The LMB’s annual charity Christmas raffle took place in December 2015. Staff at the LMB raised a total of £1372.85 for Cancer Research UK. This year’s charity was chosen in memory of their late colleague, Neil Marshall, who sadly lost his fight with cancer earlier in 2015. Cancer Research UK is a charity dedicated to […]
LMB raises over £1300 for Cancer Research UK
How one scientist is growing miniature brains in her lab
LMB neuroscientist Madeline Lancaster generates living models of brains from a few stem cells. In her lab, she takes small samples of stem cells and grows them in careful conditions. When they grow, what develops is a single-function bit of the brain, not at all a full human brain but a small, specific part of […]
An open translocation channel revealed
Rebecca Voorhees and Manu Hegde, from the LMB’s Cell Biology Division, have used electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) to determine how a channel that is essential for protein transport is opened. This channel, known as Sec61 in mammals, is needed for secretion of proteins from the cell and insertion of proteins into the membrane. Secretory and membrane […]
Cryo-EM: The field that came in from the cold
Recent advances in electron cryo-microscopy are enabling researchers to solve protein structures at near-atomic resolutions, expanding the biological applicability of this technique. Nature Methods looks at the development of the technique, which includes work by the LMB’s Richard Henderson, Sjors Scheres and Venki Ramakrishnan. More…
Mariann Bienz: The Puzzle of Cell Signalling
Interview with Mariann Bienz on the mechanisms behind the signalling pathways that switch on gene transcription and how their dysfunction can ultimately cause cancer. More…
Understanding the maternal age effect in human oocytes
Human eggs are frequently aneuploid, meaning they have the wrong number of chromosomes, and this is a major cause of pregnancy loss and Down syndrome. Aneuploidy in human eggs increases with advanced maternal age, which may explain why it is more difficult for women to get pregnant as they get older, and why miscarriages and […]