Advancing technologies take centre stage at Next Generation Biophysics Symposium

Speakers and organisers of the 2024 Next Generation Biophysics Symposium

As in previous years, the LMB was once again delighted to host the Next Generation Biophysics Symposium in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre. Hundreds of attendees joined, both in person and virtually, for a jam-packed schedule of engaging talks exploring the application possibilities of established and emerging biophysical techniques to answer complex biological problems. The successful event was once again organised jointly by the LMB, AstraZeneca, Imperial College London, and the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS).

Throughout the course of the symposium, lecture topics ranged from ‘Cryo-electron microscopy and tomography’ and ‘Single Molecular Applications’ before concluding with two sessions focused on ‘New Methodologies’.

The keynote address was given by Stefan Hell, from the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Germany. His talk, ‘MINFLUX nanoscopy and related matters,’ covered how the basic principles of diffraction-unlimited fluorescence microscopy (nanoscopy) has resulted in a new, dynamic super-resolution complex ‘MINFLUX nanoscopy.’ Stefan is recognised globally for his experience in the field of microscopy, and in 2014 shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy.”

The 2024 Next Generation Biophysics Symposium was organised by Stephen McLaughlin, Chris Johnson, and Christopher Batters in the LMB’s Biophysics Facility, Maria Flocco and Geoff Holdgate from AstraZeneca UK, and David Rueda from Imperial College London and the LMS.

Commenting on the event, an attendee, said, “I really enjoyed the meeting – there was a great selection of speakers. I especially appreciated hearing about emerging methods in the field and from researchers at different stages of their work.”

In situ structural virology: from virus infection to vaccine – Peijun Zhang – NGBS2024

Structure inside the cell; atomic pathology – James ‘Jim’ Naismith – NGBS2024

A new single molecule approach to study DNA repair protein dynamics – Ben van Houten – NGBS2024

Imaging real-time single-molecule dynamics in genome regulation – Beat Fierz – NGBS2024

Single-molecule dynamics and interactions of disordered proteins – Ben Schuler – NGBS2024

Diamond quantum sensors for probing living systems – Helena Knowles – NGBS2024

Visualizing the cell cycle clock using novel single fluorophore biosensors – Julia Kamenz – NGBS2024

Quantitative label-free imaging at the single molecule level – Barbora Špačková – NGBS2024

Further references

2024 Next Generation Biophysics Symposium YouTube playlist
Stefan Hell’s lab pages
LMB Biophysics Facility
Maria Flocco, AstraZeneca
Geoff Holdgate, AstraZeneca
David Rueda, Imperial College London
David Rueda, MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences