Vol. 49 No. 2/2002

547–549

QUARTERLY

10th anniversary of the UNESCO/Polish Academy of Sciences Cellular and Molecular Biology Network

M. Jolanta Rêdowicz

The UNESCO/Polish Academy of Sciences Cel- molecule to human health. The major goals of the lular and Molecular Biology Network, the Polish Network activities were set as follows: Division of the UNESCO Global Network for Mo- 1. Achievement of better integration among sci- lecular and Cell Biology, commemorates the 10th entific centres in ; anniversary of its launch that took place in Febru- 2. Establishment of science–industry links in ary 1992. There were several circumstances, both the field of cell and molecular biology; historical and political, that enabled the forma- 3. Search for new technologies and methods in tion of the Network. In 1991 three institutes of the medicine and agriculture; Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS) became mem- 4. Establishment of advanced training in these bers of the UNESCO Global Network for Molecu- fields in Poland; lar and Cell Biology (MCBN) — the Institute of 5. Popularization of scientific achievements for Bioorganic Chemistry in Poznañ, the Institute for educational, cultural and social purposes; Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering in 6. Establishment of a Centre of Excellence for , and the Nencki Institute of Experimental Research and Training in Cell and Molecular Biol- Biology in Warsaw. ogy, the goal that has later resulted in formation The directors of the Nencki Institute, Prof. Maciej of the International Institute of Molecular and J. Na³êcz, and the Institute of Bioorganic Chemis- Cell Biology in Warsaw. try, Prof. Andrzej B. Legocki, came out with the It was decided that the Network would be gov- idea of creation of the Polish division of the erned by two co-directors and the scientific com- UNESCO Network. After several informal talks mittee, elected at the launching meeting. The first with the Polish biological community, formal nego- and still in office directors have been Prof. Maciej tiations with the Presidents of the Polish Academy Na³êcz from the Nencki Institute and Prof. of Sciences, the State Committee for Scientific Re- Andrzej Legocki from the Institute of Bioorganic search and UNESCO, the idea started to material- Chemistry, acting in alternate one-year terms. ize. Almost one hundred Polish research centers Currently the Committee is formed by Prof. and research groups that dealt with problems re- Andrzej Grêbecki (the Nencki Institute, Warsaw), lated to molecular and cell biology expressed their Prof. Andrzej Jerzmanowski (Warsaw Univer- interest in the formation of the Polish Network. sity), Prof. Leszek Kaczmarek (the Nencki Insti- The launching meeting was scheduled for February tute), Prof. Jerzy Kawiak (Medical Centre of Post- 28/29th 1992 along with the first Polish Confer- graduate Research, Warsaw), Prof. Andrzej ence on Molecular and Cell Biology. Paszewski (the Institute of and Bio- It has been decided that the topics for the Net- physics, Warsaw), Prof. Tomasz Twardowski (the work activities would cover practically areas re- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Poznañ), Prof. lated to cell and molecular biology — from a single Jerzy Vetulani (the Institute of ,

½ Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, L. Pasteura 3, 02-093 Warszawa, Poland 548 M.J. Rêdowicz 2002

Cracow), Prof. Maciej ¯ylicz (the International In- and the Biology Faculty of the Adam Mickiewicz stitute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Warsaw), University; and Dr. Jolanta Rêdowicz, secretary (the Nencki — from Gdañsk — the Intercollegiate Faculty of Institute). Directors and the members of the Com- Biotechnology; mittee are nominated by the President of the Pol- — from Wroc³aw — the Faculty of Biology of ish Academy of Sciences with the acceptance from Wroc³aw University, the Institute of Immunology UNESCO for four-year terms. The secretary office and Experimental Therapy, and the Agricultural is situated at the Nencki Institute. University; It was also decided that the Network major activ- — from £ódŸ — the Faculty of Biology of the Uni- ities would be: versity of £ódŸ, the Department of Biogenic 1. Sponsoring organization of meetings and Amines, and the Medical Academy; workshops in Poland in the fields related to the — from Toruñ — the Biology Faculty of the Network topics, organized with the participation Nicolaus Copernicus University; of outstanding scientists both from Poland and — from Szczecin — the Pommeranian Medical abroad. Academy. 2. Formation of the Stipend Fund to enable Since 1992 the Network has sponsored organiza- young researchers to conduct research both in tion of over 100 conferences, workshops and Polish and foreign laboratories as well as to partic- courses. For example, last year the Network ipate in foreign meetings and courses. sponsored the following events: 3. Sponsoring Polish biological journals to pro- 1. VIII Summer School of Biotechnology mote the exchange of scientific information 2. International School and Practical Course on (Postêpy Biologii Komórki, Kosmos, Biotech- Computational Biology nologia, Wszechœwiat, Acta Biochimica Polonica) 3. International FENS/IBRO Summer School and, recently, the Festival of Science. Sponsoring 4. X Symposium of the UNESCO/PAN Polish journals and the Festival aims at the promotion of Cellular and Molecular Biology Network major network topics not only to scientists but 5. Session “Purines and pirymidines in signal also to everybody who is interested in the biologi- transduction” — within XXXVII Annual Meeting cal sciences. of the Polish Biochemical Society The Network activities are officially sponsored 6. Workshop “Modern methods in ” by the Polish Academy of Sciences, the State Com- — within V Congress of the Polish Society on mittee for Scientific Research and UNESCO Brain Research Global Network for Molecular and Cell Biology. 7. Conference “Biophysics and biology of envi- The most active members, it means those who ronmentally important membrane-active com- have an initiative in the organization of confer- pounds” ences, apply for the fellowships and offer help and 8. XXVIII Scientific Seminar of the Institute of advice to the directors and the scientific com- Cell and Molecular Biology of Jagiellonian Univer- mitte, are: sity “The newest techniques in molecular biology — from Warsaw — the Nencki Institute, the Inter- and biotechnology” national Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 9. Mejbaum-Katzenellenbogen Molecular Biol- the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, the ogy Seminar: “Structure and functions of cell Medical Centre of Postgraduate Research, the membrane cytoskeleton” Faculty of Biology of Warsaw University, the Insti- 10. Postgraduate School of Molecular Medicine: tute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engi- course. “Molecular hematology in clinical prac- neering, the Centre-Institute of Experimental tice. From mutated molecules to the patient” Medicine, the Biotechnology Department of the 11. Sesssion “Perspectives in molecular pharma- Agricultural University and the Medical Academy; cology: gene therapy” — within XVI Meeting of the — from Cracow — the Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Pharmacological Society Faculty of Biology of and 12. II International Conference: “Protein kinase Collegium Medicum of Jagiellonian University; inhibitors”. — from Poznañ — the Institute of Bioorganic Also, over 200 young researchers received the Chemistry, the Department of Human Genetics, Network fellowships that enabled them to partici- Vol. 49 UNESCO/Polish Academy of Sciences Cellular and Molecular Biology Network 549 pate in international meetings, courses and work- Now the Institute is directed by Prof. KuŸnicki shops as well as to conduct research in foreign who has been recently elected by the 15-person ad- and Polish laboratories. The recipients have been visory board headed by Profs. Maciej J. Na³êcz, selected by the Scientific Committee in an open Nathan Nelson and Ryszard Przew³ocki. The competition. The regulations of the competition members of the board are outstanding scientists are posted every spring at the Nencki website at from France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Ja- www.nencki.gov.pl. Short-term visits (from one to pan, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, the six months) have been usually sponsored. In 1994 Ukraine, and Poland. Currently over 40 scientists the Network sponsored also the visits to Polish re- are working at the International Institute forming search institutions of 14 foreign experts from sev- six research groups. The group leaders were cho- eral European countries. sen in an open competition advertised in major The Network has boosted the possibilities for the scientific journals such as , Science and international cooperation, often transformed into EMBO Journal. The leaders are appointed for long-term collaboration. For example, in 1994 Dr. 5-year contracts. The research groups are: Ewa Sikora from the Nencki Institute, working on 1. Department of Molecular Biology, headed by molecular aspects of apoptosis and one of the first Prof. Maciej ¯ylicz. The group deals with interac- Network fellowship recipients, started collabora- tions between p53 protein and cytosolic chapero- tion with Prof. Carlo Franceschi from Italy. The nes, Hsp 40 homologues, and Hsp 70 as a vehicle collaboration still continues and has resulted so for protein therapy. far in publication of six original papers. Since 2. Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, headed 1994, besides Dr. Sikora, two of her Ph.D. stu- by Dr. Jaros³aw Dastych. The lab studies the mo- dents have conducted their research in Italy with lecular mechanisms of immunocytotoxicity. the support from the Network. 3. Laboratory of Bioinformatics, headed by Dr. Another example of Network activities is its in- Leszek Rychlewski. The group works on the com- volvement in the activity of the European Molecu- puter modelling of macromolecules. lar Biology Organization (EMBO). It has been 4. Laboratory of Molecular Neurology, headed agreed that if there is any Polish recipient of the by Dr. Micha³ Hetman. The lab works on the iden- prestigious EMBO Young Researcher Award, the tification of the molecular mechanisms that con- Network will finance the award (15 000 euro). In trol neuronal apoptosis. 2001 for the first time a researcher from Poland 5. Laboratory of Structural Biology, headed by received the EMBO Award. It was Dr. Igor Dr. Matthias Bochtler. The group concentrates on Konieczny from the Gdañsk Intercollegiate Fac- the structural analysis of the ubiquitin prote- ulty of Biotechnology for his studies on asome system. The laboratory has been estab- “Broad-host-range plasmid DNA replication”. lished in co-operation with and is financed by the One of the pivotal Network goals was the cre- Max-Planck Society. ation of the research centre of excellence, the 6. Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, headed by place where outstanding scientists from all over Prof. J. KuŸnicki. The lab studies the factors gov- the world would be able to conduct their research erning healthy ageing and mechanisms of Alzhei- thus training Polish and foreign young research- mer disease. ers. Such an idea materialized in January 1999 as We do believe that the UNESCO/PAS Molecular the International Institute of Molecular and Cell and Cell Biology Network has within the last 10 Biology. In May 1995 the international agreement years intensely contributed to the improvement of was signed by the Director-General of UNESCO the quality of Polish biological sciences and estab- and Chairman of the Polish State Committee for lished Polish biological scientific community as an Scientific Research to organize the Institute by important partner of the global science. Also, the the Polish Academy of Sciences. In June 1997 a Network certainly has participated in the promo- Parliamentary bill created the legal basis for the tion of scientific achievements among those who functioning of the Institute and in 1999 the new are interested in problems related to biological Institute started its activity. The first director was sciences. Prof. Angelo Azzi from Switzerland with two dep- uty directors, Prof. Jacek KuŸnicki and Prof. Micha³ Witt, both from Poland.