LMB 365 – Day 182

Day 182 of #LMB365 was taken outside the LMB’s Max Perutz Lecture Theatre where Anna Howes and Vaithish Velazhahan, both first year PhD students, were awarded LMBees for attending the most Biophysical Techniques Lectures as part of their PhD training. The lecture theatre will be the venue for a one-day meeting in November, organized by the Biophysics Facility, AstraZeneca and Imperial College London, on how cutting-edge biophysics is being applied to complex biological systems. More details can be found at https://www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/sites/nextgen/

This model for day 181 of #LMB365 shows a molecule of RNA folded into a ribozyme – a specific 3D shape that can carry out reactions. This particular ribozyme builds other RNA molecules, and can even make a copy of itself. It was developed by scientists in Phil Holliger’s group in the PNAC division as part of an effort to reconstitute a self-sustaining system capable of Darwinian evolution, a top goal of synthetic biology. At this year’s Royal Society Summer Exhibition, LMB scientists will be presenting how such self-replicating molecules could have contributed to the origin of life https://www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/sites/recipe4life/

This image for day 180 of #LMB365 was taken by Ilaria Chiaradia in the Cell Biology Division when she was on a confocal microscopy training session. It shows atypical mitosis in a HeLa cell which is characterised by double the number of centrosomes (labelled with anti-γ-tubulin antibody in green) and cross-shaped mitotic DNA (labelled in blue with DAPI), while mitochondria are labelled in red.

The LMB Happy Hour team recently held a quiz night. Quizmaster for the evening was David Christensen from the LMB’s Public Engagement team, and he kept everyone entertained with questions on various topics including music, films (whether real or made up!) and the LMB. A great time was had by all, and this photo for day 179 of #LMB365 shows the winning team with their prize of reusable MRC bags.

LMB researchers will be telling the public about their work on the origin of life at The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition. On day 178 of #LMB365 we see Phil Holliger being interviewed about the exhibition. Learn more about our exhibit at https://mrc.io/recipe4life & come along 1-7 July!