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Explore a selection of research case studies from the past five years.

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Researchers at the Crick are tackling the big questions about human health and disease, and new findings are published every week.

Our faculty have picked some of the most significant papers published by Crick scientists, all of which are freely available thanks to our open science policy.

Scientists find that the way tumours grow impacts their genetics

Researchers from the Bates, Turajlic and Sahai labs have collaborated to develop a computer model to analyse how the way in which tumours grow affects their genetic makeup. Using this new model, they have identified links between tumour growth and shape, and how quickly a patient’s cancer might progress.

Spatial patterns of tumour growth impact clonal diversification in a computational model and the TRACERx Renal study

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Published in Nature Ecology and Evolution

Published

Cells from the centre of tumours most likely to spread around the body

Research from a collaborative team at the Crick, Royal Marsden, UCL and Cruces University Hospital has found that cells from different parts of kidney tumours behave differently, and surprisingly, cells within the centre of a tumour are the most aggressive and have the highest chance of spreading around the body.

Selection of metastasis competent subclones in the tumour interior

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Published in Nature Ecology and Evolution

Published

Imaging showing the different types of tissue structure organised by fibroblasts.

Extracellular matrix anisotropy is determined by TFAP2C-dependent regulation of cell collisions

In this study, we used our bank of patient-dervied stromal fibroblasts to ask why some fibroblasts generate highly aligned extra-cellular matrices and other do not. We were able to show how cell migration and cell-cell collisions can dictate the patterns formed by fibroblasts, and that furthermore, the higher order organisation of fibroblasts and matrix is associated with millimetre scale contraction of reconstituted tissues and cancer invasion. The quantitative tool developed during the course of this work and a related study is now being tested for its prognostic value in simple histological stains of breast and prostate cancers.

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Published in Nature Materials

Published

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Research case studies 

Explore a selection of recent case studies that spotlight particular areas of research at the Crick.