From fly connectomics to molecular and cellular mechanisms of cytoplasmic dynein, from genetic code fidelity to the molecular mechanism of trans-translation – the Max Perutz Student Prizes were awarded to a diverse range of PhD research.
Student prizes awarded for outstanding doctoral research
LMB researchers share their science in Cambridge, Ely and Peterborough
LifeLab returned for the second year of the project – this time with LMB scientists taking their research to Ely Cathedral and Queensgate Shopping Centre in Peterborough, as well as to events in Cambridge. Through a range of hands-on activities, talks, discussions, displays, and entertainment, LifeLab volunteers talked to more than 3,500 people across Cambridge, Ely, and Peterborough over a day and a half.
Michel Goedert receives the first Rainwater Prize for Outstanding Innovation in Neurodegenerative Research
The Rainwater Prize Program, the largest prize program for brain research based in Texas, US, has conferred its inaugural award to Michel Goedert. Michel, in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division, received the Prize for establishing that the abnormal assembly of Tau protein is central to a large number of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s Disease.
Mariann Bienz: Fascinating flies – Drosophila and the molecular biology of development and disease
The third in our series of Group Leader profiles written by science writer and LMB alumna, Kathy Weston, is a profile of Mariann Bienz, a Group Leader in the LMB’s PNAC Division.
If one were asked to describe Mariann Bienz in one word, it would almost certainly be: determined. Her persistence and focus took her from a graduate student working on tRNA, through a postdoc on heat shock genes in frogs, to her long-term objective of studying gene expression in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
LMB raises £1,108 for cancer support and a children’s ambulance
For the fifth year in a row, LMB staff showed up on both sides of a long and vibrant line up of baked goodness in support of the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning to fundraise for cancer support. This year, the LMB’s HR team, an enthusiastic bunch of bakers, and an equally committed team of cake supporters raised £640.96, significantly higher than last year’s £344.35.
Kiyoshi Nagai (1949 – 2019)
Kiyoshi Nagai, Group Leader at the LMB and joint head of the Division of Structural Studies from 2001 to 2010, died on September 27th 2019 after a short illness.
Research begun by Kiyoshi at the LMB 30 years ago has recently culminated in a comprehensive understanding of how the spliceosome catalyses the fundamental process of gene splicing in eukaryotes.