MACKAY & MATTHEWS LAB

Protein structure, function and engineering

BLOG

Auf wiedersehen Jakob…

Jakob Helmbrecht bravely ventured down under, risking crocodile attacks and leech bites to work in the lab under the tutelage of Clement and Lucien for 5 months - and he is now setting sail back to Germany to polish his Masters off by embarking on a little more research. It sounds like he might have itchy feet to venture overseas again, so who knows - we might see him back in Australia before too long... His farewell dinner featured Clement presenting his present - and Jakob's last chance (for the time being) to sample Australian Thai food...

Lab alumnus Michael Webster publishes his first last-author paper – in Cell!

Michael, a BSc Hons student in the lab in 2012, now has an independent group leader position at the highly regarded John Innes Center for Plant Science in the UK. He has just reported his structure of the RNA polymerase from plant plastids - in a paper in Cell - in the same issue as a rival group published a similar study! Our very own (well, until recently) Jason Low gave them a helping hand by collecting XLMS data on their complex, which helped them place subunits into the electron potential map that they obtained from single-particle cryoelectron microscopy data. Super start to one's independent career.

Lab walk in the Blue Mountains

We ventured out into the lower Blue Mountains for a day hike on Sat 24 Feb. The forecast was that there might be some rain. And there was. The first couple of hours were persistent - though not heavy - rain. Fortunately the canopy protected us from some direct rainfall, but all of the surrounding shrubbery was saturated, and so we all were too. Still, it was warm enough that it didn't feel too miserable! The leeches were pretty happy about the weather though - and they were very keen to join us on our walk. In the end, I think Lucien might have won the prize for the most leech-friendly hiker, with about 20 bites - not that it was a competition. First, we headed down from Springwood on...

Flojo – a life

Flojo – a life

With great sadness, Jacqui and Joel shepherded Flojo to her last big sleep at the vet on the weekend. She was with us for 20 of her 22 years and was a part of our lives for so long. We were so lucky to have her as a companion. The house seems much quieter today -...

Xavier graduates (again!)

Xavier graduates (again!)

Joel managed to miss the graduation by being on the other side of the world but Jason was a more than worthy replacement - ...and Jessica and Karishma also sneaked into the academic procession (I like it - nice work!) so that Xavier got...

Charlotte’s farewell

Charlotte’s farewell

Last Thursday we celebrated Charlotte leaving. Well, I mean we celebrated the time that she had with us, if you see what I mean. Brewdog in Everleigh was a great location - good beers, good (vegetarian) food and very long tables (just what we needed). We managed to...

Jacqui spins it up!

Jacqui spins it up!

Jacqui has been training at The Movement Academy in Alexandria, and demonstrated her latest act in their December 2022 showcase. Check it out if you want to see what she's been spending her spare time doing! Autograph requests...