to that increase.

The study is published in the journal Conservation Biology.

“Voluntary biodiversity credits are important when combined with other ways of funding nature protection, like carbon credits. So it’s vital to have a realistic idea of how a site’s biodiversity will improve over time, in order to accurately calculate the credit value,” said Dr Cicely Marshall, first author of the report, who carried out the work while in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

“Our results show that voluntary biodiversity credits alone are not enough to fund nature recovery at large scale. The amount investors are willing to pay is around fifteen times less than the amount needed to cover a land restoration project in England,” added Marshall, who is now a Research Fellow at the University of Gloucestershire.

Land-use change and habitat destruction for farming - particularly the intensification of farming in the south of England - has left the country in a severely nature-depleted state. Rewilding involves leaving land to revert to its natural, uncultivated state - restoring the natural ecosystems vital for nearby farming.

Surveying the sites

The team carried out surveys to identify and compare biodiversity at the Knepp estate and Boothby farm. They focused on groups of species that give a good indication of soil recovery and ecosystem functioning, alongside classical indicators of ecosystem health like plants and birds.

Using a technique called ‘DNA metabarcoding’ the team accurately identified each species of flying invertebrate (including butterflies and bees), land invertebrate (including ants and spiders), soil invertebrate (including worms) and soil fungi they found.

The results showed that overall, the land at the Knepp Estate was around twice as rich in biodiversity than the Boothby land. Knepp also had improved ecosystem functioning, represented by 33% more pollinator species and 25% more species of beneficial fungus.

Comparison of the sites enabled the team to predict how much biodiversity Boothby could potentially gain over 30 years if rewilded, and then to calculate Boothby’s value in terms of biodiversity credits using a method called the Wallacea Trust framework. This globally-applicable framework defines one biodiversity credit as a 1% improvement in biodiversity per hectare of land.

Voluntary versus mandatory credits

Large companies are under increasing pressure to compensate for the damage they cause to biodiversity.

Voluntary biodiversity credits are available through around 80 brokers, offering funding to conservation projects across the world. Measuring biodiversity gain is not straightforward - with no standard definition of a unit of biodiversity, various methods are used to calculate the value of a credit.

The idea is that investors sell credits to restore arable landscapes, valued using an estimate of how nature will have recovered on a site in thirty years’ time. They can sell credits every five years if they can prove these biodiversity gains have been achieved. With large amounts of money involved, reliable forecasts are vital in predicting the return on the initial investment in land purchase and site management.

Defra’s mandatory ‘biodiversity net gain’ approach allows developers to buy biodiversity credits to compensate for damage done elsewhere - ensuring that habitats for wildlife are left in a 10% better state than before the development. Management of the land under this approach is much more prescriptive than rewilding through a voluntary biodiversity credit approach.

In an alternative calculation using Defra’s statutory biodiversity metric, the team found the economic value of restoring Boothby’s farmland to natural habitat could be £69 million over 30 years. This covers the costs and provides a generous return to investors - but only if all the units can be sold.

Marshall, who is also associated with the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute and King’s College, Cambridge, said: “There’s increasing pressure on companies to offset their impacts on nature. Biodiversity credits are happening - and it’s important that the biodiversity metrics they’re based on are fit for purpose. Our project aimed to put some numbers on these credits, and de-risk them for investors and nature.”

The work was carried out in collaboration with Nattergal and the DNA barcoding company NatureMetrics. It was funded by Nattergal.

Reference

Marshall, C. A.M. et al: ‘Potential to Fund Arable Rewilding in England with Biodiversity Credits.’ Conservation Biology, March 2026. DOI: 10.1111/cobi.70207

Payments that enable landowners to rewild ecologically degraded land - in the form of biodiversity credits bought by investors wishing to offset their impact on nature - could be an effective component of the emerging market for nature recovery, but will not work as a stand-alone approach.

The amount investors are willing to pay is around fifteen times less than the amount needed to cover a land restoration project in England.Cicely MarshallWildflower meadow

The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright ©University of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Dogs which are overweight or which have narrowed nostrils or a wider, shorter head shape are more likely to suffer from the serious breathing condition, Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS), according to new research from the Cambridge Veterinary School. In some breeds, shorter tails and thicker necks represented an additional risk factor.

The study, published today in PLOS One, found that BOAS varies considerably, in prevalence and severity, between flat-faced dog breeds but also within each breed.

BOAS is a chronic disease associated with short-skulled or flat-faced dogs. Lesions within the upper respiratory tract result in airway narrowing. This often leads to noisy breathing but can also impact a dog’s ability to exercise, sleep and cope with heat or stress.

“BOAS exists on a spectrum. Some dogs are only mildly affected, but for those at the more severe end, it can significantly reduce quality of life and become a serious welfare issue,” said Dr Fran Tomlinson, from the Cambridge Veterinary School, who co-led the study.

“While surgery, weight management and other interventions can help affected dogs to some degree, BOAS is hereditary, and there is still much to learn about how we can reduce the risk in future generations.”

While previous research into BOAS has focused on the three most popular ‘flat-faced’ dog breeds in the UK – the French Bulldog, the Pug and Bulldog – this study investigated a further 14 breeds:

The Affenpinscher, Boston Terrier, Boxer, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Chihuahua, Dogue de Bordeaux, Griffon Bruxellois, Japanese Chin, King Charles Spaniel, Maltese, Pekingese, Pomeranian, Shih Tzu and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

The University of Cambridge-led study, which involved nearly 900 dogs, found that 12 out of the 14 breeds studied had some detectable level of breathing abnormality. The researchers identified two breeds at high risk of BOAS. 89% of Pekingese and 82% of Japanese Chin were found to be affected, rates comparable with Pugs, French Bulldogs and Bulldogs.

Five breeds were found to be at moderate risk of BOAS – the King Charles Spaniel, Shih Tzu, Griffon Bruxellois, Boston Terrier, and the Dogue de Bordeaux – with half to three-quarters of the dogs studied being affected.

Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Chihuahua, Boxer, and Affenpinscher were found to be at mild risk, with only half of dogs having some degree of noisy breathing and only a few animals with clinically significant disease. None of the Pomeranian or Maltese dogs studied were found to be clinically affected.

Method

The researchers assessed almost 900 dogs during individual appointments at the Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital in Cambridge, at dog shows and at breed-specific health testing days.

The UK Kennel Club and the University of Cambridge run a Respiratory Function Grading Scheme to assess French Bulldogs, Bulldogs and Pugs, which is used in many countries around the world. The researchers adapted this assessment to enable them to study the 14 additional breeds.

The team assessed the dogs’ breathing before and after a 3-minute exercise test, grading any upper respiratory noises and signs of difficulty or discomfort. Dogs that completed the exercise test with no breathing discomfort or respiratory noise detected were classified as unaffected, while dogs that displayed any upper airway noises were classified from mild to severe BOAS.

Head shape

‘Brachycephalic’ dog breeds are generally associated with shortened muzzles and are described as being ‘flat-faced’ or as having ‘facial hypoplasia’. But the authors of this study caution that dogs which have a relatively wide skull in comparison to its length, such as the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, can also be considered brachycephalic.

The researchers found that dogs with wider shorter head shapes – those with a lower craniofacial ratio – were more likely to have BOAS.

“Our findings show that the relationship between relative muzzle length and BOAS risk is more complex than is commonly assumed,” said Dr David Sargan.

“The King Charles Spaniel, also known as the English Toy Spaniel in the US, is an extremely flat-faced breed so you might expect to find it in a higher risk group. However, 40% of the animals we assessed were unaffected by BOAS.”

Nasal passages

Nostril ‘stenosis’, or narrowing, has previously been reported as a key risk factor for BOAS. This study provides more evidence to support this. The researchers found that prevalence of this problem varied substantially between different breeds and was significantly associated with BOAS risk.

The two breeds found to be high risk for BOAS, the Pekingese and Japanese Chin, had high rates of nostril narrowing. Only around 6% and 18% of dogs respectively had open nostrils. The Griffon Bruxellois and the Boston Terrier, breeds at moderate risk of BOAS, were also more likely to have restricted nostrils than the other breeds.

Tails, necks, body ratios and weight

In both the Shih Tzu and Staffordshire Bull Terrier breeds, the researchers found that shorter tails were associated with an increased risk of BOAS. For the Staffordshire Bull Terriers, those with longer tails were roughly 30% less likely to have BOAS, and affected dogs had tails 1.5 cm shorter on average. 

In the Boston Terrier and Staffordshire Bull Terrier breeds, they found that dogs with proportionately thicker necks were more likely to be affected. Neck girth ratio has previously been noted to be a significant factor in the risk of BOAS in Bulldogs and French Bulldogs.

Dr Jane Ladlow, who co-led the study said: “Considering the close genetic relationship between Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Boston Terriers and the bulldogs, it isn’t surprising that they share this link between neck thickness and BOAS.”

In the Chihuahua and King Charles Spaniel breeds, the researchers found that dogs with relatively longer bodies with a shorter height were more likely to affected by BOAS.

The researchers found that being overweight was a significant risk factor for the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, the Shih Tzu and the Affenpinscher.

“Weight loss could be used as a management tool to reduce the risk of BOAS in these three breeds, as it is in the Pug,” said Jane Ladlow.

Implications and applications

The researchers hope that this study will lead to more ‘flat-faced’ dogs being tested and encourage greater engagement on BOAS and other health issues faced by these breeds.

Dr Ladlow said: “Being aware of risk factors can be useful for both breeders and prospective owners in selecting dogs which are less likely to be affected by BOAS. Knowledge of these risk factors can also help to inform judges in deciding which features are detrimental to health so that factors associated with BOAS are not rewarded in the show ring, particularly as winning dogs can become popular sires.”

The researchers point out that weight, nostril narrowing and craniofacial ratio only accounted for 20% of variation in BOAS status across the different breeds. For now, a breathing assessment remains the most accurate way to determine BOAS status and therefore which dogs should be selected for breeding, or whose welfare would benefit from veterinary intervention.

“Each individual breed has its own risk profile for BOAS and different factors affecting this,” said Dr Fran Tomlinson. “Our findings support a breed-specific approach when tackling the reduction of this disease on a population level.”

The Veterinary School team wish to acknowledge the help they have received from dog owners in carrying out this work. Funding was provided by The Royal Kennel Club Charitable Trust.

Reference

F. Tomlinson, N-C. Liu, D.R. Sargan, J.F. Ladlow, ‘A cross-sectional study into the prevalence and conformational risk factors of BOAS across fourteen brachycephalic dog breeds’, PLOS One (2026). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0340604

Scientists have identified a further twelve dog breeds as being at risk of Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome – a condition that can cause serious breathing problems – including the Pekingese, Shih Tzu, Boston Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Chihuahua and Boxer.

Our findings support a breed-specific approach when tackling the reduction of this disease Fran TomlinsonFran TomlinsonFour Boston Terrier study participants with (from left to right) Dr David Sargan, Dr Fran Tomlinson and Dr Jane Ladlow, from the Cambridge Veterinary School

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In a huge global study led by University of Cambridge researchers, a single group of bacteria - named CAG-170 - has repeatedly shown up in high numbers in the gut microbiomes of healthy people.

CAG-170 is a group of gut bacteria known only from their genetic fingerprints - scientists have never been able to grow most of them in the lab.

Using diverse computational approaches, the team looked for CAG-170’s genetic fingerprint in gut microbiome samples from over 11,000 people across 39 countries.

They found the level of CAG-170 present was consistently higher in healthy people than those with diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, obesity and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Further analysis of CAG-170 revealed they have the capacity to produce high levels of Vitamin B12, and enzymes that break down a wide range of carbohydrates, sugars and fibres in our gut.

The researchers think it’s likely the Vitamin B12 supports other species of gut bacteria, rather than supporting the humans whose guts it is being produced in.

The findings mean that CAG-170 could, in the future, be used as an indicator of our gut microbiome health. They also open the door to developing new probiotics specifically designed to support and maintain healthy levels of CAG‑170 in the gut.

Dr Alexandre Almeida, a researcher in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine who led the work, said: “Our work has revealed that CAG-170 bacteria - part of the ‘hidden microbiome’ - appear to be key players in human health, likely by helping us to digest the main components of our food and keeping the whole microbiome running smoothly.”

He added: “We looked at the gut microbes of thousands of people across 39 countries and 13 different diseases including Crohn’s and obesity. We consistently found that people with these diseases had lower levels of CAG-170 bacteria in their gut.”

The study is published today in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

Discovering the ‘hidden microbiome’

The study builds on Almeida’s previous work to create a comprehensive reference catalogue of all the genomes in the human gut microbiome, called the ‘Unified Human Gastrointestinal Genome catalogue’. He used an approach called ‘metagenomics’ – essentially, analysing the genomes of all the microbes in the gut in one go, and then teasing these apart into the genomes of individual species.

This revealed over 4,600 bacterial species, including over 3,000 that hadn’t previously been seen in the gut before - indicating the extent of the ‘hidden microbiome’ waiting to be explored. The catalogue provided ‘reference genomes’ for each species, including CAG-170: these are like fingerprints that the researchers can now look for in other gut microbiome samples.

“Our earlier work revealed that around two-thirds of the species in our gut microbiome were previously unknown. No-one knew what they were doing there – and now we’ve found that some of these are a fundamental and underappreciated component of human health,” said Almeida.

Three lines of evidence

The team looked at over 11,000 samples of human gut bacteria from people across 39 countries – primarily in Europe, North America and Asia. These were from healthy people, and people with 13 different diseases including Crohn’s, colorectal cancer, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis.

By comparing each sample to the Unified Human Gastrointestinal Genome catalogue the researchers noticed that CAG-170 bacteria are the part of the ‘hidden microbiome’ most strongly linked with health - and this is consistent across countries.

In a second approach, the team computationally analysed the full make-up of the gut microbiome of over 6,000 healthy people to investigate which species had the strongest potential to keep the gut ecosystem in check. Of all the bacteria in the ‘hidden microbiome’, CAG-170 were again most consistently associated with health.

In a third analysis they measured the level of CAG-170 present in the gut microbiomes of people with dysbiosis – a condition where the gut microbiome is out of balance. This revealed that lower levels of CAG-170 in the gut are linked with a higher likelihood of having a gut imbalance. Dysbiosis is linked with many long-term conditions including irritable bowel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and anxiety and depression.

Therapeutic possibilities

The billions of bacteria that make up our gut microbiome represent around 4,600 different species. The composition is different in all of us, but the function is the same: to keep our body running smoothly.

Scientists hope that by understanding more about what a healthy gut microbiome looks like, they can see how it changes in people with specific diseases - and try to correct it using approaches including tailored probiotics. The new study is an important step towards making this a reality.

“The probiotic industry hasn't really kept up with gut microbiome research - people are still using the same probiotic species that were being used decades ago. We’re now discovering new groups of bacteria like CAG-170 with important links to our health, and probiotics aimed at supporting them could have a much greater health benefit,” said Almeida.

Until now, scientists studying the gut microbiome have focused their attention on the bacteria within it that can be grown, and therefore studied, in the lab. Most of the CAG-170 gut bacteria are not in this category - so scientists will need to figure out ways to grow and test them, in order to translate these findings into new potential therapeutics.

Reference: da Silva, A.C. et al: ‘Meta-analysis of the uncultured gut microbiome across 11,115 global metagenomes reveals a candidate signature of health.’ Cell Host & Microbe, February 2026. DOI:10.1016/j.chom.2026.01.013

An understudied group of bacteria in our gut microbiome appears to play a central role in keeping us healthy, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge.

These are a fundamental and underappreciated component of human health.Alexandre AlmeidaThom Leach, Science Photo Library on GettyGut microbes

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Meet the winners of the Cambridge Awards 2025 for Research Impact and Engagement and learn more about their projects.

Almost all the rise in US polarisation over political issues since the late 1980s occurred from 2008 onwards, a new study suggests. Most of this has been driven by the American left becoming more socially liberal over time.

A group of Cambridge scientists reveal the personal struggles they’ve faced – and continue to face – as they strive for success.

The study, published today in Psychological Medicine, found that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) does not appear to mitigate these effects, though it can slow the decline in reaction times.

Menopause is a key period in a woman’s life when her periods stop, due to lower hormone levels. It typically affects women between the ages of 45 and 55, during which time they may experience hot flushes, low mood and sleep problems. Menopause has previously been linked to cognitive decline, such as memory, attention and language deficits.

To counter the effects of menopause – particularly depressive symptoms and sleep problems – many women are prescribed HRT. In England, in 2023, 15% of women were prescribed the treatment. However, there is limited understanding of the effects of menopause and subsequent HRT use on the brain, cognition and mental health.

To address this question, researchers at the University of Cambridge analysed data from UK Biobank of almost 125,000 women, who were classified into three categories: pre-menopause, post-menopause who have never used HRT, or post-menopause who have used HRT.

As well as answering questionnaires that included questions related to their experience of menopause, self-reported mental health, sleep patterns and overall health, some participants took part in tests of cognition, including tests of memory and reaction times. Around 11,000 participants also underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, allowing the researchers to look at the structure of their brains.

The average age of onset of menopause among the participants was around 49.5 years, while the average age that women prescribed HRT began their treatment was around 49 years.

Post-menopausal women were more likely than those pre-menopause to have sought help from their GP or a psychiatrist for anxiety, nerves or depression, and to score more highly on questionnaires for symptoms of depression. Similarly, they were more likely to have been prescribed antidepressants.

Although women in the HRT group had greater anxiety and depression compared with the non-HRT group, further analysis showed that these differences in symptoms were already present before menopause. It is possible, say the researchers, that in some cases, a woman’s GP may have prescribed HRT in anticipation of menopause worsening her symptoms.

Women post-menopause were more likely to report insomnia, get less sleep, and feel tired. Those on HRT reported feeling the most tired of all three groups, even though there was no difference in sleep duration between these women and those women post-menopause not on the medication.

Dr Christelle Langley from the Department of Psychiatry said: “Most women will go through menopause, and it can be a life-changing event, whether they take HRT or not. A healthy lifestyle – exercising, keeping active and eating a healthy diet, for example – is particularly important during this period to help mitigate some of its effects.

“We all need to be more sensitive to not only the physical, but also the mental health of women during menopause, however, and recognise when they are struggling. There should be no embarrassment in letting others know what you’re going through and asking for help.”

Menopause also appeared to have an impact on cognition. Post-menopausal women who were not on HRT had slower reaction times than those yet to start menopause or who were on HRT. However, there were no significant differences between the three groups when it came to memory tasks.

Dr Katharina Zühlsdorff from the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge, said: “As we age, our reaction times tend to get slower – it’s just a part of the natural ageing process and it happens to both women and men. You can imagine being asked a question at a quiz – while you might still arrive at the correct answer as your younger self, younger people would no doubt get there much faster. Menopause seems to accelerate this process, but HRT appears to put the brakes on, slowing the ageing process slightly.”

In both groups of women post-menopause, the researchers found significant reductions in volume of grey matter – brain tissue that contains nerve cell bodies and helps process information, control movement and manage memory and emotions.

In particular, these differences occurred in the hippocampus (responsible for forming and storing memories); entorhinal cortex (the ‘gateway’ for passing information between the hippocampus and the rest of the brain); and the anterior cingulate cortex (part of the brain that helps you manage emotions, make decisions, and focus your attention).

Professor Barbara Sahakian, the study’s senior author from the Department of Psychiatry, added: “The brain regions where we saw these differences are ones that tend to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Menopause could make these women vulnerable further down the line. While not the whole story, it may help explain why we see almost twice as many cases of dementia in women than in men.”

The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust, with additional support from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre.

Reference

Zühlsdorff, K et al. Emotional and cognitive effects of menopause and hormone replacement therapy. Psychological Medicine; 27 Jan 2025; DOI: 10.1017/S0033291725102845

Menopause is linked to reductions in grey matter volume in key brain regions as well as increased levels of anxiety and depression and difficulties with sleep, according to new research from the University of Cambridge.

Most women will go through menopause, and it can be a life-changing event, whether they take HRT or notChristelle LangleyKate Wieser (Getty Images)Sick woman lying in bed at home

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In a new report published today in the journal Nature Plants, researchers based at more than 50 botanic gardens and living plant collections warn that a patchwork of incompatible, or even absent, data systems is undermining global science and conservation at a critical moment.

They call for a unified and equitable global data system for living collections to transform how the world’s botanic gardens manage and share information. This would enable them to work together as a ‘meta-collection’ to strengthen scientific research and conservation efforts.

Climate change, invasive species, habitat loss and increased global movement of plant material all require rapid access to high-quality, trusted information about living plants. Achieving this depends on a shared culture of open, accurate, and affordable data - allowing living collections of all sizes, particularly in the Global South where much of the world’s biodiversity is located, to participate on equal terms.

Curator of Cambridge University Botanic Garden Professor Samuel Brockington, who led the work together with researchers at Botanic Gardens Conservation International, said: “The digital infrastructure needed to manage, share, and safeguard living plant diversity wasn’t designed to operate at a global scale.”

He added: “We’ve built an extraordinary global network of living plant collections, but we’re trying to run twenty-first-century conservation with data systems that are fragmented, fragile, and in many cases inaccessible to scientists and conservationists working where most biodiversity originates. We urgently need a shared data system so the people managing collections can work together as a coordinated whole.”

Thaís Hidalgo de Almeida, Curator of Living Collections, Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro and a co-author of the report, said: “Having an integrated and equitable global data ecosystem would greatly help us address urgent conservation needs in biodiversity-rich countries like Brazil, making our work faster, more collaborative, and more effective.”

Scientific research in many areas depends on accurate, well-documented living plant material.  As climate change accelerates extinction risk, living plant collections are increasingly used to support species and ecosystem restoration, and climate-adapted urban planting.

Yet many collections remain undigitised, and those that are often rely on incompatible systems shaped by institutional or commercial priorities rather than shared standards. As a result, vital information on threatened species, climate resilience, provenance, and legal status cannot be shared efficiently between institutions or across borders.

“In healthcare, fragmented and proprietary data systems are recognised as a serious risk and the focus of major public investment,” said Brockington. “In plant conservation, we face the same problem, but without treating the data as critical public infrastructure.”

At least 105,634 plant species - representing around one third of all plant species in the world - are grown in the world’s 3,500 botanic gardens. As much as 40% of the world’s plant diversity is at elevated risk of extinction and these living collections form a critical safety net against that.

Organisations like Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) have already established the foundations of a better data system but the researchers say coordinated, considered investment is now needed to create a long-lasting and trusted resource.

Paul Smith, Secretary-General, BGCI and a co-author of the report, said: “In an era of accelerating biodiversity loss, harnessing the full conservation potential of living collections requires a step-change in how collections data are documented, standardised and connected through a global data ecosystem. This publication, supported by more than fifty gardens worldwide sets the stage for achieving that transformation.”

Last year, Brockington announced his previous report showing how living collections metadata could be used to give global insights into the acquisition and conservation of the world’s plant diversity.

References:

Brockington, S.F. et al: ‘High-performance living plant collections require a globally integrated data ecosystem to meet twenty-first-century challenges.’ Nature Plants, Jan 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-02192-6

Cano, A. et al: ‘Insights from a century of data reveal global trends in ex situ living plant collections.’ Nature Ecology and Evolution, Jan 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02633-z

An international group of researchers says that biodiversity conservation and scientific research are not benefiting from the vast knowledge about the world’s plants held by botanic gardens, because of fragmented data systems and a lack of standardisation.

The digital infrastructure needed to manage, share, and safeguard living plant diversity wasn’t designed to operate at a global scale.Samuel BrockingtonLiquidambar styraciflua at Cambridge University Botanic Garden in full autumn colours.

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