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.
“Does your body run like clockwork? As Week 7 fatigue sets in, Michael Hastings writes on what recent discoveries in genetics mean for our sleeping patterns … Dr Michael Hastings is a Cambridge neuroscientist, based at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, specialising in the molecular neurobiology of circadian body clocks.” More…
“Seventy-eight microbiologists have been elected to Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology. Fellows of the Academy are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology… including Andrew A. Travers”. This article is no longer available from the source website: American Academy for Microbiology [26 February] 2010
“Scientists have developed a new genetic language using a ribosome that can read instructions that are 4 base pairs long, enabling the construction of designer proteins containing a variety of unnatural elements, according to a study published online today (February 14) in Nature… synthetic biologist Jason Chin of the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, and his colleagues decided to devise a system that could read codons that are 4 base pairs long. Such a system could “open the door to what will be [the] truly revolutionary possibility [of creating] genetically coded polymers comprised of up to 256 [unique] building blocks.” More…
“Etienne-Emile Baulieu’s research team (Inserm research unit 788 “Steroids, neuroprotection et neuroregeneration”), in collaboration with Michel Goedert (who originally characterised the Tau protein in Alzheimer’s disease in 1998) have just identified an interaction between the dysfunctional Tau protein and another protein, FKBP52. Using tools from biochemistry and molecular biology, the researchers established that there was a specific physical link between these two proteins in the brain. They demonstrated in vitro that the FKBP52 protein suppressed activity of the Tau protein, and hence prevented its role in the assembly of microtubules, known for their role in transporting nutrient and information-bearing molecules into the cell…” More…
“By using electron microscopic images of flash frozen samples, researchers have now been able to examine the exact structure of Alzheimer’s amyloid fibrils and to assess their mechanical properties. As the team reports in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the fibrils are very stiff — one of the underlying causes of their pathogenicity. Because amyloid fibrils are very difficult to analyze with traditional biophysical techniques, Marcus Fändrich (Max Planck Unit for Enzymology of Protein Folding, Halle/Saale, Germany), Carsten Sachse (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK), and Nikolaus Grigorieff (Brandeis University, Waltham, USA) were forced to take another approach: They examined Alzheimer’s amyloid fibrils by electron cryomicroscopy.” More…
“Padma Awards, the country’s highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri… ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year and are conferred by the President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan sometime around March/ April…” More…