The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

In 2014, 1.5 million people lost their lives to tuberculosis. Our work at the Crick aims to improve our knowledge of how the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, survives within human cells. By understanding of the very fundamental biology of M. tuberculosis, we have a better chance of combating the disease with new therapies.

Did you know that the structure and shape of a protein can reveal its modus operandi? Using two major techniques, X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy, we can reveal the structure of proteins and study their function.
Much more than just muscle and meat - proteins act as minuscule biological machines, which can cut, transport, fold, recycle, digest, connect... you name it! We'll focus on proteins found in HIV-1, which hijack infected cells to hide from the immune system and replicate.

This talk will give you a glimpse into the social network of our immune system. Containing a multitude of different cells, each type has a role to play in to helping to defend the body when it's under attack. However, when these go wrong it can lead to friendly fire and can even help the foreign invaders thrive.