Home — MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine

Linking Fundamental Research to Clinical Innovation

Leading research with the aim of improving human health.

Professor Adam Mead (left) and Professor Beth Psaila wearing labcoats and surrounded by lab equipment.

Spin-out company Alethiomics launches

The enterprise will focus on developing targeted therapies for a specific family of blood cancers.

Hematopoietic stem cell precursors (pro-HSCs) are generated during development through endothelial to hematopoietic transition (EHT), a process dependent on the transcription factor Runx1. In this article, Azzoni et al. show that the onset of circulation affects EHT by eliciting metabolic changes in pro-HSCs. The image shows the aortic region of a E9.5 mouse embryo in which hematopoietic progenitors are marked in green by Runx1 +23 enhancer expression and vasculature is colored in white.

Study links the onset of circulation to changes in metabolism affecting blood stem cell development

A new paper published in Cell Reports by the de Bruijn Group indicates that the onset of circulation triggers a metabolic switch associated with the maturation of haematopoietic stem cells.

A T-cell is shown attacking a SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Strong cytotoxic T cell responses to an internal viral component are associated with mild COVID-19 disease

Study from the Dong Group reveals key differences in the adaptive immune responses of patients with mild vs. severe COVID-19, highlighting a potential new vaccine target.

Study reveals ‘stop-eating’ response to DNA damage

A new study from the Patel Group sheds light on the mechanism by which DNA damage suppresses appetite, a finding with implications for understanding the appetite lowering side-effects of chemotherapy.

Blood film showing leukaemic blast cells generated by CRISPR-Cas9 editing of immature human blood cells.

New model for infant leukaemia announced

The breakthrough could lead to development of new treatments for infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.

A DNA molecule is illustrated, showing the molecular components. In the background are a row of bars representing the DNA sequencing process.

Study uncovers gene that doubles risk of death from COVID-19

Discover. Translate. Advance.

The MRC WIMM's core mission is to improve human health through the pursuit of fundamental research the development of new technology and the translation of discoveries to the clinic.

MRC WIMM Research Areas

Research at the MRC WIMM spans 5 core areas.

MRC Human Immunology Unit

Human immunology and the development of treatments against infectious diseases, cancer, allergy and autoimmune disease.

Find out more

MRC Molecular Haematology Unit

Understanding how mature blood cells are normally made from stem cells and how this is perturbed in common blood disorders.

Find out more

Centre for Computational Biology

Using computational biology to help understand complex biological systems and combat a range of human diseases.

Find out more

Latest publications

Translational research for bone marrow failure patients
Journal article

Malouf C. et al, (2022), Experimental Hematology, 105, 18 - 21
The eha research roadmap: normal hematopoiesis
Journal article

Jaffredo T. et al, (2021), HemaSphere, 5
Temporal variation of planetary iron as a driver of evolution.
Journal article

Wade J. et al, (2021), Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 118

More Publications

Upcoming Seminars

Regulatory T Cells as Purveyors of Immune Tolerance

Monday, 17 January 2022, 3pm to 4pm
Asthma: Mechanisms, Microbes, and MORSE

Friday, 21 January 2022, 9.15am to 10.15am
Integrated analysis and reference mapping of single-cell multimodal data

Monday, 24 January 2022, 1pm to 2pm
Acquired mechanisms of disease tolerance underpin immunity to human malaria

Wednesday, 26 January 2022, 1.30pm to 2.30pm
Title TBC

Friday, 28 January 2022, 9.15am to 10.15am

More seminars

MRC WIMM Interactive Timeline

Accessible Version of Timeline

MRC WIMM Image Competition

Zebrafish embryo wrapped around its yolk - by Martyna Lukoseviviute

A ventral view of a 14 somite stage zebrafish embryo, head to tail. Hybridisation chain reaction was used to simultaneously stain transcripts of two soxtranscription factors involved in central nervous system development and a wnt gene coding for a signalling protein important for embryo patterning.

CloseConnections- by Louise Johnson

A monolayer of primary human dermal lymphatic endothelial cells captured by confocal microscope. Cells were immunostained with antibodies again the junctional adhesion molecule CD31 (green) and transcription factor Prox-1 (red).

Myelofibrosis Analysis by Guanlin Wang

The image shows over 130k cells of human HSPCs from both healthy individuals and myelofibrosis patients. Each dot is a single cell and the colour refers to different lineages. Large expanded purple ‘tails’ are the cancer cells in myelofibrosis patients.

$Super-resolution STED microscopy, performed at a custom-made system, versus confocal microscopy image. Human fibroblast cells transfected with the peroxisomal matrix marker GFP-SCP2 (blue) fixed and immunolabelled for peroxisomal receptor PEX5 (red) and mitochondria marker Tom20 (green). STED microscopy reveals details beyond the diffraction barrier, paving the way to new biological insights.$ © Silvia Galiani

Three-colour Confocal vs STED -by Silvia Galiani

Super-resolution STED microscopy, performed at a custom-made system, versus confocal microscopy image. Human fibroblast cells transfected with the peroxisomal matrix marker GFP-SCP2 (blue) fixed and immunolabelled for peroxisomal receptor PEX5 (red) and mitochondria marker Tom20 (green). STED microscopy reveals details beyond the diffraction barrier, paving the way to new biological insights.

3D rendering of vascularised hydrogel - by Abdullah Khan

Generating artificial vasculature is an area of significant interest in the tissue engineering field. The production of branching networks supported by pericytes in a 3D mixed matrix hydrogel is imaged here.

Stained Glass Segmentation by David Grainger

Over-segmentation of the posterior of an eight-day old mouse embryo using a watershed algorithm. Each region has been assigned a random colour creating a stained-glass effect.

Networking- by Louise Johnson

Whole mount immunofluorescence confocal microscopy of mouse dermis, with lymphatic vessels stained with anti-LYVE-1 (blue) and blood vessels stained with anti-perlecan (red)

in vitro endothelial cells network - by Salwa Lin

Co-culture of tumour cells (red cells) on top of a layer of endothelial cells (image acquired using bright-field microscopy at WIMM)

iPSC-MK's forming proplatelets - by Abdullah Khan

Megakaryocytes are the rarest and largest cells of the bone marrow, responsible for the generation of blood platelets by making unique, long beaded extensions called pro platelets. Here we use Megakaryocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells to look at the effects of genetic mutations on pro platelet formation.

Tale of tails- development of an early zebrafish tailbud - by Martyna Lukoseviviute

A view of an early zebrafish embryo dorsal tailbud. Hybridisation chain reaction method was used to simultaneously visualise multiple transcripts driving neuromesodermal progenitor fates. These progenitors will contribute to the zebrafish spinal cord and muscles.

A budding tail of a zebrafish embryo- by Martyna Lukoseviviute

A dorsal view of an optical section of a zebrafish tailbud. Hybridisation chain reaction method was used to simultaneously stain transcripts (in magenta and yellow) of transcription factors controlling neuromesodermal progenitor fates. Nuclei were stained with DAPI (in cyan).

Brilliant Blue- by Martin Fellermeyer

Dissolving as little as 1 gram of the Coomassie Brilliant Blue Dye in 10% acetic acid and 40% methanol.

Sugar-coated leukocytes- by Louise Johnson

Super-resolution Airyscan confocal imaging of a human dendritic cell, with CD44 (green) and the glycosaminoglycan hyaluronan (red) at the cell surface, detected by antibody and biotinylated hyaluronan binding probe VG-1 respectively, and nucleus counterstained with DAPI.

Zebrafish neural crest development -by Martyna Lukoseviviute

A lateral view of a 14 somite stage zebrafish embryo, head to tail. Immunofluorescence staining was performed to visualise neural crest cells expressing different transcription factors.

The Embryonic Rainbow- by David Grainger

Pseudo-colouring the overlapping domains of expression of three marker genes for paraxial, intermediate and lateral plate mesoderm in a transverse section of an eight-day old mouse embryo creates a rainbow effect. Each spot in the rainbow is a single mRNA molecule stained by hybridisation chain reaction.

Painting the bone marrow microenvironment -by Michela Colombo

The image shows a section of the human bone marrow from a myelofibrotic patient, analysed by imaging mass cytometry using the Hyperion Cytof recently acquired by the WIMM.

Vascular Organoids- by Abdullah Khan

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) can be used to generate primitive ‘organoids’ which reproduce physiological structures, and allow us to more accurately study disease pathologies. Here, iPSCs are differentiated to mak a vascularised organoid which we use to study the effects of Covid19 on the microvasculature.

Biocore 8K- by Martin Fellermeyer

Shown is the inside of the Biacore 8K during a run to analyse the affinity of nanobodies.

Analysis of Nanobodies using Surface Plasmon Resonance by Martin Fellermeyer

Depicted are real-time binding curves of nanobodies analysed by SPR using the Biacore 8K. Parts of the machine are seen on the right.

Scientific Wonderland 3- by Luyao Wang

WIMM is the scientific wonderland, gives me a fantastic scientific journey.

Megakaryocytes on a 2D monolayer of endothelium -by Abdullah Khan

Megakaryocytes (green) are imaged on a monolayer of endothelial cells (magenta) with which they interact to generate platelets.

Tail of tails- development of an early zebrafish tailbud- by Martyna Lukoseviviute

A view of an early zebrafish embryo, dorsal tailbud is located on the left. Hybridisation chain reaction method was used to simultaneously visualise multiple transcripts driving neuromesodermal progenitor fates. These progenitors will contribute to the zebrafish spinal cord and muscles.

Zebrafish embryo- by Martyna Lukoseviviute

This is an image of the failed, but unexpectedly beautiful, experiment. A young zebrafish embryo (70% epiboly stage) was unspecifically stained for three different fluorescently labelled transcripts using the hybridisation chain reaction technique. I like this image because it resembles an image of a planet.

Patterning the embryo by Martyna Lukoseviviute

A dorsal view of a zebrafish tailbud. Hybridisation chain reaction method was used to simultaneously stain transcripts of transcription factors controlling neuromesodermal progenitor and neural crest fates.

X marks the Spot- by Louise Johnson

Whole mount immunofluorescence confocal microscopy of a junction between endothelial cells of a lymphatic vessel within mouse dermis. Individual lymphatic endothelial cells overlap, with LYVE-1+ flaps (blue) anchored by VE-cadherin (red), “buttoning” the cells together.

Rainbow tree branching out - by Salwa Lin

At a Junction- by Louise Johnson

Whole mount immunofluorescence confocal microscopy of a lymphatic vessel within mouse dermis, with junctions between individual endothelial cells stained with for LYVE-1 (blue) and VE-cadherin (red), and a VE-cadherinhi LYVE-1- blood capillary in the background.

Langerhans Cells in healthy skin - by Randeep Singh

Langerhans cells (LC) are tissue-resident DCs found in the epidermal layer of the skin. CD1a is an MHC class - I like protein abundantly expressed on LCs. LCs have crucial roles in immune surveillance and homeostasis, however, lipid antigens presented by CD1a has been shown to amplify inflammatory responses in skin inflammation. The image shows CD1a staining on LCs in healthy skin – the dendrites protruding in the epidermal layer sensing for antigens

Linking Fundamental Research to Clinical Innovation

MRC Human Immunology Unit

MRC Molecular Haematology Unit

Centre for Computational Biology

Latest publications

Upcoming Seminars

Regulatory T Cells as Purveyors of Immune Tolerance

Asthma: Mechanisms, Microbes, and MORSE

Integrated analysis and reference mapping of single-cell multimodal data

Acquired mechanisms of disease tolerance underpin immunity to human malaria

Title TBC

MRC WIMM Interactive Timeline

MRC WIMM Image Competition

Zebrafish embryo wrapped around its yolk - by Martyna Lukoseviviute