Laboratory of Molecular Biology

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology

The new building of the LMB viewed from the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway bridge in June 2013
Location	Cambridge, UK
Coordinates	52°10′35″N 0°08′35″E / 52.1763°N 0.1430°E / 52.1763; 0.1430
Director	Jan Löwe
Parent organization	Medical Research Council
Website	www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk

The Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is a research institute in Cambridge, England. It was involved in the revolution in molecular biology which occurred in the 1950–60s. It is a major medical research laboratory with a broad focus.^[1]

A new £212m replacement building constructed close by to the original site on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus was opened in May 2013.^[2] The road outside the new building is named Francis Crick Avenue after the 1962 joint Nobel Prize winner, who co-discovered the helical structure of DNA in 1953.^[3]

Scientific staff of the LMB who have been awarded Nobel prizes are: ^[4][5][6]

• Frederick Sanger 1958 & 1980 (1980 was shared with Paul Berg and Walter Gilbert)
• John Kendrew 1962 (shared with Max Perutz)
• Max Perutz 1962 (shared with John Kendrew)
• Francis Crick 1962 (shared with Maurice Wilkins and Jim Watson)
• Jim Watson 1962 (shared with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins)
• Aaron Klug 1982
• César Milstein 1984 (shared with Georges Köhler and Niels Jerne)
• Georges Köhler 1984 (shared with César Milstein and Niels Jerne)
• John Walker 1997 (shared with Paul D. Boyer and Jens Christian Skou)
• Sydney Brenner 2002 (shared with Robert Horvitz and John Sulston)
• Robert Horvitz 2002 (shared with Sydney Brenner and John Sulston)
• John Sulston 2002 (shared with Sydney Brenner and Robert Horvitz)
• Venkatraman Ramakrishnan 2009 (shared with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath)
• Richard Henderson 2017 (shared with Jacques Dubochet and Joachim Frank)

Visitors who received a Nobel prize for work done, or started at the LMB and alumni include:

• Sidney Altman 1989 (shared with Thomas R. Cech)
• Richard J. Roberts 1993 (shared with Phillip Allen Sharp)
• Michael Smith 1993
• Roger Kornberg 2006
• Andrew Fire 2006 (shared with Craig C. Mello)
• Elizabeth Blackburn 2009 (shared it with Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak)
• Thomas A. Steitz 2009 (shared with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Ada E. Yonath)
• Marty Chalfie 2008 (along with Osamu Shimomura and Roger Y. Tsien)
• John Gurdon 2012 (along with Shinya Yamanaka)
• Michael Levitt 2013 (along with Martin Karplus and Arieh Warshel)
• Martin Karplus 2013 (along with Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel)
• Arieh Warshel 2013 (along with Martin Karplus and Michael Levitt)

References

1. Raper, V. (2011). "A Nobel Prize-Winning Culture". Science. doi:10.1126/science.caredit.a1100063.
2. "Her Majesty the Queen opens the new MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology". Cambridge University. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
3. Rich, Alexander; Stevens, Charles F. (2004). "Obituary: Francis Crick (1916–2004)". Nature. 430 (7002): 845–7. Bibcode:2004Natur.430..845R. doi:10.1038/430845a. PMID 15318208. S2CID 686071.
4. John Finch; 'A Nobel Fellow On Every Floor', Medical Research Council 2008, 381 pp, ISBN 978-1-84046-940-0; this book is all about the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge.
5. LMB Archives
6. The Nobel Laureates of the LMB