This week, 16-22 September 2018, is Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week.
Around the world Global Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week (GMDAW) will be marked with educational, fundraising and advocacy efforts designed to raise awareness about mitochondrial disease (mito).
In 1943, Erwin Schrödinger gave three public lectures entitled ‘What is Life?' at Trinity College Dublin.
Following their publication, these lectures had a tremendous influence on the development of molecular biology.
On 5 and 6 September 2018, the 75th anniversary of these lectures will be celebrated at Trinity College, Dublin with an unprecedented gathering of some of the most brilliant minds working in biology today, including six Nobel Laureates.
Mike Murphy is a member of the organising committee and the event will be livestreamed.
Drs Caterina Garone and Michal Minczuk are Guest Editors for the July 2018 issue of Essays in Biochemistry - a comprehensive review on the molecular mechanisms involved in mitochondrial function and disease.
Researchers at the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, led by Dr Judy Hirst, have used cryoEM to determine structures of mammalian respiratory complex I at atomic resolution - sufficient to see how individual amino acid sidechains change position between two different states of the enzyme.
On Thursday, 5 July 2018 members of the MBU visited Newham College, East London, to participate in the Big Bang Event.
The Big Bang events offer fun and free science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) activities for 10-18 year olds.
We took our fly exhibits and provided some hands-on microscopy and water-bath based experiments... and, in appreciation of the extraordinary heat, we were able to demonstrate changes in experimental design when, occasionally, things didn't go exactly to plan!
We had a great time.
The General Board of the Faculties of the University of Cambridge has recommended that, with effect from 1 October 2018, Professorships be established for Drs Judy Hirst (assigned to the Department of Clinical Neurosciences) and Mike Murphy (assigned to the Department of Medicine).
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Mike Murphy!
At the recent Society for Free Radical Research International (SFRRI) biennial meeting, held in Lisbon, Mike was awarded the SFRRI Europe Basic Science Award and Lecture.
Congratulations to Dr Judy Hirst, the MBU's Deputy Director, who has just been elected to the Fellowship of The Royal Society.
Superoxide dismutating molecules rescue the toxic effects of PINK1 and parkin loss
An image from the latest article from our Mitochondrial Neurodegeneration research group, led by Dr Alex Whitworth, has been selected for the cover of the May issue of Human Molecular Genetics.
Lay Summary
On Sunday, 25 March 2018, the MBU participated in the Cambridge Science Festival, Cambridge Biomedical Campus event. Our theme was "Sensational fluorescent fruit flies".
