Modern buildings with distinct architecture and a green landscape are overlaid with LMB and AstraZeneca names.

Blue Sky Collaboration

A research partnership between the LMB and AstraZeneca

Established in 2014, the Blue Sky Collaboration supports a range of pre-clinical research projects, uniting scientists from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) and AstraZeneca to share knowledge and technologies to reach a common goal.

Projects supported by the fund feed into existing research activities of both organisations, with results published in peer-reviewed journals. Topics are diverse, and have included investigations into circadian rhythms in heart cells, identification of an endocytosis mechanism, discovery of a quality control pathway in cancer cells and the development of an AI-powered high-throughput drug discovery platform which became the basis for a dedicated spin-out company, Sortera Bio.

This partnership has further strengthened our long-standing relationship with AstraZeneca, allowing scientists to work together, share ideas and expertise. By bringing together diverse perspectives and approaches, we accelerate discovery and generate new insights into some of disease biology’s most demanding questions.

Jan Löwe

LMB DIRECTOR
MEMBER OF BLUE SKY JOINT STEERING COMMITTEE

Our Blue Sky partnership with the LMB is a reminder of the reasons why so many of us got into science in the first place – the joy of doing genuinely original research with curious people who ask big questions, alongside a shared commitment to the foundational science that ultimately has the potential to change lives.

Steve Rees

SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT OF DISCOVERY SCIENCES, ASTRAZENECA
MEMBER OF BLUE SKY JOINT STEERING COMMITTEE

Heatmap illustrating the temporal activity of multiple transcription factors, where varying shades from blue to yellow indicate activity levels.

22/07/2026

Fly cell atlas reveals hidden rules of brain development

An expansive atlas mapping the Drosophila ‘spinal’ cord by Greg Jefferis’ group in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division has revealed key organising principles in nervous system development.

21/02/2025

Sortera Bio spins out of the LMB to pioneer new frontiers in biologics discovery

New UK-based biotechnology company launched to realise therapeutic potential of Deep Screening technology developed by Ben Porebski and Philipp Holliger at the LMB.

Molecular structures showing ribosomes translating mRNA with scFv antibodies binding antigens, presented as a single unit and in a cluster.

9/10/2023

New deep screening technique enables rapid discovery of high-affinity antibodies to clinically relevant drug targets

Philipp Holliger and Ben Porebski in the LMB’s PNAC Division, in collaboration with AstraZeneca, have developed a new ultra-high-throughput method that shows promise to accelerate antibody discovery for a wide range of targets.

3D visualization of a cell membrane showing an endocytic invagination with internal cargo molecules like antibodies/receptors.

24/02/2023

Aggregation of proteins on cell surface triggers rapid uptake and degradation

Using a combination of light microscopy and biochemical assays, Harvey McMahon’s group, in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division, have identified aggregation-dependent endocytosis (ADE) as the pathway by which cells respond to surface perturbations.

Heart rate regulation during day activity, showing a heart, running person, elevated beat rate and cardiomyocytes with internal circadian clocks.

15/10/2021

How cellular clocks within heart cells coordinate daily cardiac rhythms

Alessandra Stangherlin (O’Neill group) found a cellular mechanism that facilitates daily changes in heart rate. ~24h rhythms in Na/K/Cl levels osmotically compensate for daily changes in macromolecular crowding to modulate cardiac electrical activity, in vitro and in vivo.

PAAF1 chaperone facilitates the assembly of PSMC5 subunits into a larger multi-subunit complex, then dissociates.

27/08/2021

Pathway behind disposal of ‘orphan’ proteins identified

Many proteins in cells assemble into complex structures formed of multiple parts, often resulting in excess parts which are unusable. Now, Manu Hegde’s group have discovered a new pathway that degrades leftover components. Disruption of this pathway leads to neurodegeneration.

Current Joint Steering Committee Members

Jan Löwe, LMB Director and Chair
Simon Bullock, LMB Group Leader
Marta Zlatic, LMB Group Leader
Julian Sale, LMB Group Leader and Joint Head, PNAC Division
Susan Critchlow, Executive Director and Head of Oncology Biosciences, AstraZeneca
Steve Rees, Senior Vice President, Life Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca
Maria Groves, Senior Director Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca

Joint Steering Committee Coordinators

Chris Phillips, Senior Director, Structural Biology, Discovery Sciences R&D, AstraZeneca
Sybille Kubis-Waller, LMB, Joint Steering Committee Secretary