Thursday,
19 December 2002
Joint Doctoral degree
from the University of Heidelberg and EMBL
The University of Heidelberg and the European Molecular
Biology Laboratory [EMBL] have signed a 'Memorandum
of Understanding', laying the groundwork for a doctoral
degree to be jointly awarded by the two institutes.
Monday, 15 December 2002
The Human Genome on a Chip [PDF]
Researchers from the European Molecular Biology
Laboratory [EMBL, Heidelberg] and the Deutsches
Ressourcezentrum für Genomforschung [RZPD,
Heidelberg/Berlin] have assembled a 'DNA chip' which
will allow researchers to monitor the activity of
nearly the entire genome of human cells. Such chips
will transform information gained from the Human
Genome Project into experiments that can help begin
to uncover the function of thousands of newly-discovered
genes. The new chip contains over 51,000 different
cDNAs, molecular probes representing every known
human gene.
Thursday, 12 December 2002
Talking genes [PDF]
New database shares DNA chip results.
The European Bioinformatics Institute [EBI], one
of the world's most important providers of biological
data, has launched a new database for a type of
information that is changing the way biologists
and medical researchers work. ArrayExpress gives
scientists all over the world free and direct access
to data from experiments using 'microarrays' –
commonly called DNA chips. The service, which can
be found on the Internet at www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress,
has now opened its doors for direct submission of
data from scientists.
Wednesday, 4 December 2002
The power of two [PDF]
The draft mouse genetic code provides a powerful tool for understanding our own genome. Today the Mouse Genome Sequencing Consortium, a collaboration between scientists across
the world, announces the publication of a draft sequence of the mouse genome – the genetic
blueprint of a mouse – along with an analysis that compares it with the human genome.
This comparison has revealed 1200 new human genes and some intriguing clues about our
evolutionary origins. The study is published in the December 5 issue of the journal Nature,
and both the mouse and human sequences are freely accessible to the public at
www.ensembl.org.
Monday, 4 November 2002
Live Webcasts from CERN for European Science and Technology week
Seven
of Europe's leading Research Organizations are presenting
three live Webcasts from CERN in a joint outreach programme
for the European Science and Technology Week. The aim
of 'Sci-Tech . . . couldn't be without
it!' is to show how today's society couldn't
be without cutting-edge scientific research.
Wednesday, 23 October 2002
Establishing
a universal knowledgebase of proteins [PDF]
Major funding from NIH will help combine some of the world's best resources for biological information.
Today the U.S. National Institutes of Health [NIH]
announced that they will provide major funding to
establish a "unique, universal knowledgebase" of
protein molecules. The award, totaling 15 million
dollars over three years, will go to the establishment
of a new resource called the United Protein Databases
[UniProt]. It will be managed by European and American
groups.
Thursday, 3 October 2002
Scientists decode genomes of mosquito and malaria parasite [PDF]
The journals Science and Nature report this week
that international groups of scientists have cracked
the genetic codes of two organisms implicated
in malaria, one of the world's most serious infectious
diseases. Researchers have completed the genomes
of the one-celled malaria parasite, Plasmodium
falciparum, and the mosquito Anopheles gambiae,
the most important carrier of the parasite.
Thursday, 8 August 2002
EMBL's Hamburg Outstation inaugurates new facilities
European Molecular Biology Laboratory's Hamburg Outstation is currently
updating and extending its facilities and will be inaugurating its building
extension on the premises of the DESY on 20 August 2002 at 2:00 p.m.
Monday, 15 July 2002
ARP/wARP accelerates
thanks to boost from the NIH [PDF]
Software seen as a key element of plans to uncover the structures
of thousands of new proteins.
Over the past decade, scientists all over the
world have worked together to decode the human
genome, yielding the genetic recipes that cells
use to make tens of thousands of proteins. Putting
this information to use – for example, in
medicine and the design of new drugs – will
require understanding how proteins work.
Wednesday, 13 March 2002
Sci-Tech - couldn't
be without it!
Seven of Europe's leading Research Organizations
launch joint outreach programme for the European
Science and Technology Week at the Technopolis
Museum in Brussels on 22 March. Their aim is to
show Europeans how today's society 'Sci-Tech - couldn't
be without it!' fundamental research.
Monday, 18 February 2002
Sounding the alarm for infections: EMBL researchers discover rapid-response, interferon-producing cells [PDF]
Nearly fifty years ago, researchers discovered that
cells infected with viruses secreted a protein called
interferon which could protect other cells from
infections. Now scientists at the European Molecular
Biology Laboratory [EMBL] station in Monterotondo,
Italy, have identified specific cells in the body
able to launch a massive, initial round of interferon
production. Their work, reported in the current
issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, is
changing our understanding of the interferon system
and adds a key element to our understanding of how
the immune system works.
Friday, 25 January 2002
New research unit established between the University of Heidelberg Clinic and EMBL [PDF]
Research to focus on the molecular mechanisms of disease.
The Medical Clinic of the University of Heidelberg
and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL]
in Heidelberg have created a new cooperative research
unit. The news was announced today by the Dean of
the Medical School, Prof. Hans-Günther Sonntag,
and EMBL Director General Fotis C. Kafatos. The
"Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit" will be housed
in the University Clinic and is designed to fill
a gap that exists between clinical and basic research,
as well as to bring together university and external
research.
Friday, 25 January 2002
Clamping down on a cancer-causing protein [PDF]
Researchers at EMBL uncover a fundamental mechanism behind the behavior of a molecule linked to leukemia.
Many of today's medicines were discovered by trial
and error: a substance is found which helps alleviate
the symptoms of a disease, and it may take years
before scientists really understand how it works.
Typically they find that a drug has its effects
by attaching itself to a particular molecule in
a cell and blocking part of its activity, the
way you might prevent someone from turning a light
on or off by putting a lock over the switch. Scientists
now hope to take the opposite approach, and custom-design
drugs to block specific switches.
Monday, 7 January 2002
Introducing
the biology of the future [PDF]
Researchers at Cellzome AG and EMBL publish a
record-breaking analysis of a cell's proteome.
Scientists are calling it 'biology of the next
generation,' and a major step towards transforming
information from genome projects into applications
such as the discovery of new drugs. Today researchers
from Heidelberg have announced the completion of
a large-scale study of the "molecular machines"
formed by nearly two thousand proteins in a living
cell. |
