探花直播 of Cambridge - Richard Henderson

Cambridge academics recognised in Queen鈥檚 Birthday Honours 2018

ts657 — Fri, 08 Jun 2018 21:30:00 +0000

Professor Mary Beard was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire聽(DBE) while Master of St John's College, Professor Christopher Dobson, was聽awarded a Knights Bachelor and Dr Richard Henderson,聽Emeritus Fellow of Darwin College and Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College,聽was recognised聽with a聽Companion of聽Honour.

Three other聽Newnham聽College聽alumnae joined Professor Beard in becoming聽Dames in the聽Queen鈥檚 Birthday聽Honours聽2018, announced today -聽actor Emma Thompson, civil servant and diversity champion Sue Owen, and local government CEO Stella聽Manzie.

They join a range of women honoured聽for聽women at the forefront of their professions or who have championed women鈥檚 rights to coincide with聽the 100th anniversary year of women鈥檚 suffrage.

Dame Mary has been recognised聽for聽her services to the study of Classical Civilisation.

She said: 鈥淚 am absolutely 100% delighted 鈥� especially to realise that Classical Civilisation is still taken seriously enough to be recognised in this way.

"That said, I expect a good few jokes about pantomime dames!鈥澛�

Beard鈥檚 work on classical civilisation has been matched by her聽engaging TV work and an inspiration teaching that together have聽brought the classics to hundreds of thousands of people world-wide 鈥� and to hundreds of students at聽Cambridge 探花直播.

Her latest work, Women and Power, investigates the roots of the silencing of women in the Classical period, taking it forward into the present day.

But she will be remembered by generations of undergraduates, not as the famous figure on the television screens, or even the fearless debater of Twitter, but as their supervisor.

Newnham聽classics student Charlie Pemberton said: 鈥淚t was Mary who encouraged me to apply to Cambridge and indeed Newnham in the first place: we had emailed a bit when I was in sixth form, before she met me at a Newnham Classics Open Day."

鈥淎s a supervisor, she is incredibly fair: she gives praise when it is due, but isn鈥檛 afraid to tell you when you鈥檝e been a numpty (to put it lightly...!). Her warning never to take a source at face value - to do some digging to discover what it鈥檚 really getting at - proved invaluable in my exams.

"She didn鈥檛 just teach us the material, but how to handle or think with the material - and she makes the material so accessible and memorable. There is something so special about Newnham Classics, and I think Mary has come to symbolise that.鈥�

Beard is herself an alumna of Newnham College, Cambridge, where she first studied Classics in 1973. She returned as a Fellow in 1984, at the time the only female lecturer in the Classics Faculty. She became Professor of Classics at the 探花直播 of Cambridge in 2004.聽

Dame Carol Black, Principal of Newnham College, says: 鈥淭his is well-deserved recognition of the outstanding contribution that Mary has made to the study of Classics and the promotion of public understanding of classical civilisation, a further accolade in Newnham鈥檚 highly-distinguished tradition in Classics.鈥澛犅�

探花直播Master of St John鈥檚 was honoured with a knighthood in recognition of his ground-breaking research into Alzheimer鈥檚 disease

Professor Christopher Dobson has been was awarded a Knights Bachelor in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2018 to commemorate his illustrious scientific career.

Sir Christopher was recognised聽for his contributions to Science and Higher Education.

Sir Christopher is one of the world鈥檚 leading scientists working at the interface of the physical and biological sciences. Among聽other high-profile scientific achievements, in 2013 he co-founded the 拢50 million Cambridge Centre for Misfolding Diseases (CMD).

Scientists at the Centre focus on analysing the origins of neurodegenerative conditions - such as Alzheimer鈥檚 and Parkinson鈥檚 diseases - which occur because of 鈥榤isfolded鈥� protein molecules. 探花直播experimental work by Sir Christopher and his inter-disciplinary research team has led to remarkable breakthroughs in the field.

Sir Christopher said he was astonished to have been made a knight and dedicated the honour to his students and scientific colleagues.

He said: 鈥淚 am truly humbled to receive this remarkable honour. It would not have been possible without the brilliance and dedication of my students and scientific colleagues over many years, whose commitment to improving the lives of those suffering from Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and other neurodegenerative conditions is deeply impressive.鈥�

鈥淚t also recognises the commitment of the 探花直播 of Cambridge, and the UK Higher Education sector in general, to educating to the highest possible standards the most able and deserving students on whose shoulders the future of the world depends.鈥�

Sir Christopher was educated at the 探花直播 of Oxford and became an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Harvard 探花直播 before he returned to Oxford as Professor of Chemistry.

In 2001 he moved from Oxford to the 探花直播 of Cambridge when he was appointed as the John Humphrey Plummer Professor of Chemical and Structural Biology and elected a Fellow of St John鈥檚 College. He became Master of St John鈥檚 College in 2007.

Sir Christopher said: 鈥淚 cannot express strongly enough how much I have valued the inspiration, encouragement, support and friendship that I have received at St John鈥檚 from students, staff, Fellows and alumni, and how important the intellectual and cultural environment that exists in this truly remarkable College has been for my scientific activities.鈥�

Professor Tuomas Knowles, a co-founder of CMD and a Fellow of St John鈥檚, said: 鈥淪ir Christopher's landmark discoveries over the past 30 years have truly transformed our understanding of misfolding diseases.

鈥淗is work has had enormous influence throughout the physical, biological and medical sciences, establishing new connections, and generating wide-reaching implications for molecular medicine. It is wonderful that such an eminent scientist and influential and inspiring leader has been recognised with this honour.鈥�

Sir Christopher also paid tribute to his friends and family for their 鈥渦nstinting support鈥�.

He added: 鈥淥n a personal note, I want to thank my friends, family and colleagues, and especially my wife, Mary, and children, Richard and William, for their fantastic encouragement throughout my life and career.鈥�

Nobel prize winner and pioneer of electron microscopy Dr Richard Henderson was awarded the Companion of Honour.聽

Dr Henderson, an Emeritus Fellow of Darwin College聽and alumnus of Corpus Christi College where he is an Honorary Fellow,聽shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017 for his work developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution.

He achieved a quantum leap in imaging techniques when his work allowing atomic structure determinations of many proteins that were previously impossible to obtain, provided important insights into biological functions and mechanisms that will enhance the study of diseases such as neurodegenerative and infections diseases and cancer.

Dr Henderson said:聽鈥淚t is a great honour to join such a distinguished group of people from all walks of life. My scientific mentors Max Perutz and聽C茅sar Milstein were earlier Companions of Honour, so it is a great delight to me to be able to continue in this tradition.鈥�

Professor Mary Fowler, Master of Darwin College, said:聽"I am delighted that Darwin College Fellow Richard Henderson has been appointed a Companion of Honour - this and his Nobel Prize are richly deserved indeed. Richard's skill and his immense dedication benefit us all, bringing hope for much needed treatments for a wide range of diseases."

Many more alumni were honoured, with聽a CBE for television presenter and author聽Bamber Gascoigne (Magdalene) and聽knighthoods for historian and broadcaster Professor Simon Schama聽(Christ's) and Government barrister James Eadie聽(Magdalene).聽Dr Darrin Disley (Trinity Hall) was honoured with an OBE for services to business, enterprise and health while fellow Trinity Hall alumnus David Eyton was honoured with a CBE for services to engineering and energy.

Honorary Magdalene Fellow聽Sir Christopher Greenwood聽was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE) while聽Professor Jane Marshall (Murray Edwards)聽was given an Order of the British Empire聽for services to Education in Health Sciences.聽Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College, Professor Chris Husbands (Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam聽探花直播) received a knighthood for services to higher education.

Thomas Ad猫s聽(King's), received聽a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to music. Professor Nicholas聽Marston, Vice-Provost and Director of Studies in Music at King's College, said: "It is excellent to see artistic creativity in the UK being recognised in this fashion.

"King鈥檚 College can boast a remarkable line of composers across many generations; among contemporary聽figures, Tom Ad猫s stands together with Judith Weir and George Benjamin as one of our many distinguished聽alumni聽whose musical and creative talents not only bring lustre to the College聽but 鈥� more importantly 鈥� 聽enrich the lives of many people in this country and around the world.

"We congratulate him very warmly."

Leaders in fields from classics聽to聽Alzheimer鈥檚 research are recognised today in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

I am absolutely 100% delighted 鈥� especially to realise that Classical Civilisation is still taken seriously enough to be recognised in this way. That said, I expect a good few jokes about pantomime dames!

Professor Mary Beard

探花直播 of Cambridge

探花直播text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright 漏探花直播 of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified.聽 All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways 鈥� as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Cambridge alumnus and former research associate awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017

cjb250 — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 10:23:13 +0000

Henderson completed his PhD in 1970, carrying out his research under the supervision of聽David Blow聽at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, where he is currently based. He is an Emeritus Fellow of Darwin College and an Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi.

Frank, now based at Columbia 探花直播, New York, USA, was a senior research associate聽at Cambridge鈥檚 Cavendish Laboratory from 1973-1975.

探花直播three researchers have received the award "for developing聽cryo-electron聽microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of聽biomolecules聽in solution". According to the Nobel Committee, this method 鈥渉as moved biochemistry into a new era鈥�.

Professor Ben聽Luisi,聽from聽Cambridge's聽Department of聽Biochemistry and who led聽a聽consortium to聽establish a聽cryo-electron聽microscopy聽facility at the 探花直播, said: " 探花直播award recognises and celebrates the development and wonderfully successful application of electron microscopy to visualise isolated biological molecules in sufficient detail to infer the relative positions of the constituent atoms or to find the locations of the molecules in large complexes within cells.

"This approach has tremendously expanded the range of biological samples that can be studied. It聽has enabled deeper understanding of how biological molecules recognise each other to form complex organisations, how they make and break chemical bonds, how they work like motors, and how they communicate information through structural change.

" 探花直播methods have taken decades to develop and were driven and sustained by Richard's deep theoretical insights and vision. 探花直播molecular biology community has benefited tremendously from the work of Richard and his colleagues. 探花直播university has also benefited from Richard's generous help and advice to establish electron microscopy facilities here."

Dr Luca聽Pellegrini, also聽from the Department of聽Biochemistry, said: "We鈥檙e delighted about the news that the 2017 Nobel prize in Chemistry was jointly awarded to Dr Richard Henderson of the MRC Laboratory聽of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. 探花直播award聽recognises聽Dr Henderson鈥檚 long-standing interest in electron microscopy and its application to fundamental biological problems.

" 探花直播pioneering research carried out by Dr Henderson in the field of electron microscopy has聽revolutionised聽the structural investigation of biological specimens under native conditions, leading to a major breakthrough in our ability to obtain high-resolution images of macromolecular assemblies of biological and medical interest."

Professor Magdalena聽Zernicka-Goetz, from the Department of聽Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, said: 鈥淚 think it is wonderful.聽A visual image is the essential component to understanding, often the first one to open our eyes, and so our minds, to a scientific breakthrough.鈥�

This brings the total number of聽affiliates of the 探花直播 of Cambridge who have been awarded聽the Nobel Prize to 98.

Cambridge alumnus Richard Henderson (Corpus Christi College, 1966) has been jointly awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with former Cambridge 探花直播 senior research associate Joachim Frank, and Jacques Dubochet from the 探花直播 of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Cool microscope technology revolutionises biochemistry

A picture is a key to understanding. Scientific breakthroughs often build upon the successful聽visualisation聽of objects invisible to the human eye. However, biochemical maps have long been filled with blank spaces because the available technology has had difficulty generating images of much of life鈥檚 molecular machinery.聽Cryo-electron聽microscopy changes all of this. Researchers can now freeze聽biomolecules聽mid-movement and聽visualise聽processes they have never previously seen, which is decisive for both the basic understanding of life鈥檚 chemistry and for the development of pharmaceuticals.

Electron microscopes were long believed to only be suitable for imaging dead matter, because the powerful electron beam destroys biological material. But in 1990, Richard Henderson succeeded in using an electron microscope to generate a three-dimensional image of a protein at atomic resolution. This breakthrough proved the technology鈥檚 potential.

Joachim Frank made the technology generally applicable. Between 1975 and 1986 he developed an image processing method in which the electron microscope鈥檚 fuzzy twodimensional images are analysed and merged to reveal a sharp three-dimensional structure.

Jacques聽Dubochet聽added water to electron microscopy. Liquid water evaporates in the electron microscope鈥檚 vacuum, which makes the聽biomolecules聽collapse. In the early 1980s,聽Dubochet聽succeeded in vitrifying water 鈥� he cooled water so rapidly that it solidified in its liquid form around a biological sample, allowing the聽biomolecules聽to retain their natural shape even in a vacuum.

Following these discoveries, the electron microscope鈥檚 every nut and bolt have been optimised. 探花直播desired atomic resolution was reached in 2013, and researchers can now routinely produce three-dimensional structures of聽biomolecules. In the past few years, scientific literature has been filled with images of everything from proteins that cause antibiotic resistance, to the surface of the Zika virus. Biochemistry is now facing an explosive development and is all set for an exciting future.

Information taken from a press release from the聽Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

探花直播text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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Dr Frederick Sanger (1918-2013)

sj387 — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 16:37:18 +0000

A pioneer of DNA sequencing, Dr Sanger started his scientific career by reading Natural Sciences as an undergraduate at St John鈥檚 College, Cambridge. He subsequently undertook a PhD, completed in 1943 with a thesis entitled " 探花直播metabolism of the amino acid lysine in the animal body". After receiving his doctorate, he continued to work at the 探花直播, aiming to determine the entire sequence of amino acids in a protein chain.

Dr Sanger is one of only four double Nobel laureates, and the only person ever to have won both prizes in chemistry. In 1958, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research on protein structure and, in particular, the discovery of the structure of insulin. In 1962 he left the 探花直播 and moved to the new UK Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) as Head of the Protein and Nucleic Acid Chemistry Division.

Whilst at the LMB, Sanger worked with colleagues in developing methods to sequence the nucleic acids DNA and RNA. His group produced the first complete sequence of a virus genome, of just over 5000 base-pairs; they went on to sequence the first human genome of about 16,000 base-pairs, and in 1982 they sequenced the genome of a virus of around 48,000 base-pairs. This work foreshadowed modern research into the human genome, including that done by the Sanger Institute.

It was this work on DNA that earned Sanger his second Nobel Prize in 1980, received jointly with Paul Berg (Stanford 探花直播) and Walter Gilbert (Harvard 探花直播), 鈥渇or their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids鈥�. His development of the 鈥渄ideoxy鈥� or 鈥淪anger鈥� technique of sequencing is still used today, and allows 500-800 bases to be read at a time. Three years later, in 1983, Sanger retired.

Venki Ramakrishnan, Deputy Director of the LMB, said: 鈥淔red was one of the outstanding scientists of the last century and it is simply impossible to overestimate the impact he has had on modern genetics and molecular biology. Moreover, by his modest manner and his quiet and determined way of carrying out experiments himself right to the end of his career, he was a superb role model and inspiration for young scientists everywhere.鈥�

Richard Henderson, former LMB Director, remembers, 鈥淗e was a superb hands-on scientist with outstanding judgement and skill, and an extremely modest yet encouraging way of interacting with his younger colleagues. I particularly remember one young scientist who had asked Fred for advice being told, 鈥業 think you should try harder鈥�. 探花直播example he set will continue to motivate young scientists even now he has gone.鈥�

Sir Gregory Winter, Master of Trinity College, is a former Head of Division of Protein and Nucleic Acid Chemistry at LMB - a position that Sanger also held. He said: " 探花直播impact of Fred Sanger's work in reading the polymers of life has been felt in almost every area of biology and medicine; it is difficult to imagine a world without his contributions. Not only did his work provide deep insights into the chemical nature of life, but it had huge practical implications - it led directly to the sequencing of the human genome and also helped to lay the foundations of the modern biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries."

Dr Frederick Sanger, recognised by many as the 鈥渇ather of genomics鈥�, died in 2013 at the age of 95. 探花直播founding member of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, and the person after whom the Sanger Institute is named, he was known as an extremely modest and self-effacing man whose innumerable scientific contributions had an extraordinary impact on molecular biology.

Fred was one of the outstanding scientists of the last century and it is simply impossible to overestimate the impact he has had on modern genetics and molecular biology

Venki Ramakrishnan

Nick

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