Case Studies

Learn about pioneering research at the University of Cambridge, where researchers are applying engineering biology approaches to address the intertwined climate and nature crises. Explore the newly published University of Cambridge Climate Impact Map to find out more about these exciting projects.

The sustainable transformation of the chemical and pharmaceutical industry requires greener manufacturing. The use of enzymes as catalysts offers a promising route to less waste generation and lower energy consumption. However, such biocatalysts often require challenging engineering, where the combination of droplet microfluidics, deep sequencing and AI can make a difference.

Researchers in the Hollfelder group are using novel ultrahigh-throughput screening techniques to discover and improve new biocatalysts for plastic degradation as part of a new UKRI-funded mission hub.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have investigated the photonic properties of hydrogels embedded with microalgae and the resulting improved efficiency of algal growth within. They hope to scale up algal productivity for commercial applications and novel material synthesis.

Can we apply engineering biology principles to develop kinder, more effective treatments for cancer ? From innovative CAR-T therapies, to new tools for drug discovery and potential new treatments. Learn more about the University of Cambridge researchers exploring precision medicines for cancer.

Thinking about how to speed up and reduce errors in seed phenotyping, Prof Ji Zhou and his colleagues at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) have develeoped SeedGerm. This is an imaging tool that combines cost-effective hardware and open source software to improve the efficiency of seed germination analysis. This process is important in a wide range of crop science research.

Autohaem was developed by Dr Samuel McDermott as a low-cost open-source solution for preparing blood smear samples. The project aims to improve automation of sample preparation in low-resource environments using the OpenFlexure microscope.

Dr Eftychios Frangedakis and his colleagues in the Dept. Plant Sciences have developed the OpenPlant Kit, a series of resources and techniques that simplifies genetic engineering in plants. These tools can be used for applications such as crop development and bioproduction in plants.

Hoping to improve our understanding of cell-to-cell communications, Dr Roser Vento-Tormo and her team have developed CellPhoneDB. This an open database of ligand-receptor-interactions and an accompanying analysis tool to help identify interactions in single-cell RNAseq data.

Precision agriculture can provide farmers with valuable information about their crops and help improve yields. Researchers Antonio Ruiz Gonzales and Prof. Jim Haseloff are developing a low-cost open-source pH sensor to help directly monitor stress in plants.