Michel Goedert receives the first Rainwater Prize for Outstanding Innovation in Neurodegenerative Research

Day 295 of #LMB365 shows the structure of a human GABAA receptor in a membrane nanodisc, bound to alprazolam/Xanax, solved in Radu Aricescu’s group. GABAA receptors are essential for brain function and also targets for major clinical drugs including general anaesthetics, benzodiazepines and sleeping pills.

Day 294 of #LMB365 shows a bottle of Caveat mTOR, a hot sauce made from chillies grown on the windowsill of Roger Williams’ Lab. After picking, the chillies are lacto-fermented for a week with onion, garlic, and a few herbs and spices before blending, seasoning and bottling. The protein ‘mTOR’ is a key target of investigation in the Williams lab, hence the hilarious pun which gives the sauce its name.

Day 293 of #LMB365 shows the new public art outside the recently opened Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre. Artists Matthew Dalziel and Louise Scullion produced the artwork titled “CORPUS” to represent a series of standing stones that engage and reflect on the anatomy and psyche of being human. The LMB building can be seen in the background of this photo taken by Paul Margiotta.

Day 292 of #LMB365 from Laura Pellegrini in Madeline Lancaster’s group shows a section of a cerebral organoid including a ventricular lobe, resembling the structure of the developing human cortex. It also shows an epithelial tissue named the choroid plexus (green), which secretes the cerebrospinal fluid important for brain expansion and maintenance.