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.
Three members of the LMB have been recognised for their contributions to the MRC at the annual MRC CEO Awards. Kristin Webster and Denise Walker received the prize for Public Engagement, whilst Arwen Tapping was runner-up for the Rising Star award.
Launched in 2012, the MRC CEO Award scheme recognises contributions from employees for outstanding effort and commitment to both their work and the MRC.
Over £1200 has been raised by LMB staff for the Papworth Hospital Charity at the annual charity Christmas raffle. The Papworth Hospital Charity was chosen due to the excellent healthcare that Papworth and its staff have provided to many members of the LMB. In addition, Papworth Hospital will be relocating to a brand new building on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in the coming year and will become neighbours of the LMB.
A team of 14 LMB volunteers have raised over £350 for the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) Breast Cancer Appeal. The team baked a delicious and tempting variety of cakes and cookies, which were sold to LMB staff and students on their way to the LMB restaurant for their morning break.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK: one person is diagnosed with breast cancer every 10 minutes.
John O’Neill, group leader in the LMB’s Cell Biology Division, has helped develop a new display about body clocks for the London Science Museum’s Who Am I? exhibition.
Launched on the 10th October 2017, and featuring until Spring 2018, the body clock display is the latest component of the Who Am I? exhibition. The display explores how light is crucial to regulating our body clocks (also known as our circadian rhythm) and what happens when this signal is disrupted.
During the month of November, a team of twelve scientists and staff at the LMB came together to raise awareness and money for the men’s health charity, The Movember Foundation. The team grew moustaches, held a prize draw for a giant moustache cake and sold stick-on moustaches which were donned by LMB staff in a finale event on Thursday 30th November.
The team exceeded their £1000 target, and have raised over £1500.
John Finch, a superb crystallographer and later electron microscopist, who joined the LMB when it was founded in 1962, died on Tuesday 5th December, after a short illness. His contributions to the structures of viruses and nucleosomes, and elucidation of the mechanism of negative staining EM, were central to many of the molecular structures solved at the LMB.