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New evolutionary insights from stepping outside the lab
EMBL researchers are stepping outside the lab and thinking outside the box to understand the basic principles that underlie the development and evolution of organismal characteristics.
2023
science
Flip-flop genome
Researchers at EMBL Heidelberg found that inversions in the human genome are more common than previously thought, which impacts our understanding of certain genetic diseases.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2022
sciencescience-technology
Fighting cardiovascular disease with acne drug
Researchers have found the cause of dilated cardiomyopathy – a leading cause of heart failure – and identified a potential treatment for it: a drug already used to treat acne.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2020
sciencescience-technology
Artificial intelligence finds patterns of mutations and survival in tumour images
Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence algorithm that uses computer vision to analyse tissue samples from cancer patients. The algorithm can distinguish between healthy and cancerous tissues, and can also identify patterns DNA and RNA changes in tumours.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2020
sciencescience-technology
Unpicking the complexity of DNA mutations
DNA damage caused by chemical mutagens is not repaired immediately and can create more genetic diversity in tumours.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2020
sciencescience-technology
Distinguishing coronavirus genome mutations from inadvertent errors
EMBL scientists have performed a large-scale analysis of over 4700 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences. They found that many of the most interesting changes in the SARS-CoV-2 genome that have been reported so far are likely to be technical artefacts, rather than biological mutations.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2020
sciencescience-technology
DNA damage and faulty repair jointly cause mutations
DNA mutations are caused by a combination of DNA damage and repair, shows study by EMBL-EBI and collaborators.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2020
sciencescience-technology
The Pan-Cancer project
EMBL co-leads most comprehensive study of genetic causes of cancer
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2020
sciencescience-technology
Potential new drug target for cystic fibrosis
Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg and Regensburg University, both in Germany, and the University of Lisboa, in Portugal, have discovered a promising potential drug target for cystic fibrosis. Their work, published online today in Cell, also uncovers a…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2013
sciencescience-technology
The mutation police
Scientists at the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in the UK have discovered how our genome keeps the effects of mutations in check. The discovery, published in the journal Cell, will help in the study of diseases such as cancer and…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2013
sciencescience-technology
A matter of priorities
Just as banks store away only the most valuable possessions in the most secure safes, cells prioritise which genes they guard most closely, researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have found. The study, published online today…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2012
sciencescience-technology
Rigged to explode?
An inherited mutation in a gene known as the guardian of the genome is likely the link between exploding chromosomes and some particularly aggressive types of cancer, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) and the University…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2012
sciencescience-technology
The human genome’s breaking points
A detailed analysis of data from 185 human genomes sequenced in the course of the 1000 Genomes Project, by scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, in collaboration with researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, as well as the…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2011
sciencescience-technology
An unexpected way to cause leukaemia
Leukaemia – cancer of blood or bone marrow – is caused by mutations that allow defective blood cells to accumulate and displace healthy blood. To devise effective therapies it is crucial to know which mutations cause leukaemia and which cell type gives rise to leukaemic cells. Researchers from…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2008
sciencescience-technology
A gene that protects from kidney disease
Researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the University of Michigan have discovered a gene that protects us against a serious kidney disease. In the current online issue of Nature Genetics they report that mutations in the gene cause nephronopthisis (NPHP) in humans and…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2007
sciencescience-technology
A first glimpse of the influenza replication machine
In 1918, 50 million people died during a worldwide influenza pandemic caused by mutation of a bird-specific strain of the influenza virus. Recently H5N1, another highly infectious avian strain has caused outbreaks of bird flu around the world. There is great concern that this virus might also…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2007
sciencescience-technology
Defusing dangerous mutations
Mutations in genes are the basis of evolution, so we owe our existence to them. Most mutations are harmful, however, because they cause cells to build defective proteins. So cells have evolved quality control mechanisms that recognize and counteract genetic mistakes. Now scientists of the Molecular…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2005
sciencescience-technology