MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit
 The Wellcome Trust/MRC building, housing the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research and the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit | |
| Abbreviation | MBU |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1927 |
| Type | Research institute |
| Legal status | Government agency |
| Purpose | Mitochondrial research |
| Headquarters | The Wellcome Trust/MRC building |
| Location |
|
Director | Professor Massimo Zeviani |
Parent organization | Medical Research Council |
| Website | MBU |
The MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit (formerly the MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit) is a world-leading institution of the Medical Research Council based at the Addenbrooke’s Hospital / Cambridge Bio-Medical Campus site in Cambridge, England. The unit is a University of Cambridge partner institution concerned with the study of the mitochondrion, as this organelle has a varied and critical role in many aspects of eukaryotic metabolism and is implicated in a large number of metabolic, degenerative, and age-related human diseases.
History
The Unit was originally founded in 1927 using a donation from Sir William Dunn, who left £1 million to charity on his death in 1912. Part of this money was used to fund what was then called the Dunn Nutritional Laboratory, with its research supported by the MRC. The current director of the Unit is Professor Massimo Zeviani.[1]
The Unit has three major scientific aims:[2]
- To understand the fundamental processes taking place in mitochondria
- To understand the involvement of these processes in human diseases
- To exploit knowledge of these fundamental processes for the development of new therapies to treat human diseases
Research Groups
The MBU is organised into eight independent research groups[3] and includes 40-50 graduate students who are members of the University of Cambridge:
- ATP Synthase
- Bacterial Complex I
- Bioinformatics
- Mitochondrial Carriers
- Mitochondrial Complex I
- Mitochondrial Dysfunction
- Mitochondrial Genetics
- Mitochondrial Medicine
The Unit is the home of the MitoMiner mitochondrial proteomics database
Former Directors
Professor Sir John Walker (1998-2013)[4][1]
See also
- Sir William Dunn Institute of Biochemistry - another beneficiary of Dunn's will
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Directorship of the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit
- ↑ Introduction
- ↑ Research Groups Page
- ↑ Curriculum-Vitae