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.
Ageing is a growing problem for society, particularly because of the associated increased risk of developing disease. Understanding how we might be able to live healthier for longer is a key goal of medical research. The nematode worm C. elegans is a commonly used model for studying the changes that take place as animals age.
Our genome contains DNA from ancestral retroviral infections. These stretches of DNA are not usually harmful unless the cell’s normal ability to regulate them is lost, then their expression can potentially lead to disease. Yorgo Modis’ group, in the University of Cambridge Molecular Immunity Unit at the LMB, have solved the structure of a master regulator of integrated retroviral DNA, KAP1, providing mechanistic understanding into the function of KAP1 in silencing retroviral insertions.
With the ‘resolution revolution’ of recent years, it should in principle be possible to determine atomic resolution structures of any proteins using electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM). However, in practice, preparation of frozen samples that are suitable for high resolution imaging is a barrier to progress.
We, and all animals, sense things in our surroundings and react to them, but how a sensory input reaching the brain is transformed into behaviour is still unknown for all but the most simple reflexes.
Our genetic code is translated from DNA into proteins through an intermediate molecule: messenger RNA (mRNA). One major way in which synthesis of proteins can be regulated is through turnover of mRNA; less protein is produced from a short-lived mRNA molecule. The signal for the degradation of a particular mRNA is the removal of a stretch of adenosines (As) at the end of the molecule, known as the poly(A) tail.
Jason Chin’s group in the LMB’s PNAC Division have, for the first time, synthesised the entire genome of a commonly used model organism, the bacterium E. coli. There has only been one previous example of synthesis of an entire genome: for the Mycoplasma bacterial genome, which consists of approximately 1 million bases. Over the last 5 years, Jason’s group have developed a robust method for assembly of large pieces of synthetic DNA. This has enabled them to synthesise the entire E.