MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
One of the world's leading research institutes, our scientists are working to advance understanding of biological processes at the molecular level - providing the knowledge needed to solve key problems in human health.
Study of body clock proteins led by Nicola Smyllie in Michael Hastings’s group in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division, reveals that PER and CRY, key body clock proteins, act more independently than previously thought, challenging long-held understanding of our body’s circadian rhythms.
New specimen supports, designed by Chris Russo’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, solve decades-long question on how to use liquid helium in cryo-EM to reduce radiation damage and improve information capture.
Felix Randow’s group, in the LMB’s PNAC Division, has identified the mechanism by which cytosol-dwelling Shigella flexneri bacteria use their effector protein IpaH1.4 to avoid LPS ubiquitylation by degrading the host E3 ligase RNF213.
Led by postdoc Frank Bürmann, Jan Löwe’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, and Mark Dillingham’s group at the University of Bristol, have identified the mechanism the bacterial SMC complex MukBEF uses to entrap DNA ahead of loop extrusion, and found how this pathway can be inhibited by a bacteriophage protein.
Spearheaded by postdoc George Ghanim, Kelly Nguyen’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division have investigated the molecular mechanisms which allow LINE-1 to propagate throughout the genome via retrotransposition during target-primed reverse transcription.
Studying Asgard archaea, Buzz Baum’s group in the LMB’s Cell Biology Division and Aurelien Roux’s group at the University of Geneva, provide insights into the earliest origins of ESCRT-III and reveal how its proteins work together to remodel membranes.