Image365

Happy Christmas from the LMBees on day 359 of #LMB365! These cuddly bees are available to purchase from the LMB’s Reception when they aren’t having fun swarming on the Christmas tree…

Day 358 of #LMB365 is a Christmas tree composed of Hela cells ectopically expressing golgin-97 at the mitochondria, in green, and co-stained with vesicle cargo proteins in red and blue. Golgin-97 is a peripheral membrane protein that localises to the trans-Golgi via a C-terminal GRIP domain. By replacing the GRIP domain with a mitochondrial targeting sequence we can re-localise golgin-97 from the Golgi to the mitochondria and then, using immunofluorescence, see what happens to the localisation of other proteins in the cell. Using this assay Sean Munro’s group in the Cell Biology Division has shown that Golgin-97 is a vesicle tether that captures endosomally derived vesicles via its N-terminus. The ‘baubles’ are labelled with the cis-Golgi marker gm130 and the ‘star’ labelled with the trans-Golgi markers TGN46 and golgin-245.

Science is all about success as well as failure and many experiments don’t work. Dealing with failure in a constructive way is a vital skill that scientists develop throughout their career. On day 357 of #LMB365, a postdoc lost his purified protein due to a machine malfunction after spending hours in the cold room trying to save it. While he felt great disappointment, he also made the best of the situation by applying his sense of humour to the situation at hand. A great example of failing gracefully!

As we celebrate the winter solstice, day 356 of #LMB365 shows John O’Neill’s group on an outing to visit the Corpus Clock in Cambridge. Sitting atop the clock is an extraordinary monster: the ‘Chronophage’ meaning Eater of Time. John’s group studies the fundamental mechanisms of daily cellular timekeeping and how circadian regulation of biological function is achieved.

Long-serving staff member Jane Randall retired this month after more than 26 years at the LMB. As the Assistant Divisional Administrator for PNAC Division, Jane worked for many distinguished LMB scientists over the years including César Milstein, Terry Rabbitts, Michael Neuberger and Greg Winter. Day 355 of #LMB365 shows Jane and colleagues at her retirement party when she was presented with a number of gifts, including a framed photo of her being presented to the Queen in 2013 at the official opening of the new LMB building. We wish her well for a richly deserved and fulfilling retirement.

On day 354 of #LMB365, members of the LMB celebrate Christmas Jumper Day – bringing in the holidays in style!