{"id":58543,"date":"2023-05-15T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?post_type=embletc&p=58543"},"modified":"2023-05-25T10:25:24","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T08:25:24","slug":"in-pictures-the-story-of-trec","status":"publish","type":"embletc","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/","title":{"rendered":"In pictures: the story of TREC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With the ambitious aim of examining life along European coasts, EMBL\u2019s planetary biology flagship project Traversing European Coastlines (TREC) launched officially in March this year. A press conference in Paris on 8 March 2023 introduced the project to audiences in Europe, along with its aim of studying coastal ecosystems and their response to the environment, on scales from molecules to communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Collage
EMBL DG and colleagues during the official launch of TREC in Paris, France. Credit: Mylene Andre\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The expedition has been several years in the making. The launch of EMBL\u2019s 2022-26 programme unveiled the organisation\u2019s visionary new plan to study \u2018life in context\u2019. To help achieve this, EMBL initiated several transversal themes which support the multidisciplinary science necessary to realise projects like these. One of these themes is Planetary Biology, which aims to study, from the molecular to the population level, how microbes, plants, and animals respond to each other and to their environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TREC is the Planetary Biology transversal theme\u2019s flagship project, and it aims to explore the interactions within and between the two major ecosystems on our planet: ocean and land. It will bring molecular sciences to environmental research in a Europe-wide project at an unprecedented scale, to better understand how organisms \u2013 from viruses to animals \u2013 respond to natural and human-made environmental changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Map
Map of proposed TREC sampling sites along the coast of Europe. Credit: Tara Europa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The expedition began in Roscoff, France in April 2023 and will conclude in Malta in mid-2024. During this period, researchers from EMBL, the Tara Oceans consortium, together with the Tara Ocean Foundation, and numerous European collaborating institutes and organisations will work at 120 sampling sites along the European coastline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TREC will combine the scientific expertise of many partners as well as existing knowledge of local ecosystems and processes, with EMBL\u2019s latest technology developments and expertise in examining life at the smallest scales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sampling kicked off in Roscoff in April 2023, with researchers from EMBL and Tara, as well as partner institutions including the Station Biologique de Roscoff, heading off to collect soil, water, and sediment samples that will help move forward the expedition\u2019s constituent scientific projects<\/a> and provide a snapshot of the health of these ecosystems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Collage
Researchers collecting samples at Roscoff, France during April 2023. Credit: Kinga Lubowiecka\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A recurring challenge for molecular biology field expeditions is the lack of ready access to sophisticated lab facilities, which are often needed for sample preparation for advanced applications like electron microscopy. The TREC expedition provides a unique and innovative solution to this \u2013 to bring the labs to the samples rather than the samples to the labs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will achieve this with the help of mobile laboratories, which will travel to specific stops and include cutting-edge light microscopy, sample preparation for (cryo)-electron microscopy, and single-cell pheno-genomics. Additionally, advanced tools for environmental measurements from soil, air, sediment, and water samples will be part of the standard equipment. By providing these technologies across Europe throughout the expedition, EMBL Advanced Mobile Services will support the interdisciplinary approaches that underpin TREC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Collage
EMBL\u2019s Advanced Mobile Services, including this Sample Processing Lab, will enable scientists to perform leading subcellular research in direct proximity to the field. Credit: Kinga Lubowiecka\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Engaging with the public in our member states<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

However, TREC\u2019s aims and scope are not limited to answering scientific questions and bringing state-of-the-art mobile services to European coasts. We live in an interconnected world, and coastal regions are key functional ecosystems on which humans depend for their livelihoods and well-being. Two of the aims of this expedition are also to engage the general public in debate and discussion to raise awareness of the role of science in society and to inspire the next generation of scientists by raising awareness of the importance of understanding life on this planet among pupils and teachers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this end, EMBL\u2019s office of Science Education and Public Engagement (SEPE) is travelling alongside TREC to various coastal sites and conducting public engagement activities aimed at engaging, informing, educating, and entertaining non-expert audiences and spreading awareness regarding the importance of coastal ecosystems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Collage
Caption: Public engagement activities by SEPE at Roscoff, France. Credit: Kinga Lubowiecka\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Road to Roscoff<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While TREC officially began in 2023, its organisers have been working tirelessly behind the scenes for many years to plan a successful expedition and smooth out any wrinkles. Three separate pilot expeditions were conducted between 2019 and 2022, helping the researchers optimise the sample collection procedures and associated processes that would serve them in the field during the main expedition, among other things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first pilot was conducted in Naples<\/a> and the nearby island of Ischia, where scientists collected samples of microbes and marine organisms at several spots along Ischia\u2019s coast, in collaboration with the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn di Napoli (SZN), a marine research institute in Naples, which also runs a research station on Ischia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Collage
Glimpses of sample collection from the coast of Naples during a TREC pilot project in 2019. Credit: Patrick Mueller\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A second pilot took place in Villefranche-sur-Mer, France in 2021. EMBRC hosted this expedition that enabled unprecedented high-definition ultrastructure images from fresh samples, such as this plankton which was frozen under high pressure on the beach. Soil and sediments were also sampled along the Villefranche sea-land transects and the river Var estuary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Researchers collecting samples during the TREC pilot expedition in Villefranche-sur-Mer, France in 2021. Credit: Paola Bertucci\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The third and final TREC pilot expedition<\/a> was held in Iceland during August, 2022. EMBL researchers and their collaborators visited three different locations in Iceland \u2013 Reykjavik, Westfjords, and Akureyri \u2013 with unique climatic and environmental conditions. They collected marine organisms, soil, seawater, and sediments, and tested out experimental protocols that would become critical for the core TREC expedition in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Collage
EMBL researchers conducted a pilot project in Iceland as the final preparatory step before commencing their journey traversing European coastlines. The visit coincided with a volcanic eruption located 60 Km from the first sampling site. Credits: Niko Leisch\/EMBL, Hiral Shah\/EMBL, Richard Jacoby\/EMBL, \u00a9Kristinn Ingvarsson\/University of Iceland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Forging ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The TREC expedition is the first time researchers from across Europe will study life at all biological scales, from molecules to communities, along the entire European coast, to provide a richer and deeper understanding of how ecosystems respond to natural and human-made challenges. This will produce new knowledge and discoveries that will help to provide our societies, governments, and regulatory agencies with the ability to best predict the possible effects of environmental changes and impacts. It is an ambitious \u2013 and essential \u2013 project, given the environmental challenges that our planet faces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

Funding<\/p>\n

TREC was made possible with the help of generous support from its member states, as well as many institutions, donors and sponsors, in particular the Manfred Lautenschl\u00e4ger-Foundation, Eppendorf SE, Carl Zeiss Microscopy, and Friends of EMBL.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/article>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EMBL\u2019s newest expedition attempts to answer some of the biggest questions in planetary biology, and will help scientists find solutions to pressing global concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":58731,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[13938,5736,190,13936],"class_list":["post-58543","embletc","type-embletc","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-expedition","tag-planetary-biology","tag-tara-oceans","tag-trec"],"acf":{"featured":true,"show_featured_image":false,"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"article_intro":"

EMBL\u2019s newest expedition attempts to answer some of the biggest questions in planetary biology and will help scientists find solutions to pressing global concerns. Here\u2019s a quick glimpse at some of the defining moments that have shaped the Traversing European Coastlines (TREC) journey so far.<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"TREC - Traversing European Coastlines","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/trec\/"},{"link_description":"TREC: A two-year mission to study human impact on Europe\u2019s seas and coastal regions","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/trec-a-two-year-mission-to-study-human-impact-on-europes-seas-and-coastal-regions\/"},{"link_description":"From coast to coast and beyond","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-99\/from-coast-to-coast-and-beyond\/"}],"source_article":false,"in_this_article":false,"press_contact":"None","article_translations":false,"languages":"","embletc_issue":[{"ID":58531,"post_author":"124","post_date":"2023-05-15 12:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2023-05-15 10:00:00","post_content":"","post_title":"Issue 100","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"issue-100","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-05-15 13:01:59","post_modified_gmt":"2023-05-15 11:01:59","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?post_type=embletc-issue&p=58531","menu_order":0,"post_type":"embletc-issue","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"embletc_in_this_issue":[{"ID":58539,"post_author":"92","post_date":"2023-05-15 12:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2023-05-15 10:00:00","post_content":"\n

One of the most fundamental questions in biology is how our basic traits are transmitted across generations \u2013 from parents to offspring. Researchers at EMBL Rome are now investigating this question in the light of novel epigenetic mechanisms discovered in recent years, and from the perspective of understanding disease risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A focus on epigenetic inheritance at EMBL Rome<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Embryonic development begins when egg and sperm cells fuse to form the zygote. During this process, genetic information, in the form of DNA sequences, is passed on to the next generation through chromosomes derived from both parents.  Parental chromosomes also carry epigenetic information \u2013 chemical modifications to the DNA or its associated proteins \u2013 that can affect gene expression without changing the DNA sequence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relative to the DNA sequence, this inherited epigenetic information is more susceptible to being modified by the parental environment (e.g. diet), which, in turn, could potentially affect the embryo adversely. To guard against this, the newly-formed embryo undergoes a process known as epigenome reprogramming<\/strong>, which erases most of the epigenetic information inherited from parents, acting as a \u2018hard reset\u2019. However, scientists have recently found that some epigenetic information escapes reprogramming, allowing for intergenerational<\/em> epigenetic inheritance that can influence the traits of the offspring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At present, we know very little at the molecular level about how epigenetic factors delivered by the egg or sperm cells can cause such intergenerational changes. The groups of Jamie Hackett<\/a> and Ana Boskovic<\/a> at EMBL Rome are trying to elucidate the molecular mechanism(s) of intergenerational epigenetic inheritance by focusing on different steps of the process and using complementary approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Ana Boskovic (left) and Jamie Hackett (right). Credit: Eyl\u00fcl G\u00f6ker\/Shosho<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over the last few years, the Hackett group made important contributions to the field by performing large-scale genetic screening<\/a> to delete thousands of genes in turn and identify those involved in epigenetic reprogramming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have identified two genes (Dppa2 and Dppa4) that are only switched on during very early development but are required to establish the correct epigenetic state of important developmental genes,\u201d said Hackett. \u201cIn more recent work<\/a>, we observed that Dppa2 also has a safeguarding role to prevent transmission of abnormal epigenetic modifications to offspring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A common research interest in the Boskovic and Hackett groups is how the paternal environment, i.e. the conditions experienced by the father, can have an impact on reproduction and inheritance. The two groups use different paradigms to perturb the paternal environment: altering the diet of the father (Boskovic group) or changing the composition of the paternal gut microbiome (Hackett group). In both cases, the aim is to understand how such environmentally-induced changes in epigenetic information can influence gene expression patterns in the embryo, and therefore contribute to the health status of the next generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Female
Ana Boskovic performing microinjections in blastocysts. Credit: Eyl\u00fcl G\u00f6ker\/Shosho<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Making use of local resources and expertise<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Paternal effects following a variety of environmental exposure paradigms are studied across the world and the interest in the phenomenon of intergenerational epigenetic inheritance in mammals has gathered widespread excitement over the last decade. However, differences in setups and contexts may sometimes lead to confounding results, leaving many questions about this process with unclear answers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEMBL Rome has deep expertise in epigenetic inheritance research and in developing environmental exposure paradigms that can be studied in a systematic manner, by precisely controlling genetic and environmental conditions,\u201d said Boskovic. \u201cWithin the Epigenetics and Neurobiology Unit, we can also rely on the support from state-of-the-art local facilities. For example, the Laboratory Animal Resources (LAR) at EMBL Rome comprises a gnotobiotic facility \u2013 a sterile environment \u2013 housing germ-free mice. These mice are extremely valuable for intergenerational epigenetic inheritance studies, since they allow control over the specific composition of gut microbiota.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The local expertise in gene editing technologies also helps scientists to address specific questions and needs. In particular, a study from the Hackett group resulted in the development of a powerful epigenome editing tool that allows dynamic programming of chromatin modifications at specific genomic loci, to study their inheritance and role in development and disease. The tool is being used for many epigenetic research projects at the site and will be further implemented to understand the direct impact of epigenetic modifications, supported by the recent ERC Consolidator Grant awarded to Jamie Hackett<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human-relevant environments<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Looking forward, a common goal of the Hackett and Boskovic groups is to widen the context of their studies on intergenerational epigenetic inheritance, to include all three major environmental modalities: biological, physical, and social. The main aim is to better understand the scope of environmental inputs on animal physiology, reproductive fitness and offspring phenotypes in mammals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This question is the core of an ongoing project that the two groups are coordinating within the Human Ecosystem Transversal Theme<\/a>, one of the research areas defined by the current EMBL Programme \u2018Molecules to Ecosystems\u2019<\/a>. The approach is to establish different paradigms of human-relevant environmental perturbations, including the three main environmental modalities: biological, physical, and social. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gut microbiome dysbiosis is a paradigm of a perturbed biological environment; physical environments perturbations may include diet or pharmaceuticals, while social environments can be influenced by induced stress. This study will be conducted in a controlled environment in mice, integrating age and genetic background as contextual parameters, to assess the resulting impact of a perturbed environment on progeny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The molecular findings obtained from this study will be integrated with epidemiological data resulting from human cohort studies. Ultimately, this will help clarify the intricate relationship between environmental exposures and disease burden in human populations across generations. <\/p>\n","post_title":"Can the effects of the environment cross generations?","post_excerpt":"Scientists at EMBL Rome are developing new paradigms to study the impact of diverse environmental factors on reproduction in mammals and disease risk in their progeny.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"can-the-effects-of-the-environment-cross-generations","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-05-15 12:23:23","post_modified_gmt":"2023-05-15 10:23:23","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?post_type=embletc&p=58539","menu_order":0,"post_type":"embletc","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":58541,"post_author":"124","post_date":"2023-05-15 12:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2023-05-15 10:00:00","post_content":"\n

Biological imaging reveals to us the wonderful inner worlds of living organisms, bringing into sharp focus all their quirks, oddities, and moving pieces. EMBL has long been a world leader in this field, spearheading advances in imaging technology at the same time as making imaging services accessible to the wider scientific community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With progress in imaging technology, however, comes the problem of handling the huge datasets that such methods inevitably produce. Researchers across EMBL have been collaborating to find a solution to this 21st-century problem, and the tools they are developing will help researchers across the world share, analyse, and collaborate on imaging data for years to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem of big data in microscopy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to letting us peek inside organisms, bioimaging helps us understand how they function. They also let us track the way these functions change in response to disease states or environmental challenges. From the 16th-century compound microscopes created by Dutch spectacle-makers to today\u2019s state-of-the-art cryo-electron microscopy facilities, bioimaging technologies share a common purpose: to allow us to see deeper into the fundamental mechanisms of living systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last few decades have seen explosive growth in the capabilities of such technology systems. In recent years, EMBL researchers have pioneered techniques that, among other applications, let us decrypt molecular structures inside cells<\/a>, combine imaging with next-generation sequencing<\/a> methods, and measure the mechanical properties of developing embryos<\/a>. In addition to increasing the resolution<\/a> of optical microscopy beyond what was once thought possible, scientists worldwide have made significant advances in combining different modalities of bioimaging in the form of correlative microscopy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correlative microscopy allows researchers to place layers of information on top of each other. While one technique, e.g. electron microscopy, might show us cellular ultrastructures, another, like fluorescence microscopy, might help us pinpoint the location of various proteins. By combining such information, researchers can gain significant insight into biological functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the ever-increasing resolution and scope of imaging technologies result in ever-expanding datasets, with file sizes ranging into the order of terabytes. This, unfortunately, makes it impossible to open and view such files on an ordinary computer, requiring the use of extensive computing resources. Additionally, extracting biological meaning out of such colossal datasets can be a time-consuming as well as error-prone endeavour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mobilising MoBIE<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Scientists can explore cell types and tissues using the MoBIE interface. The image above shows a scatter plot depicting single cells based on their morphological properties and a section of electron microscopy volume of a Platynereis<\/em> larvae, with different colours representing automatically determined animal tissues. Credit: Valentyna Zinchenko\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In order to deal with this challenge, EMBL scientists Christian Tischer, Yannick Schwab, Anna Kreshuk, and Detlev Arendt, began a collaboration in 2018 to build a tool that would allow researchers across the world to share and view such multifaceted datasets on simple computing systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of their efforts was MoBIE \u2013 a software tool that allows scientists to handle large imaging datasets, as well as share and analyse them collaboratively. It can help scientists visualise data in multiple dimensions (e.g. in 2D, 3D, and 4D) and integrate data from many different domains of biology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMoBIE enables the exploration and sharing of really big correlative image datasets,\u201d said Tischer. \u201cIt builds on existing technologies, such as BigDataViewer<\/a> and next-generation image file formats<\/a>, and adds features for combining large heterogeneous images and corresponding segmentations into easily browseable projects.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First described in a publication in Nature Methods<\/em><\/a> earlier this year, MoBIE allows users to seamlessly stream data from a remote server, and share \u201cviews\u201d of imaging datasets with each other. It is also free to download for researchers worldwide. In addition to electron microscopy data, MoBIE can be used to integrate data from fields ranging from gene expression to X-ray imaging<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Schwab, this development is also significant for imaging services. \u201cA tool like MoBIE can enable smooth communication with users. By using MoBIE, data producers and users can interact with the datasets after and even during the production process,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Machine learning to decode cellular signatures<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the early adopters of this tool was Detlev Arendt, whose group studies the evolution of the nervous system by using the worm Platynereis <\/em>as a model system. In 2021, the researchers created the first multimodal cellular atlas<\/a> combining electron microscopy and expression data for an entire animal, which was made available to the global research community via the MoBIE technology.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creation of this atlas was enabled by volume electron microscopy, which is a method wherein electron microscopy techniques are applied to \u2018large\u2019 volumes to generate a three dimensional view of a cell, tissue \u2013 or an entire organism, in the case of Platynereis<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis approach exemplified this important transition to go from serial sections into visualising the entire volume of an animal\u201d, said Arendt. \u201cYou can almost think of it now as a virtual reality space \u2013 using your cursor, you can travel through this volume, and find things that have never been seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, with such a huge dataspace full of so many unknowns, correctly annotating cells or tissues can be an important challenge \u2013 one that can take hours of painstaking manual labour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To solve this problem, in another new study, published in eLife<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Arendt and Kreshuk describe a novel approach to analysing this dataset and extracting meaningful biological information from it. By using a neural network-based deep learning approach, the team automated the process of identification of cells, cell types, and tissues at organism-scale by identifying distinct morphological features. The method, aptly named \u2018MorphoFeatures\u2019, could group similar cells and cell types \u2013 classifications that could be verified by using gene expression data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the whole life-cycle of the MorphoFeatures development, MoBIE was used to explore the data and visually validate the method, as well as discover and study morphological points of interest. Now, researchers in the world can now take a look at the data and apply the MorphoFeatures method themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a pioneering study for this kind of analysis in volume electron microscopy, and we want to generate many more such analyses,\u201d said Arendt. \u201cThis is a new field that is just starting and visualisation tools such as MoBIE are critical to do the same for many more organisms in many different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Outdoor
Caption: The four collaborators in 2018. From left to right: Christian Tischer, Yannick Schwab, Detlev Arendt, Anna Kreshuk. Credit: Yannick Schwab\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to Arendt, this approach will also be crucial for the types of comparative studies his group is currently doing, in which they compare the nervous systems of many different animals to figure out what the brains of our distant ancestors looked like. For this purpose, the team will also be collecting organisms during the ongoing TREC expedition<\/a>, to be analysed with volume electron microscopy and the new tools the scientists are developing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this is just the beginning for such applications. \u201dWe used MoBIE to share a large number of tomograms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which COVID-19 researchers across the world have access to now,\u201d said Schwab. The teams continue to collaborate with each other and across EMBL, making the dual tasks of knowledge-extraction and sharing from biological imaging data easier for the entire scientific community. <\/p>\n\n\n","post_title":"Visualising biology: new tools of the trade","post_excerpt":"EMBL researchers are pushing the frontiers of big data analysis in biological imaging, allowing scientists to gain a many-layered and multidimensional view of organisms, tissues, and cells in action.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"visualising-biology-new-tools-of-the-trade","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-05-16 09:58:53","post_modified_gmt":"2023-05-16 07:58:53","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?post_type=embletc&p=58541","menu_order":0,"post_type":"embletc","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}]},"yoast_head":"\nIn pictures: the story of TREC | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"EMBL\u2019s newest expedition tries to answer some of the biggest questions in planetary biology and help find solutions to global concerns.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In pictures: the story of TREC | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EMBL\u2019s newest expedition tries to answer some of the biggest questions in planetary biology and help find solutions to global concerns.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-25T08:25:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/soil_roscoff_20230406_013-scaled-e1683118563498.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/\",\"name\":\"In pictures: the story of TREC | EMBL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/soil_roscoff_20230406_013-scaled-e1683118563498.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-15T10:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-25T08:25:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"EMBL\u2019s newest expedition tries to answer some of the biggest questions in planetary biology and help find solutions to global concerns.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/soil_roscoff_20230406_013-scaled-e1683118563498.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/soil_roscoff_20230406_013-scaled-e1683118563498.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"Elisa Merz, Expedition Field Technician, collecting soil samples in Roscoff, France, where the TREC expedition kicked off in April of this year. Credit: Vincenzo Lullo\/EMBL\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News\",\"description\":\"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"EMBL News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"alternateName\":\"EMBL\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":144,\"caption\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/embl\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In pictures: the story of TREC | EMBL","description":"EMBL\u2019s newest expedition tries to answer some of the biggest questions in planetary biology and help find solutions to global concerns.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In pictures: the story of TREC | EMBL","og_description":"EMBL\u2019s newest expedition tries to answer some of the biggest questions in planetary biology and help find solutions to global concerns.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/","og_site_name":"EMBL","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","article_modified_time":"2023-05-25T08:25:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/soil_roscoff_20230406_013-scaled-e1683118563498.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@embl","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/","name":"In pictures: the story of TREC | EMBL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/soil_roscoff_20230406_013-scaled-e1683118563498.jpg","datePublished":"2023-05-15T10:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-25T08:25:24+00:00","description":"EMBL\u2019s newest expedition tries to answer some of the biggest questions in planetary biology and help find solutions to global concerns.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/embletc\/issue-100\/in-pictures-the-story-of-trec\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/soil_roscoff_20230406_013-scaled-e1683118563498.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/soil_roscoff_20230406_013-scaled-e1683118563498.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"caption":"Elisa Merz, Expedition Field Technician, collecting soil samples in Roscoff, France, where the TREC expedition kicked off in April of this year. Credit: Vincenzo Lullo\/EMBL"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News","description":"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"alternateName":"EMBL News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory","alternateName":"EMBL","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","width":300,"height":144,"caption":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","https:\/\/x.com\/embl","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl-etc\/58543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl-etc"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/embletc"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}