The study in Nature Biotechnology revealed that standard DNA tests miss finding this genetic damage. This has safety implications for future gene therapies using CRISPR/Cas9, because the unexpected damage might lead to dangerous changes in some cells. The authors caution that specific testing may be required for potential gene therapies.

Wellcome Sanger Institute researchers and collaborators found that patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) had genetic changes in their blood years before they suddenly developed the disease. The study published in Nature shows that further research could allow earlier detection and monitoring of people at risk of AML in the future.

For the first time, the transmission of cholera has been tracked at the household level across Dhaka, Bangladesh, a city with a ‘hyper-endemic’ level of the disease. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators found that nearly 80 per cent of the cholera transmission in Dhaka occurred between people who shared a household. The results of the large-scale genomic study could be used by public health officials to improve cholera control strategies.

In response to the UK Parliament Science and Technology Committee’s inquiry, the Sanger Institute has made a number of recommendations: that the current immigration system is not fit for purpose and therefore it should not be transposed onto EEA nationals, once the UK leaves the EU and that Students from EEA countries who have completed undergraduate qualifications in the UK should be given time to remain in the UK to allow them to look for work.

The genetic causes of a group of related infant cancers have been discovered by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Wuerzburg and their collaborators. Whole genome sequencing of tumours revealed mutations which are targetable by existing drugs used to treat lung cancer and melanoma.

The first genetic marker for the bone tumour, osteoblastoma, has been discovered by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators. The results, published in Nature Communications, will help clinicians correctly distinguish benign osteoblastoma tumours from aggressive osteosarcoma tumours and direct the correct treatment.

Five Cambridge science institutions have won a bid to engage the local region with science as part of European Researchers Night*, the largest public science event in Europe. LIFE LAB is one of four UK initiatives awarded funding from the European Commission. It will establish a programme of pop-up science events in shopping centres, cafes and music venues across Cambridgeshire on 28th September 2018 and again on 27th September 2019.

Microbiotica, a leading player in microbiome-based therapeutics spun out of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, today announced that it has entered into a multi-year strategic collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to discover, develop and commercialise biomarkers, targets and medicines for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

The genomes of more than 3,000 bacteria, including some of the world’s most dangerous, have been sequenced by researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in collaboration with Pacific Biosciences (PacBio). Infecting tens of millions of people worldwide every year, these bacteria have been collected by the National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC) and include deadly strains of plague, dysentery and cholera.

The course ‘Bacterial Genomes: From DNA to protein function using bioinformatics’ was developed by researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Designed to teach researchers, students and health care professionals worldwide how to use online computational tools and databases to understand the roles bacterial genes play in health and disease, the course is free, and is open for enrolment now, with the course starting on 11 June 2018.