John O’Neill’s group have identified insulin as a primary signal that synchronises the body’s circadian rhythm in response to meal times. More…
Your body clock cares about when you eat
LMB 365 – Day 122
On this day in 1970, a landmark paper showing the 3D reconstructions of spherical viruses was published. On day 122 of #LMB365, an electron micrograph of human wart virus is shown, alongside a version with its surface lattice superimposed on top. Aaron Klug led a group of LMB scientists applying the technique he had developed just a few years early, of computing 3D density maps from electron micrographs, to spherical viruses. The tecnique produced clear reconstructions of the surface structures of viruses, and paved the way for 3D imaging by electron microscopy. Reference: R. A. Crowther, Linda A. Amos, J T. Finch, D J DeRosier, A. Klug. Nature 226: 421-425.
Ana Casañal awarded the FEBS Anniversary Prize 2019
Ana Casañal, a postdoctoral researcher in Lori Passmore’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, is one of two recipients of the FEBS Anniversary Prizes 2019. The FEBS (Federation of European Biochemical Societies) Anniversary Prizes of the Gesellschaft für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie (GBM; German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) are awarded annually to up […]
LMB 365 – Day 121
On day 121 of #LMB365 we have a 1970s image of the nematode worm, C. elegans, to highlight Sydney Brenner’s landmark paper on the genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans which was published in May 1974: Genetics 77: 71-94. “The ease of handling of the nematode coupled with its small genome size suggests that it is feasible to look for mutants in all of the genes to try to discover how they participate in the development and functioning of a simple multicellular organism.” For this work, Sydney shared the 2002 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine
LMB 365 – Day 120
On day 120 of #LMB365 we find some LMB PhD students “relaxing” by bouldering at a local climbing centre after a long day in the lab. Abilities varied, but they all enjoyed themselves and ended up with a well-deserved pint in a local pub.
LMB 365 – Day 119
Day 119 of #LMB365 shows blue, yellow-green, and red lasers hitting the sample stream in the MoFlo cell sorter within the Flow Cytometry facility. As cells flow through the laser beams at this interrogation point their fluorescence is measured and the cells are sorted accordingly. This technique is used by many people across the LMB to select cells of interest for further study.