Revolutionary DNA technology wins UK's top engineering honour

A revolutionary DNA technology has won the UK's top engineering honour.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies, which developed a rapid, real-time DNA and RNA sequencing platform, won the Royal Academy of Engineering's 2026 MacRobert Award on July 8.

The technology can identify and sequence genetic material on the spot without complex imaging or specialist laboratory equipment, delivering results in hours rather than weeks.

It is believed that the breakthrough sequencing could bring changes to how diseases are diagnosed and treated around the world.

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Dr Alison Vincent CBE FREng, chair of the MacRobert Award judging panel, said: "Oxford Nanopore is a truly deserving winner of the MacRobert Award, which has been celebrating the strength and impact of UK engineering for over 55 years.

"They have developed a pioneering DNA and RNA sequencing technology that is transforming our ability to understand and respond to some of the world's most pressing health and environmental challenges, from disease surveillance to biodiversity monitoring."

The platform is already in use across more than 125 countries to support disease surveillance and treatment for Ebola, Zika, and SARS-CoV-2.

Its portability and affordability mean that genetic analysis can be performed anywhere, from busy diagnostic labs to remote outbreak sites and even onboard the International Space Station.

The impact is also being felt closer to home.

In the UK, Queen's University Belfast and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust are trialling the technology to speed up cancer diagnoses.

By using the platform, tumour classification times could be cut from weeks to just days, enabling clinicians to make faster, more informed treatment decisions.

The technology's ability to deliver rapid, detailed insights is also helping to identify antimicrobial-resistant strains in sepsis patients and reduce diagnostic timelines from days to hours.

Oxford Nanopore's win marks the second consecutive year an Oxford-based innovation has received the MacRobert Award, following OrganOx's 2025 win for its liver transplantation technology.

Lakmal Jayasinghe, chief scientific officer at Oxford Nanopore, said: "We are honoured to receive the MacRobert Award, the UK's most prestigious prizes for engineering innovation.

"For Oxford Nanopore, this recognition reflects both the depth and breadth of engineering behind our platform and the real-world impact it is having.

"We're proud to be enabling more comprehensive biological information to be made available faster and more accessibly, to researchers, clinicians and pioneers in the biopharma industry."

For over 55 years, the MacRobert Award has recognised engineering that combines commercial viability with genuine societal benefit.

It includes a gold medal, £50,000 prize, and a luxury weekend at the MacRobert estate in Aberdeenshire.