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.
Hugh Pelham, Director of the LMB, recently presented Joy Worship, Manager of Acorn House, The Sick Children’s Trust, with a cheque for £1496.30, which was raised at the LMB’s annual Christmas Charity Raffle. Joy was delighted with the gift and said that the contribution would go towards the £68,000 annual running costs of Acorn House, which is funded solely by voluntary donations.
Sean Munro, group leader in the LMB’s Cell Biology Division, has been elected as a Fellow of The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a Fellow of AAAS is an honour bestowed upon members by their peers. Fellows are recognized for meritorious efforts to advance science or its applications.
Founded in 1848, AAAS serves some 272 affiliated societies and academies of science and publishes the peer-reviewed general science journal Science.
Dr Venki Ramakrishnan, Joint Head of the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, has been honoured with a knighthood in the New Year Honours List 2012. The award is for services to molecular biology.
Venki’s research focuses on the structure and function of the ribosome. This complex structure, found in multiple copies in every living cell, translates the DNA code into life, producing tens of thousands of different proteins that in turn control the chemistry in all living organisms.
Christian Münch, a postgraduate student working in Anne Bertolotti’s group in the LMB’s Division of Neurobiology has been awarded the 2011 British Neuroscience Association (BNA) Postgraduate Award. This is awarded annually to one student considered to have made a significant contribution to neuroscience and to have achieved an outstanding performance in their viva voce.
The focus of Christian’s PhD studies has been the protein superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1).
Sarah Teichmann, from the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, will deliver the Lister Research Prize Lecture, an award given in support of her integrated computational and genomic approach to decoding the transcriptional regulatory networks involved in T helper cell differentiation. T helper cells belong to a group of white blood cells, called lymphocytes, and assist other white blood cells in immunologic processes.
Young artists from Cambridgeshire schools brushed up on their neuroscience this summer to produce spectacular artwork. Their achievements were celebrated at an award ceremony at the LMB this week.
Imagining the Brain is a project that invites Cambridgeshire pupils with an interest in art and science to cut through the jargon usually associated with complex subjects like neuroscience and use art as a means of communication.