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3 June 2022 he internal structure of a mitotic chromosome is shown with colourful threads representing DNA, one of which is shown being packaged into loops by the condensin protein complex. The background shows mitotic chromosomes in the cellular space

Shaping up the genome for cell division

Science Researchers have discovered the mechanism by which a family of DNA motor proteins packages loosely arranged strands of DNA into compact individual chromosomes during cell division.

2022

science

28 April 2022 Microsocopy image of Pair of somites. Blue is a nuclear marker (DAPI) and red is an apical marker (ZO-1).

Unravelling the origins of the human spine

Science Scientists at EMBL Barcelona have created for the first time a 3D in vitro model that recapitulates the periodic formation of human somites – structures that give rise to the spinal column.

2022

science

1 April 2020

Understanding brain tumours in children

Science The causes of 40 percent of all cases of certain medulloblastoma – dangerous brain tumours affecting children – are hereditary. These are the findings of a recent genetic analysis carried out by scientists from EMBL and numerous colleagues around the world.

2020

science

11 March 2020 Leukaemia stem cells are located in a patient’s bone marrow (shown here in blue) in the so-called stem cell niche. The green structure is the bone itself. Credit: Dr. Raphael Lutz, Haas Lab

€2.45 m to investigate leukaemia causes and therapies

Science The Heidelberg-based LeukoSyStem consortium investigates leukaemia stem cells in acute myeloid leukaemia. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research financially supports this collaboration between Heidelberg University Hospital, HI-STEM gGmbH, the German Cancer Research Center and EMBL.

2020

science

9 December 2019

New chair of EMBL Council

Lab Matters Professor Eiríkur Steingrímsson will commence his initial one-year term as Chair of EMBL Council on 1 January 2020.

2019

lab-matters

15 July 2019 The pyramids represent chromatin domains in the wild-type situation. The reflection in the water below represents the rearrangements in the mutant fruit fly chromosomes. At first glance the (regulatory) landscapes look very similar, but there are lots of changes to the topology, and yet these have little impact on the nature of the landscape (gene expression). IMAGE: Beata Edyta Mierzwa in collaboration with EMBL.

Rearranging chromosomes

Science Does rearranging chromosomes affect their function? EMBL scientists reveal uncoupling of 3D chromatin organisation and gene expression.

2019

science

22 March 2018

LifeTime – a visionary proposal for an EU Flagship

Lab Matters Following the completion of the Human Genome Project  in 2001, scientists and the media described the genome as “the book of life”, holding the answers to the way genes are linked to disease. Yet, seventeen years later, we are still deciphering how cells interpret this book. Since…

2018

lab-matters

3 November 2016

Spiral growth

Science What happens when plant's leaf-placing feedback loop isn't quite right

2016

science

21 March 2016 First complete, real-time recording of starfish egg cell eliminating centrioles shows it handles mature ‘mother’ centrioles (green) and immature ‘daughter’ centrioles (purple) differently.

Mothers and daughters

Science 1st real-time video of starfish egg cell eliminating crucial structures, to ensure embryo viability

2016

science

2 December 2015 Gut bacteria are more affected by metformin than by the type-2 diabetes it is prescribed to treat. IMAGE: Courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (BY-NC-SA)

Drugging bacteria

Science Commonly used diabetes drug metformin impacts gut bacteria more than disease itself

2015

science

14 October 2015

Lighting the way

Lab Matters A microscopy technique is poised to shine new light on biological questions: as sheets of light can scan everything from developing embryos to single cells or functioning brains, a technique called light-sheet microscopy is gaining traction. It enables scientists to observe living cells in three…

2015

lab-matters

17 September 2015 The scientists combined data from a variety of techniques to better understand how rats – and humans – age. IMAGE: Brandon Toyama/Salk Institute

Ages apart

Science Multifaceted approach reveals how brain and liver age, helps explain why ageing brain loses plasticity.

2015

science

20 August 2015

Life in 3D

Science EMBL scientists map ‘switches’ for distant control of gene expression.

2015

science

21 May 2015

It runs in the family

Science Detailed structural study shows distantly related viruses share a common machinery for replication.

2015

science

21 May 2015

Sense of space

Science EMBL scientists demonstrate that spatial constraints are a key factor in determining nucleus size.

2015

science

16 March 2015

No humans required

Science New fully automated technique enables scientists to chart complex protein networks in living cells.

2015

science

6 February 2015 A new way mice keep iron (purple) out of reach of pathogens. IMAGE FROM GUIDA et al. BLOOD 2015

The battle for iron

Science New way mice starve pathogens raises alternative approach to treatments for anaemia of chronic disease

2015

science

9 December 2014 A bundle of nerves that relays information from touch receptors on the skin to the spinal cord and ultimately the brain, imaged with the new technique. IMAGE: EMBL/L.CASTALDI

Delighting in detail

Science Unprecedented detail in images of mouse neurons thanks to new SNAP-tagging microscopy technique.

2014

science

19 November 2014

20 years in the making

Science First complete picture of flu virus polymerase. A story of two decades of blood, sweat and sneezes.

2014

science

3 November 2014

Witamy! EMBL welcomes Poland as prospect member state

Events In a Statement of Intent signed this month, Poland becomes a prospect member state of EMBL, and the new partners agree to explore possibilities for long-term cooperation, with a view to the country becoming a full member state within three years. “Poland has a strong and active life science…

2014

events

23 October 2014

Chamber of secrets

Science Like sports teams, cells can huddle to communicate in secret and organise group behaviour

2014

science

6 October 2014

Hungary joins EMBL as prospect member state

Events The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) welcomes Hungary as its newest prospect member state. In a Statement of Intent signed this month, Hungary and EMBL agree to explore possibilities for long-term cooperation, with a view to the country becoming a full member state within three years.…

2014

events

25 June 2014

Taken out of context

Science Enabling neighbours: intact genes can cause cancer when placed near "enhancing" regions of DNA

2014

science

10 June 2014

Czech Republic becomes EMBL’s 21st member state

Events Forty years after its foundation, EMBL announces its 21st member state: the Czech Republic. Building on a successful bilateral relationship, the Czech Republic’s membership grants Czech scientists access to EMBL’s state-of-the-art instruments, facilities and world-class training…

2014

events

22 April 2014

Argentina joins EMBL as associate member state

Events At a signing ceremony today, Argentina joins the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) as an associate member state. The move strengthens the ties between the European and Latin American life science communities. It grants Argentinian scientists access to EMBL’s world-class facilities and…

2014

events

27 March 2014

Where do you start when developing a new medicine?

Lab Matters A pioneering public-private research initiative between GSK, the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is to harness the power of ‘big data’ and genome sequencing to improve the success rate for discovering new medicines. The new Centre for…

2014

lab-matters

7 March 2014

Slovak Republic becomes EMBL Prospect Member State

Events The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) welcomes the Slovak Republic as the first country to join its new Prospect Member scheme. In a Statement of Intent signed last month, the Slovak Republic and EMBL agree to explore the possibilities for long-term cooperation, with a view to the…

2014

events

24 February 2014

Pan-European imaging infrastructure gains momentum

Lab Matters Europe is uniting to make state-of-the-art imaging technologies accessible to biomedical researchers throughout the continent in a concerted manner. The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and seven countries (Belgium, Finland, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom)…

2014

lab-matters

2 February 2014

Making your brain social

Science In many people with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, different parts of the brain don’t talk to each other very well. Scientists have now identified, for the first time, a way in which this decreased functional connectivity can come about. In a study published online today…

2014

science

13 October 2011 In the absence of viral RNA (top), the part of RIG-I that senses viral RNA is exposed (orange), whilst the domains responsible for signalling (blue and pink) are out of reach of the signalling machinery. When RIG-I detects viral RNA, it changes shape (bottom), and the signalling domains become accessible to sound the alarm.

Intruder detected: raise the alarm!

Science When a thief breaks into a bank vault, sensors are activated and the alarm is raised. Cells have their own early-warning system for intruders, and scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Grenoble, France, have discovered how a particular protein sounds that alarm when it…

2011

science

18 August 2011 Circling chromosomes. Chromosomes (blue) form a ‘belt’ around the centre of the spindle (green), discovered by the EMBL scientists.

Fishing games gone wrong

Science When an egg cell is being formed, the cellular machinery which separates chromosomes is extremely imprecise at fishing them out of the cell’s interior, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have discovered. The unexpected degree of trial-and-error…

2011

science

7 August 2011 The new microscope that developed by scientists at EMBL, which can follow single molecules by the millisecond Credit: EMBL/H.Neves.

Live from the scene: biochemistry in action

Science Researchers can now watch molecules move in living cells, literally millisecond by millisecond, thanks to a new microscope developed by scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. Published online today in Nature Biotechnology, the new technique provides…

2011

science

21 July 2011 Microglia (green) in a mouse brain. The nuclei of all cells in the brain are labelled blue. Credit: EMBL/ R.Paolicelli

Gardening in the brain

Science Gardeners know that some trees require regular pruning: some of their branches have to be cut so that others can grow stronger. The same is true of the developing brain: cells called microglia prune the connections between neurons, shaping how the brain is wired, scientists at the European…

2011

science

21 July 2011 Model of the inner ring (green) of the nuclear pore, showing its components.

A hot species for cool structures

Science A fungus that lives at extremely high temperatures could help understand structures within our own cells. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and Heidelberg University, both in Heidelberg, Germany, were the first to sequence and analyse the genome of a heat-loving fungus,…

2011

science

5 July 2011 Lennart Philipson, 1929-2011.

Obituary – Lennart Philipson

Lab Matters Lennart Philipson, who served as EMBL’s second Director General, has passed away. Lennart headed EMBL for over a decade between 1982-93, a crucial time for molecular biology when different scientific disciplines in the life sciences were becoming increasingly interlinked. He reorganised the…

2011

lab-matters

17 June 2011 Condensin loops around several strands of DNA, keeping it coiled up and easier to transport. (Artistic impression) Image credits: EMBL/ P. Riedinger

Keeping it together

Science As any rock-climber knows, trailing a long length of rope behind you is not easy. A dangling length of rope is unwieldy and hard to manoeuvre, and can get tangled up or stuck on an outcropping. Cells face the same problem when dragging chromosomes apart during cell division. The chromosomes are…

2011

science

20 April 2011 Artistic impression of the 3 human gut types.

What’s your gut type?

Science In the future, when you walk into a doctor’s surgery or hospital, you could be asked not just about your allergies and blood group, but also about your gut type. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and collaborators in the international MetaHIT…

2011

science

20 March 2011

The informant: a jumping gene

Science Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have developed a new method for studying gene regulation, by employing a jumping gene as an informant. Published online today in Nature Genetics, the new method is called GROMIT. It enables researchers to…

2011

science

11 March 2011

Small code change, big effect

Science Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have developed a new method which enables researchers to label any protein of their choice with any of a wide variety of previously available compounds, in living cells, by introducing a single reactive…

2011

science

6 March 2011 By silencing genes two at a time in cells like these, the scientists can analyse the genes’ combined effects. In this microscopy image of human cells, nuclei are shown in red, cell membranes in green, and the cellular scaffolding in blue.

Suggesting genes’ friends, facebook-style

Science Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), both in Heidelberg, Germany, have developed a new method that uncovers the combined effects of genes. Published online today in Nature Methods, it helps understand how different genes can…

2011

science

4 March 2011 Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, and Iain Mattaj, Director-General of EMBL, signing the Memorandum of Understanding.

European Commission and EMBL renew cooperation

Lab Matters In a Memorandum of Understanding signed today, the European Commission (EC) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) formalise their desire to maintain and further develop their cooperation. “I am delighted to sign the renewed and strengthened Memorandum of Understanding between the…

2011

lab-matters

14 February 2011 3D structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis’ enzyme PriA

Two in one

Science In a paper published online today in PNAS, scientists from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Hamburg, Germany, reveal new insights into the workings of enzymes from a group of bacteria including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. The new findings…

2011

science

3 February 2011

Blood-clotting protein linked to cancer and septicaemia

Science In our not-so-distant evolutionary past, stress often meant imminent danger, and the risk of blood loss, so part of our body’s stress response is to stock-pile blood-clotting factors. Scientists in the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit (MMPU), a collaboration between the European Molecular…

2011

science

2 February 2011

The human genome’s breaking points

Science 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…

2011

science

23 January 2011 Micropilot detected cells at particular stages of cell division

Intelligent microscopy

Science The sight of a researcher sitting at a microscope for hours, painstakingly searching for the right cells, may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to new software created by scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. Presented today in Nature Methods, the…

2011

science

12 December 2010 This cryo-electron microscopy image shows the 3D structure of the ribosome (yellow/blue) bound to the signal recognition particle (SRP) and the SRP receptor (both in red). Below it is an atomic model of SRP (green-yellow/orange) and its receptor (pink). Image credits: EMBL/Schaffitzel.

How cells export and embed proteins in the membrane

Science Like an overprotective parent on the first day of school, a targeting factor sometimes needs a little push to let go of its cargo. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Grenoble, France, have visualised one such hand-over. They were the first to determine the structure…

2010

science

2 December 2010 Euro-BioImaging will provide open access to state-of-the-art biological imaging techniques like fluorescence microscopy, which produced this snapshot of chromosomes (blue) being pulled apart in a dividing egg. Image credits: EMBL/ T. Kitajima

Better imaging from bench to bedside

Science From microscopy to computer tomography (CT) scans, imaging plays an important role in biological and biomedical research, but obtaining high-quality images often requires advanced technology and expertise, and can be costly. Euro-BioImaging, a project which launches its preparatory phase today,…

2010

science

16 November 2010

One-touch make-up – for our cells

Science The cells in the different parts of this video are always the same (grey), but, like actors using make-up to highlight different facial features, they have fluorescent labels that mark different cellular components in different colours: blue shows the nucleus, yellow shows tubulin (a component of…

2010

science

8 November 2010 Signing the declaration of accession to the EIROforum: Massimo Altarelli, Chairman of the XFEL Management Board (left) and Francesco Romanelli, Chairman of the EIROforum (right). In the back (left to right): Francesco Sette (ESRF), Felicitas Pauss (CERN), Iain Mattaj (EMBL), Richard Wagner (ILL), Rowena Sirey (ESO) and David Southwood (ESA)

European XFEL joins EIROforum

Lab Matters At the Autumn 2010Council meeting of the EIROforum, a partnership of seven European intergovernmental research organisations with large research infrastructures, the Directors General unanimously accepted the European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (European XFEL), based in Hamburg, Germany, to…

2010

lab-matters

27 October 2010

1000 Genomes Project ushers in new era for human genetics

Science The 1000 Genomes Project, a major international collaboration to build a detailed map of human genetic variation, has completed its pilot phase. The results are now published in the journal Nature and freely available through the European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics…

2010

science

2 September 2010 A virtual Platynereis brain (left), created by averaging microscopy images of the brains of 36 different individuals, onto which scientists mapped gene activity (right). Perspective shows the brain as viewed from inside a Platynereis larvae, at 48 hours' old. Image credits: EMBL/R. Tomer

Brainy worms: Evolution of the cerebral cortex

Science Our cerebral cortex, or pallium, is a big part of what makes us human: art, literature and science would not exist had this most fascinating part of our brain not emerged in some less intelligent ancestor in prehistoric times. But when did this occur and what were these ancestors? Unexpectedly,…

2010

science

25 August 2010

Freeze or run? Not that simple

Science Fear can make you run, it can make you fight, and it can glue you to the spot. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, Italy and GlaxoSmithKline in Verona, Italy, have identified not only the part of the brain but the specific type of neurons that determine…

2010

science

5 August 2010

Constant overlap

Science During cell division, microtubules emanating from each of the spindle poles meet and overlap in the spindle’s midzone. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have uncovered the molecular mechanism that determines the extent of this overlap. In a…

2010

science

3 August 2010 These electron microscopy images show mitochondria in a normal cell (top) and a close-up of a mitochondrion with structural defects, in a cell that cannot produce IRPs (bottom). Image credits: Bruno Galy/ EMBL

Supply and demand

Science Most organisms need iron to survive, but too much iron is toxic, and can cause fatal organ failure. The same is true inside cells, where iron balance must also be maintained. In a study published today in Cell Metabolism, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg,…

2010

science

4 July 2010 The Fly Digital Embryo at different developmental stages, with cell nuclei coloured according to how fast they were moving (from blue for the slowest to orange for the fastest). The fruit fly embryo is magnified around 250 times. IMAGE: Philipp Keller

Digital Embryo gains wings

Science The scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, who ‘fathered’ the Digital Embryo have now given it wings, creating the Fly Digital Embryo. In work published today in Nature Methods, they were able to capture fruit fly development on film, and were the…

2010

science

24 June 2010 These microscopy images show that a protein from the NSL complex (green) and MOF (red) both bind to all chromosomes in male (right) and female (left) fruit flies - overlap is shown in purple. On the male X chromosome, MOF binds not only to promoter regions but also to the body of the genes, generating a brighter signal (pink). Image credits: Akhtar/EMBL.

A life-changing partnership

Science Researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and the Max-Planck Institute of Immunobiology Freiburg have identified a novel protein complex that regulates around 4000 genes in the fruit fly Drosophila and likely plays an important role in mammals, too.…

2010

science

31 May 2010 This microscopy image shows that, in a mouse embryo, MiR451 (dark purple) is produced only in the liver, where red blood cells are being formed at this developmental stage. Image credits: Kasper Rasmussen/EMBL

Making enough red blood cells

Science Red blood cells, the delivery men that take oxygen to cells all around the body, have short lives. To keep enough of them in circulation, the human body produces around 2 million of these cells every second – even more in response to challenges like severe blood loss. In a study published today…

2010

science

2 May 2010 These microscopy images show the region of the embryo larva that will develop into the adult fruit fly’s wing. In cells genetically manipulated so that PR-DUB cannot remove the gene-silencing tag (left), a gene which would normally be silenced becomes turned on (red) - a situation which is corrected when PR-DUB’s activity is restored (right). Image credits: J.Mueller/EMBL.

Tags on, tags off

Science During embryonic development, proteins called Polycomb group complexes turn genes off when and where their activity must not be present, preventing specialised tissues and organs from forming in the wrong places. They also play an important role in processes like stem cell differentiation and…

2010

science

8 April 2010 This image shows the 5,372 samples as dots colour-coded for the six major clusters identified by comparing gene expression profiles. The left and right panels of the figure are projections of the same three-dimensional shape viewed from two different perspectives. Image credit: Brazma / EMBL.

Variations on the genetic theme

Science Just like members of an orchestra are active at different times although playing the same piece of music, every cell in our body contains the same genetic sequence but expresses this differently to give rise to cells and tissues with specialised properties. By integrating gene expression data from…

2010

science

1 April 2010 Each of these large images of dividing cells is composed of several microscopy images of human cells in which different individual genes were silenced. The smaller images are placed according to genes’ effects: images for genes that affect chromosomes make up the chromosomes (red/pink), while the mitotic spindle (green) is composed of images for genes that affect it. IMAGE: Thomas Walter & Mayumi Isokane / EMBL

Movies for the human genome

Science Name a human gene, and you’ll find a movie online showing you what happens to cells when it is switched off. This is the resource that researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and their collaborators in the Mitocheck consortium are making freely…

2010

science

18 March 2010

What makes us unique? Not only our genes

Science Once the human genome was sequenced in 2001, the hunt was on for the genes that make each of us unique. But scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and Yale and Stanford Universities in the USA, have found that we differ from each other mainly because…

2010

science

4 March 2010

Bacterial balance that keeps us healthy

Science The thousands of bacteria, fungi and other microbes that live in our gut are essential contributors to our good health. They break down toxins, manufacture some vitamins and essential amino acids, and form a barrier against invaders. A study published today in Nature shows that, at 3.3 million,…

2010

science

31 January 2010

MicroRNA: a glimpse into the past

Science The last ancestor we shared with worms, which roamed the seas around 600 million years ago, may already have had a sophisticated brain that released hormones into the blood and was connected to various sensory organs. The evidence comes not from a newly found fossil but from the study of microRNAs…

2010

science

26 January 2010 This image shows the three-dimensional structure of Death-Associated Protein Kinase (green and yellow) when bound to calmodulin (violet and blue). It was obtained by X-ray crystallography. Image credit: Mathias Wilmanns / EMBL

How to shoot the messenger

Science Cells rely on a range of signalling systems to communicate with each other and to control their own internal workings. Scientists from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Hamburg, Germany, have now found a way to hack into a vital communications system, raising the possibility of…

2010

science

19 January 2010 Image credit: Rachel Melwig & Christine Panagiotidis / EMBL

Membrane-coat proteins: bacteria have them too

Science Although they are present almost everywhere, on land and sea, a group of related bacteria in the superphylum Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobia-Chlamydiae, or PVC, have remained in relative obscurity ever since they were first described about a decade ago. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology…

2010

science

18 January 2010

Open access drug discovery database launches with half a million compounds

Science ChEMBLdb, a vast online database of information on the properties and activities of drugs and drug-like small molecules and their targets, launches today with information on over half a million compounds. The data lie at the heart of translating information from the human genome into successful new…

2010

science

10 December 2009 These microscopy images show the cellular reprogramming uncovered by EMBL scientists. On the left is an ovary of a normal adult female mouse, with a close-up (top left) showing the typical female granulosa cells. When the Foxl2 gene was silenced in these cells (right, top right: close-up), they took on the characteristics of Sertoli cells, the cells normally found in testes of male mice. Image credit: Treier / EMBL

The Battle of the Sexes

Science Is it a boy or a girl? Expecting parents may be accustomed to this question, but contrary to what they may think, the answer doesn’t depend solely on their child’s sex chromosomes. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany and the Medical Research…

2009

science

10 December 2009 These microscopy images demonstrate the effects of Notch signalling on the hearts of newborn mice (top) and of adult mice after a heart attack (bottom). In a normal neonatal heart (top left), the two major heart chambers (ventricles) are clearly separated by tissue (septum). But when Notch signalling was inactivated in an embryo’s heart muscle cells, the septum between the ventricles of the newborn mouse’s heart was incomplete (asterisk). The same defect commonly occurs in humans with congenital heart disease, often leading to circulatory distress. In the images of adult hearts (bottom), healthy tissue is shown in red and damaged tissue in blue. Normally (bottom left), a heart attack causes extensive tissue damage to the left ventricle (right-hand cavity), but mice in which Notch was re-activated after the heart attack had reduced tissue damage (bottom right) and improved cardiac function. Image credit: EMBL

From fruit fly wings to heart failure. Why Not(ch)?

Science Almost a century after it was discovered in fruit flies with notches in their wings, the Notch signalling pathway may come to play an important role in the recovery from heart attacks. In a study published today in Circulation Research, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)…

2009

science

26 November 2009 This image represents the integration of genomic, metabolic, proteomic, structural and cellular information about Mycoplasma pneumoniae in this project: one layer of an Electron Tomography scan of a bottle-shaped M. pneumoniae cell (grey) is overlaid with a schematic representation of this bacterium’s metabolism, where blue indicates interactions between proteins encoded in genes from the same functional unit. Apart from these expected interactions, the scientists found that, surprisingly, many proteins are multifunctional. For instance, there were various unexpected physical interactions (yellow lines) between proteins and the subunits that form the ribosome, which is depicted as an Electron microscopy image (yellow). Image credit: Takuji Yamada / EMBL

First-ever blueprint of a minimal cell is more complex than expected

Science What are the bare essentials of life, the indispensable ingredients required to produce a cell that can survive on its own? Can we describe the molecular anatomy of a cell, and understand how an entire organism functions as a system? These are just some of the questions that scientists in a…

2009

science

8 November 2009

Drought resistance explained

Science Much as adrenaline coursing through our veins drives our body’s reactions to stress, the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is behind plants’ responses to stressful situations such as drought, but how it does so has been a mystery for years. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology…

2009

science

4 November 2009 fluorescence microscopy images of fruit fly embryos

Deciphering the regulatory code

Science Embryonic development is like a well-organised building project, with the embryo’s DNA serving as the blueprint from which all construction details are derived. Cells carry out different functions according to a developmental plan, by expressing, i.e. turning on, different combinations of genes.…

2009

science

30 September 2009 In the centre, a structural model determined by X-ray crystallography shows how the two tags (attached to a short section of the histone protein – all in cyan) fit neatly into the Brdt pocket (purple). In the background image, hypercompaction by Brdt causes relatively diffuse chromatin (stained blue inside the nuclei of two cells on the top left) to compact and clump together (two on the bottom right).

Putting the squeeze on sperm DNA

Science In the quest for speed, olympic swimmers shave themselves or squeeze into high-tech super-suits. In the body, sperm are the only cells that swim and, as speed is crucial to fertility, have developed their own ways to become exceptionally streamlined. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology…

2009

science

21 September 2009 This microscopy image, taken ten days after injury, shows that the muscle fibres of normal mice (left) had re-grown, while in mice which couldn’t boost C/EBPβ production (right) there were still many fibres that had not regenerated (arrowheads), and the tissue had a number of scars (arrows).

To regenerate muscle, cellular garbage men must become builders

Science For scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, Italy, what seemed like a disappointing result turned out to be an important discovery. Their findings, published online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), provide…

2009

science

13 September 2009 In normal skin (left), the stem cells at the base, shown in green, differentiate into skin cells, shown in red. In mice whose skin has neither C/EBPα nor C/EBPβ (middle), this differentiation is blocked: green-labeled stem cells appear in upper layers of skin, and there are no differentiated skin cells (no red staining). This also happens at the initial stages of basal cell carcinomas. In skin where C/EBPα is present but has lost its capacity to interact with E2F, a molecule that regulates the cell cycle (right), skin cells start differentiating abnormally, before they have properly exited the stem cell ‘program’ (yellow/orange). This is similar to what is observed in the initial stages of squamous cell carcinomas, a more aggressive and invasive skin tumour.

How stem cells make skin

Science Stem cells have a unique ability: when they divide, they can either give rise to more stem cells, or to a variety of specialised cell types. In both mice and humans, a layer of cells at the base of the skin contains stem cells that can develop into the specialised cells in the layers above.…

2009

science

13 August 2009

Raising the alarm when DNA goes bad

Science Our genome is constantly under attack from things like UV light and toxins, which can damage or even break DNA strands and ultimately lead to cancer and other diseases. Scientists have known for a long time that when DNA is damaged, a key enzyme sets off a cellular ‘alarm bell’ to alert the…

2009

science

2 August 2009

Scientists open doors to diagnosis of emphysema

Science Chronic inflammatory lung diseases like chronic bronchitis and emphysema are a major global health problem, and the fourth leading cause of death and disability in developed countries, with smoking accounting for 90% of the risk for developing them. Work by scientists at the European Molecular…

2009

science

7 July 2009

Scientists identify cholesterol-regulating genes

Science Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the University of Heidelberg, Germany, have come a step closer to understanding how cholesterol levels are regulated. In a study published today in the journal Cell Metabolism, the researchers identified 20 genes that are involved…

2009

science

25 June 2009 The microscope image of the dorsal closure of a fly embryo shows alternating stripes of epithelial cells with aligned microtubule bundles (green) and epithelial cells treated with a microtubule-destroying drug (blue). Labelled in red is the protein actin that lines the border of cells, particularly the amnioserosa cells occupying the eye-shaped opening.

Uncovering how cells cover gaps

Science Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, came a step closer to understanding how cells close gaps not only during embryonic development but also during wound healing. Their study, published this week in the journal Cell, uncovers a fundamental…

2009

science

23 June 2009 Lattice maps for immature HIV particles. The 3D computer reconstruction shows the immature Gag lattice of HIV that matures to form the protein shell of the infecious virus. Maps are shown in perspective such that hexamers on the rear surface of the particle appear smaller. The side of the particle toward the viewer lacks ordered Gag. IMAGE: John Briggs/EMBL

New electron microscopy images reveal the assembly of HIV

Science Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the University Clinic Heidelberg, Germany, have produced a three-dimensional reconstruction of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), which shows the structure of the immature form of the virus at unprecedented detail. Immature HIV is…

2009

science

9 June 2009 Reflect applied to a pubmed webpage. Protein names found in the text are highlighted in blue, chemicals in orange. Pop-up windows provide extra information on the biomolecules.

New EMBL service makes web browsing efficient for biologists

Science The life sciences are scaling up and produce huge amounts of data and new literature at an amazing pace. The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) now offers a new free service to help researchers, teachers and students keep up-to-date with scientific literature on the web, especially when…

2009

science

28 May 2009

Sugarcoating fruit fly development

Science Proteins are the executive agents that carry out all processes in a cell. Their activity is controlled and modified with the help of small chemical tags that can be dynamically added to and removed from the protein. 25 years after its first discovery, researchers at the European Molecular Biology…

2009

science

30 April 2009

Recycler protein helps prevent disease

Science Recycling is important not only on a global scale, but also at the cellular level, since key molecules tend to be available in limited numbers. This means a cell needs to have efficient recycling mechanisms. Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and Heidelberg University,…

2009

science

23 April 2009

New study reveals the protein that makes phosphate chains in yeast

Science It can be found in all life forms, and serves a multitude of purposes, from energy storage to stress response to bone calcification. This molecular jack-of-all trades is polyphosphate, a long chain of phosphate molecules. Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in…

2009

science

24 February 2009 A full body shot of Medaka juveniles, taken by Philipp Keller, from the lab of Ernst Stelzer at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), with a newly developed microscope called Digital Scanned Laser Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscope. Picture credits: Philipp Keller, Stelzer Group, EMBL

Picture Release

Science ‘Useless fish with big eyes’. This is what Medaka, the name of the Japanese killifish in the pictures, means in Japan where it originally comes from. While its eyes are undeniably big, the fish has proven remarkably useful for scientists. It is a simple model organism, amenable to…

2009

science

4 February 2009 High resolution image of the key domain of the influenza virus polymerase. The active site responsible for RNA cleavage is shown in red. Its activity is crucial for the virus to multiply in human cells

New findings reveal how influenza virus hijacks human cells

Science Influenza is and remains a disease to reckon with. Seasonal epidemics around the world kill several hundred thousand people every year. In the light of looming pandemics if bird flu strains develop the ability to infect humans easily, new drugs and vaccines are desperately sought. Researchers at…

2009

science

25 January 2009

Re-write the textbooks: transcription is bidirectional

Science Genes that contain instructions for making proteins make up less than 2% of the human genome. Yet, for unknown reasons, most of our genome is transcribed into RNA. The same is true for many other organisms that are easier to study than humans. Researchers in the groups of Lars Steinmetz at the…

2009

science

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