MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit |

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The strategic mission of the MBU is to understand mitochondrial biology in health and disease, and to exploit this understanding to develop new therapies and improve human health.

Inspiring Scientists at Cambridge 2027 - Applications now open!

23 September 2026

Inspiring Scientists at Cambridge (ISAC) is a free widening-participation work experience programme for sixth form (year 12) students run by a group of Research Institutes at the University of Cambridge: Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR), MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit (MBU), Institute of Metabolic Science (...

Structural model of CLN8 captured mid-reaction as it produces a building block for BMP synthesis

A novel enzymatic reaction links lysosomal lipid synthesis to Batten disease

15 September 2026

Scientists from the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit have identified a previously unknown enzymatic reaction that cells use to produce a lipid needed to break down and recycle unwanted material. The collaborative study, published in Nature Cell Biology , was led by Dr Kasparas Petkevicius . Key experimental contributions and...

Michal Minczuk leads £7.7 million ARIA project to make mitochondria programmable

9 September 2026

Professor Michal Minczuk will lead a major international research project funded by the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) to develop new ways of delivering genetic material into mitochondria. Programmable mitochondria (ProMiT): Comparing ways to deliver nucleic acids into mitochondria has been awarded £7.7...

Michal Minczuk to lead new £50 million centre to study mitochondrial diseases

5 August 2026

We are excited that the MRC has today announced a £50 million investment in the new MRC Centre of Research Excellence in Mitochondrial Genome Therapeutics (CoRE-MitoGT) , which aims to enable new treatments into these fatal diseases. CoRE-MitoGT will be led by Professor Michal Minczuk of the University of Cambridge. It...

Wellcome Discovery Award for Mike Murphy (Cambridge) and Richard Hartley (Glasgow)

4 August 2026

Congratulations to Professors Mike Murphy (MBU, University of Cambridge) and Richard Hartley (University of Glasgow) , who have been awarded a Wellcome Discovery Award of seven years’ duration entitled “Exploring mitochondrial metabolism in health and disease using targeted biological chemistry.” While the importance of...

Research study supports the view that ATP synthase arose via independent evolution of its three constituent structural modules

30 June 2026

Human ATP synthase is a molecular rotary machine built from twenty-eight subunits of seventeen kinds, two encoded in mitochondrial DNA, fifteen in the nucleus. A team led by John Walker has provided further evidence that assembly proceeds via construction of its three constituent modules, the F 1 -module, the peripheral...

MitoLiPox - a targeted mass spectrometry probe to assess mitochondrial lipid peroxidation

30 June 2026

Mitochondrial lipid peroxidation is central to cell death by ferroptosis in many pathologies. However, measuring this process is challenging. As part of a Wellcome Trust - funded collaboration led by Mike Murphy at the MBU and Richard Hartley at Glasgow this has been addressed by developing a mitochondria-targeted probe...

Michal Minczuk elected a Foreign Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences

29 June 2026

Congratulations to Michal Minczuk , who has been elected a Foreign Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences . This distinction is awarded to outstanding scholars from outside Poland whose scientific achievements are of significant importance for the development of global science and international cooperation. The election...

MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit

mrc_mbu_cambridge_rgb.png

mrc_mbu_cambridge_rgb.png

The strategic mission of the MBU is to understand mitochondrial biology in health and disease, and to exploit this understanding to develop new therapies and improve human health.

Inspiring Scientists at Cambridge 2027 - Applications now open!

A novel enzymatic reaction links lysosomal lipid synthesis to Batten disease

Michal Minczuk leads £7.7 million ARIA project to make mitochondria programmable

Michal Minczuk to lead new £50 million centre to study mitochondrial diseases

Wellcome Discovery Award for Mike Murphy (Cambridge) and Richard Hartley (Glasgow)

Research study supports the view that ATP synthase arose via independent evolution of its three constituent structural modules

MitoLiPox - a targeted mass spectrometry probe to assess mitochondrial lipid peroxidation

Michal Minczuk elected a Foreign Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences

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