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A major international study of the genetics of breast cancer has identified more than 350 DNA ‘errors’ that increase an individual’s risk of developing the disease. ̽��ֱ��scientists involved say these errors may influence as many as 190 genes.

Two children’s milk teeth buried deep in a remote archaeological site in north eastern Siberia have revealed a previously unknown group of people lived there during the last Ice Age.

Scientists in Cambridge and London have developed a catalogue of DNA mutation ‘fingerprints’ that could help doctors pinpoint the environmental culprit responsible for a patient’s tumour – including showing some of the fingerprints left in lung tumours by specific chemicals found in tobacco smoke.

Members of collegiate Cambridge recognised for outstanding contributions to society in science, education, engineering and art

Scientists have sequenced 15 ancient genomes spanning from Alaska to Patagonia and were able to track the movements of the first humans as they spread across the Americas at “astonishing” speed during the last Ice Age, and also how they interacted with each other in the following millennia.

Evidence has been building in recent years that our diet, our habits or traumatic experiences can have consequences for the health of our children – and even our grandchildren. ̽��ֱ��explanation that has gained most currency for how this occurs is so-called ‘epigenetic inheritance’ – patterns of chemical ‘marks’ on or around our DNA that are hypothesised to be passed down the generations. But new research from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge suggests that this mechanism of non-genetic inheritance is likely to be very rare.

Only a small proportion of cases of dementia are thought to be inherited – the cause of the vast majority is unknown. Now, in a study published today in the journal Nature Communications, a team of scientists led by researchers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge believe they may have found an explanation: spontaneous errors in our DNA that arise as cells divide and replicate.

A new synthetic enzyme, crafted from DNA rather than protein, ‘flips’ lipid molecules within the cell membrane, triggering a signal pathway that could be harnessed to induce cell death in cancer cells.

An extinct strain of the human Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been discovered in Bronze Age human skeletons found in burial sites across Europe and Asia.

Seventy-two new genetic variants that contribute to the risk of developing breast cancer have been identified by a major international collaboration involving hundreds of researchers worldwide.