Chancellor Rachel Reeves visits the LMB - MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, was joined by Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle on a recent visit to the LMB

Chris Russo explains electron microscopy to The Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is sat in front of an electron microscope — Chris Russo explains electron cryo-microscopy to The Chancellor © Kirsty O’Connor / Treasury

Following the announcement of her first budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, The Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, visited the LMB to learn more about current research projects, meet scientists, and mark the vitality of research to the wider British economy. She was accompanied by The Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. The visit coincided with the announcement of a further investment by property firm Prologis to develop additional research facilities on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

Greeted by the LMB Director Jan Löwe, the Chancellor and Secretary had a brief introduction to the LMB’s history and molecular biology more widely, before heading to the LMB’s state-of-the-art Electron Microscopy Facility. Here, Group Leader Chris Russo guided Chancellor Reeves on using an F20 electron microscope to image a negative stain of a virus sample.

Following this, Chancellor Reeves and Secretary Kyle met Marta Zlatic and Greg Jefferis, Group Leaders in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division. They introduced their work on connectomics, which has seen successes in the complete mapping of the larval and adult neural networks of the Drosophila fly, providing unprecedented insights into the working of the brain.

The visiting party then met Group Leader Suyang Zhang at the lab bench, where they were introduced to her research on alternative splicing of pre-mRNA. The Chancellor had the opportunity to get hands-on with a lesson on some of the lab techniques Suyang uses regularly in her research.

The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, wearing a white lab coat and purple gloves, looks down a microscope at a lab bench. Behind her is stood Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. — Introducing Chancellor Rachel Reeves to LMB Research © Kirsty O’Connor / Treasury

To round off the visit, the Chancellor and Secretary joined a refreshment break with a group of early-career researchers. They discussed their career pathways so far, and what drew each of them to the LMB.

LMB Director Jan Löwe commented, “It was a pleasure to welcome Chancellor Reeves and Secretary Kyle to the LMB and showcase our research and facilities. It was great to see their curiosity and interest sparked by the LMB’s discovery science. We look forward to the continued growth of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, and the collaboration opportunities that this expansion brings.”