The MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit (formerly the MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit) is a department of the School of Clinical Medicine at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, funded through a strategic partnership between the Medical Research Council and the University. It is located at the Addenbrooke’s Hospital /

Cambridge Biomedical Campus The Cambridge Biomedical Campus is the largest centre of medical research and health science in Europe. The site is located at the southern end of Hills Road in Cambridge, England. Over 20,000 people work at the site, which is home to Cambrid ...

site in

Cambridge, England Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

. The unit is concerned with the study of the

mitochondrion A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is use ...

, as this organelle has a varied and critical role in many aspects of

eukaryotic Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bact ...

metabolism and is implicated in many metabolic, degenerative, and age-related human diseases.

History

The Unit was 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 Medical Research Council (MRC). Its original research focus was to investigate the role of vitamins in human health. Under the directorship of Egon Kodicek this focus changed to more general nutritional research. The Unit was restructured in 1998 under the directorship of Professor Sir John Walker to focus on mitochondrial research. The Unit was renamed in 2009 to the Mitochondrial Biology Unit to reflect its mitochondrial expertise. In March 2017 the Unit was transferred from the MRC to the

. The current director of the Unit is Professor Judy Hirst. The Unit has three major scientific aims: # 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 nine independent research groups and includes 30-40 graduate students who are members of the

: * Professor

Judy Hirst Judy Hirst is a British scientist specialising in mitochondrial biology. She is Director of the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit at the University of Cambridge. Education and early life Hirst grew up in Lepton, a village near Huddersfield, Wes ...

FRS - Understanding the molecular mechanism of complex I and its roles in human disease * Professor Patrick Chinnery - Mitochondrial genomics and human diseases * Professor Edmund Kunji - Understanding transport processes in mitochondria * Dr Michal Minczuk - Discovering the genetic links between mitochondrial dysfunction and human disease * Professor Mike Murphy - Targeting therapeutic and probe molecules to mitochondria, mitochondrial radical production and redox signalling * Dr Julien Prudent - Interactions between mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum in cell physiology and disease * Dr Jelle van den Ameele - Molecular mechanisms of tissue specificity in mitochondrial disease * Dr Alex Whitworth - Genetic models of neurodegenerative disease * Professor John E. Walker FRS - Understanding the molecular mechanism of how ATP is made

Directors

Professor Judy Hirst FRS (2020 - ) Professor Massimo Zeviani (2013 - 2019) Professor Sir John Walker FRS (1998 - 2013) Dr Roger Whitehead (1973 – 1998) Dr Egon Kodicek CBE FRS (1963 - 1973) Dr Leslie Harris (1929 - 1963)

Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins (20 June 1861 – 16 May 1947) was an English biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1929, with Christiaan Eijkman, for the discovery of vitamins, even though Casimir Funk, ...

(1927 - 1929)

References

External links

* {{authority control Biological research institutes in the United Kingdom Nutrition Medical research institutes in the United Kingdom Research institutes in Cambridge Mitochondrial Biology Unit, MRC Medical Research Council (United Kingdom)

History

Research Groups

Directors

See also

References

External links