LMB Named Lectures
The LMB Named Lectures are given by eminent scientists from around the world in memory of LMB Nobel Prize winners, and are open to all. These talks are supported financially by AstraZeneca and the Max Perutz Fund. Where permission is given, the talks are recorded and are available on the LMB’s YouTube channel.
Max Perutz Lecture
Max Perutz (1914‑2002) was Director of the ‘MRC Unit for Research on the Molecular Structure of Biological Systems’ when it was established in 1947. When the Unit became the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in 1962, he became its first Chairman. He was a pioneer in the field of molecular biology, developing X-ray crystallography to unlock the structures of globular proteins for which he was awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in chemistry jointly with John Kendrew.
Previous lectures
Francis Crick Lecture
Francis Crick (1916‑2004) joined Max Perutz’s MRC Unit in 1949. It was here that he, together with James Watson, helped solve the structure of DNA and initiated work on the genetic code. They were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine jointly with Maurice Wilkins for their work.
Previous lectures
2025 Shankar Balasubramanian
2024 Silvia Arber
2023 Jill Banfield
2022 Catherine Dulac
2021 Michel C Nussenzweig
2019 Frances Arnold
2018 Gero Miesenböck
2017 Jack Szostak
2016 Adrian Bird
2015 Emmanuelle Charpentier
2014 Stephen J Elledge
2013 Stanley B Prusiner
2012 Angelika Amon
2011 David Anderson
César Milstein Lecture
César Milstein (1927‑2002) joined the LMB in 1963 and developed an early interest in immunology, concentrating on antibody structure and diversity. In the early 1970s, he and his postdoc Georges Köhler developed the technique to produce monoclonal antibodies, for which they and Niels Jerne were jointly awarded the 1984 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.
Previous lectures
John Kendrew Lecture
John Kendrew (1917‑1997) joined Max Perutz in 1946, where his research focussed on protein structure and the X-ray analysis of myoglobin. In the 1960s, John jointly founded the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) and helped create and was the first Director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). He also founded and was Editor in Chief of the Journal of Molecular Biology. He was awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in chemistry jointly with Max Perutz for work on the structures of globular proteins by X-ray crystallography.
