{"id":14306,"date":"2018-09-27T09:27:46","date_gmt":"2018-09-27T07:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.embl.de\/?p=14306"},"modified":"2024-03-22T11:04:56","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T10:04:56","slug":"looking-for-life-using-geobiology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for life using geobiology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A diverse band of researchers, with interests in areas such as astrobiology, the origins of life, and the way organisms adapt to extreme environments, came together at EMBL\u2019s Advanced Training Centre from 26\u201331 August. They were here for the EMBO Practical Course \u2018Molecular Geobiology<\/a>\u2019. This was the first EMBO course on geobiology and the first to involve an element of fieldwork, with participants travelling to the Ries impact structure in Bavaria to take rock samples (scroll down for photo gallery) and test them for the presence of microbial species. The Ries impact structure is a crater 24 km in diameter, thought to have been formed by a meteorite impact around 14.5 million years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, the scientific organisers and speaker Antonio Lazcano discuss the course and their research interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haley Sapers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Caltech, USA<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Haley Sapers. PHOTO: Caltech<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Part of my research involves working at the Sanford Underground Research Facility, based in a former gold mine in South Dakota. Around 5,000 feet below the surface there\u2019s a series of exploration boreholes that give access to ancient aquifers, thought to have been separated from the surface for about 10,000 years. I study samples from these boreholes using a technique known as deep-ultraviolet (DUV) Raman spectroscopy, which is sensitive to a class of organic molecules called aromatic organics. Because this is a non-destructive technique I can then do further tests, such as gene sequencing or microscopy. By using these tools we can start answering many questions. What microbes are in the subsurface? Where are they? Are they active and what are they doing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m working with the NASA JPL team developing SHERLOC<\/a>, which is a DUV Raman spectrometer that\u2019ll be included on the next Mars rover, Mars 2020<\/em>, with the aim of looking for signs of life. You can think of life as a set of reactions that accumulate and enrich a specific set of organic molecules that you wouldn\u2019t expect to see by chance. So when we see a cluster of organic molecules that\u2019s statistically improbable, one of the interpretations is that it was formed by biological processes. We can therefore use SHERLOC to look for these biosignatures and select samples that will eventually be returned to Earth as part of a sample-return mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m pretty sceptical about finding current life on Mars. Earth and Mars were very similar to each other early in their history, so there\u2019s no reason to think that life wouldn\u2019t have started on Mars the same way it started on Earth, but then their climatic histories diverged and the surface of Mars quickly became inhospitable. If there was life on Mars it likely went down into the subsurface to escape the desiccating environment and harsh radiation, so I think our best bet for looking for signs of life is actually the Martian subsurface. If there are briny aquifers in Mars\u2019s subsurface, there\u2019s no reason it couldn\u2019t be habitable today \u2013 but just because it\u2019s habitable, that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s inhabited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jos\u00e9 Eduardo Gonz\u00e1lez-Pastor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Centro de Astrobiolog\u00eda, Madrid, Spain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Jos\u00e9 Eduardo Gonz\u00e1lez-Pastor. PHOTO: Harvard University<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I have two topics in the lab. One is multicellularity, but in bacteria. Under laboratory conditions we tend to see bacteria as unicellular, but in nature most bacteria live and form multicellular communities, or biofilms, so I study how they organise and some of the social behaviours they develop. They have many mechanisms to sense the community around them and activate particular behaviours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My other line of research is about understanding the molecular mechanisms that allow microbes to adapt to extreme conditions. For instance, we\u2019ve been studying microbes living in R\u00edo Tinto \u2013 a river in Spain that\u2019s highly acidic, with characteristics thought to be similar to environments on Mars. We\u2019re also analysing bacteria living in Antarctica to study adaptations to cold conditions, and we\u2019re focusing on extremely salty \u2013 or hypersaline \u2013 environments, because these could exist on Mars or on some of the moons of Saturn or Jupiter. Some of these hypersaline environments are exposed to high levels of UV radiation, so it\u2019s interesting to see how bacteria can tolerate high levels of radiation too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another place we have samples from is the Atacama Desert. Obviously it\u2019s extremely dry there, but still there are some rocks that are able to retain water because they\u2019re highly hygroscopic. Some of them are also translucent, so microbes such as cyanobacteria or algae can get energy from the sun while growing inside the rock. All this information is really useful to say that life on Earth is possible at least up to this limit of acidity, up to this limit of radiation, and so on. And that helps us to say whether life could be possible on other planetary bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kiran Patil<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

EMBL<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Kiran Patil. PHOTO: EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The fieldwork aspect of this course came out of discussions between Haley and me. We\u2019d been talking about collecting samples from the Ries crater to see if we could identify the microbes there and analyse their DNA, which had not been done before. So, last year, Haley came to EMBL and, along with Sonja Blasche and Yongkyu Kim in my group<\/a>, and Vladimir Benes from EMBL\u2019s Genomics Core Facility<\/a>, we drove there to collect some rocks that were formed by the meteorite impact. After some efforts from Sonja and Vladimir we managed to get good quality DNA sequences from these rocks and eventually isolated some of the microbes that are likely to be new species \u2013 this is an ongoing project. We thought it was an extremely rewarding and fun exercise and one that other people might benefit from. The subsequent discussions led to the idea of the course, which we thought would be incomplete without actually going to the field. Only then can one understand the whole picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My research focuses on metabolic networks \u2013 the interactions of the various chemicals involved in metabolism, not only within a cell but also between cells and even between different species living in a community. For me it would be fascinating to find evidence of microbial communication early in the evolution of life, with different microbial life forms not only existing but strongly depending on each other. This might have shaped their evolution not as a single organism but as a whole community. That would be a truly remarkable finding!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antonio Lazcano<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

National Autonomous University of Mexico<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Antonio Lazcano. PHOTO: Universidad de Guadalajara<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

During my career I\u2019ve been involved in a number of experiments which tried to simulate the conditions of the primitive Earth. It turns out to be quite easy to synthesise a number of chemical components of life, such as monomers of nucleic acids and proteins, from this primordial soup. I\u2019ve also been part of some groups analysing the composition of meteorites. We don\u2019t have a piece of the primitive Earth, so we rely on meteorites that have the same age as the Solar System, and we use those as the best natural model we have of the kinds of chemical processes that were taking place when the Earth formed. I also do work to understand the origins of the basic metabolic pathways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always joke that I owe my interest in science to the Soviet space programme. I was born in Mexico but as a kid I lived in the United States. When the Soviets put Sputnik 1 into orbit, it was a tremendous blow not only politically but also socially. One of the reactions of the US was to put a truly exceptional effort into promoting science education. I also remember taking holidays in Mexico City with my grandmother, where I would read a lot. She took me to the opera where we saw The Tales of Hoffmann<\/em>. There\u2019s a character who\u2019s a sort of wizard, alchemist, and scientist \u2013 basically a highly eccentric character \u2013 called Spalanzani. Afterwards I learned that Hoffmann based his character on Lazzaro Spallanzani, the Italian scientist who investigated the idea of the spontaneous generation of life from decomposing organisms. For me it was very natural not only to think about science, about evolution, about the origins of life, but also about their connection with art, music, and so on. I was very lucky to be born in a family that was convinced and still is convinced that you have to have a wide perspective on life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The town of N\u00f6rdlingen is located inside the Ries crater. The hills on the horizon are part of the crater rim. PHOTO: Edward Dadswell\/EMBL <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Holes in the rock show sites of previous geological sampling. PHOTO: Edward Dadswell\/EMBL <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Scientific organiser Haley Sapers briefs course participants. PHOTO: Edward Dadswell\/EMBL <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Speaker Gordon Osinski (left) and course participants examine rocks in a quarry inside the impact crater. PHOTO: Edward Dadswell\/EMBL <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Course participants investigate potential sampling sites. PHOTO: Edward Dadswell\/EMBL <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Collecting samples from higher up the rock face. PHOTO: Edward Dadswell\/EMBL <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
To avoid contaminating samples, tools must be sterilised in a flame before sampling. PHOTO: Edward Dadswell\/EMBL <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Chiselling a sample from the rock. PHOTO: Edward Dadswell\/EMBL <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Participants and organisers of the EMBO molecular geobiology course. PHOTO: Edward Dadswell\/EMBL <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet the organisers of EMBO\u2019s first course on molecular geobiology<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":14309,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,17591],"tags":[580,203,42,713,43,88,373,581,27],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-14306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-science-technology","tag-bacteria","tag-embo","tag-genomics","tag-geobiology","tag-heidelberg","tag-metagenomics","tag-microbe","tag-microbiology","tag-training"],"acf":{"article_intro":"

Meet the organisers of EMBO\u2019s first course on molecular geobiology<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"EMBO Practical Course in Molecular Geobiology","link_url":"http:\/\/www.embl.de\/training\/events\/2018\/GEO18-01"},{"link_description":"EMBL conferences and courses","link_url":"http:\/\/www.embl.de\/training\/events"}],"article_sources":false,"vf_locked":false,"featured":false,"color":"#007B53","show_featured_image":false,"source_article":false,"in_this_article":false,"press_contact":"None"},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"yoast_head":"\nLooking for life using geobiology | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The scientific organisers of EMBO's first course on molecular geobiology discuss the course and their research interests\" \/>\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\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Looking for life using geobiology | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The scientific organisers of EMBO's first course on molecular geobiology discuss the course and their research interests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-27T07:27:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-22T10:04:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_6933-for-web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edward Dadswell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Edward Dadswell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Edward Dadswell\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d09d98139462e79513cfc92f6bcfaba7\"},\"headline\":\"Looking for life using geobiology\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-27T07:27:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-22T10:04:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/\"},\"wordCount\":1542,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_6933-for-web.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"bacteria\",\"embo\",\"genomics\",\"geobiology\",\"heidelberg\",\"metagenomics\",\"microbe\",\"microbiology\",\"training\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Events\",\"Science & Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/\",\"name\":\"Looking for life using geobiology | EMBL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_6933-for-web.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-27T07:27:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-22T10:04:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"The scientific organisers of EMBO's first course on molecular geobiology discuss the course and their research interests\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_6933-for-web.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_6933-for-web.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":425,\"caption\":\"Participants and organisers of the EMBO molecular geobiology course. PHOTO: Edward Dadswell\/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\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d09d98139462e79513cfc92f6bcfaba7\",\"name\":\"Edward Dadswell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b858206ab9d6a8637fb63e3e4bcff622892825a1901cdc87c17b24634506991f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b858206ab9d6a8637fb63e3e4bcff622892825a1901cdc87c17b24634506991f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Edward Dadswell\"},\"description\":\"Edward Dadswell has master\u2019s degrees in physics and creative writing, and an endless fascination with biology. Having smashed all three together at high energy, he formerly led the content team at EMBL.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/edward-dadswell-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Looking for life using geobiology | EMBL","description":"The scientific organisers of EMBO's first course on molecular geobiology discuss the course and their research interests","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\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Looking for life using geobiology | EMBL","og_description":"The scientific organisers of EMBO's first course on molecular geobiology discuss the course and their research interests","og_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/","og_site_name":"EMBL","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","article_published_time":"2018-09-27T07:27:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-22T10:04:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":620,"height":425,"url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_6933-for-web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Edward Dadswell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@embl","twitter_site":"@embl","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Edward Dadswell","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/"},"author":{"name":"Edward Dadswell","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d09d98139462e79513cfc92f6bcfaba7"},"headline":"Looking for life using geobiology","datePublished":"2018-09-27T07:27:46+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-22T10:04:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/"},"wordCount":1542,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_6933-for-web.jpg","keywords":["bacteria","embo","genomics","geobiology","heidelberg","metagenomics","microbe","microbiology","training"],"articleSection":["Events","Science & Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/","name":"Looking for life using geobiology | EMBL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_6933-for-web.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-27T07:27:46+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-22T10:04:56+00:00","description":"The scientific organisers of EMBO's first course on molecular geobiology discuss the course and their research interests","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/looking-for-life-using-geobiology\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_6933-for-web.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_6933-for-web.jpg","width":620,"height":425,"caption":"Participants and organisers of the EMBO molecular geobiology course. PHOTO: Edward Dadswell\/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\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d09d98139462e79513cfc92f6bcfaba7","name":"Edward Dadswell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b858206ab9d6a8637fb63e3e4bcff622892825a1901cdc87c17b24634506991f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b858206ab9d6a8637fb63e3e4bcff622892825a1901cdc87c17b24634506991f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Edward Dadswell"},"description":"Edward Dadswell has master\u2019s degrees in physics and creative writing, and an endless fascination with biology. Having smashed all three together at high energy, he formerly led the content team at EMBL.","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/edward-dadswell-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"}]}},"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_6933-for-web.jpg","featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_6933-for-web.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14306"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40656,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14306\/revisions\/40656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14306"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=14306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}