Leroy Hood: the Network of “Our Genome Excellence Comes Is Not Our to a Close Destiny” PAGE 8 PAGE 7
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SPRING 2016 ISSUE 32 EMBO-India Partnership EMBO expands its global reach PAGES 2 – 3 Interview EpiGeneSys Leroy Hood: The network of “Our genome excellence comes is not our to a close destiny” PAGE 8 PAGE 7 Overview Biotechnology activities by Women in Science Cell biologist Feature From Parkinson’s Disease the EMBO Science Policy Programme Fiona Watt wins the 2016 FEBS | to ubiquitin – new findings by and report from the 2015 EMBO | EMBL EMBO Women in Science Award EMBO Young Investigators Helen Science and Society Conference Walden and David Komander PAGE 4 PAGE 5 PAGE 9 www.embo.org NEWS EMBO expands its global reach EMBC, EMBO and Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology sign cooperation agreement nder the new agreement, India, as an are available,” commented Maria Leptin, Director associate member state, financially of EMBO. “We have been promoting Ucontributes to EMBC. In return, research- An official launch ceremony took place in Delhi international interactions beyond ers working in India will be eligible for the full on 4 February 2016, and the Nobel Laureates and range of EMBO’s programmes supporting talented EMBO Members Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and Europe, and India is one of our researchers and stimulating scientific exchange. Ada E. Yonath joined a high-profile panel discus- prime partners. I am extremely The eligibility of these researchers will be evalu- sion. An EMBO-led delegation of ten research- ated against the same criteria as those from other ers is visiting various institutes across the pleased that India now is an states, allowing international exchange. country and meeting with Indian scientists and Associate Member and I look government representatives. The visit started in forward to India being able to Mumbai on 1 February and finished in Mohali “India can only succeed if we on 8 February. access EMBO activities.” partner with the best everywhere Maria Leptin, EMBO Director to bring the best here.” VijayRaghavan, Life sciences in India are developing fast, State Secretary, Government of India supported by governmental and academic initia- tives to attract bright young people to science from inside and outside India. VijayRaghavan, EMBO has been steadily increasing interac- Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology tions outside of Europe during the past two for the Government of India, who signed the decades. This cooperation is the latest accom- agreement, said at the launch ceremony: “India plishment of EMBO’s Global Activities strat- is rapidly growing into a position where we are egy, which works to foster collaboration with making extraordinary demands on ourselves. scientists in non-European countries that show India can only succeed if we partner with the best strength in life science research. everywhere to bring the best here.” “We have been promoting international inter- The newly forged cooperation will build actions beyond Europe, and India is one of our upon already existing links between Indian and prime partners. I am extremely pleased that India European scientists. In 2015, ten Indian postdoc- now is an Associate Member and I look forward toral researchers received an EMBO Long-Term to India being able to access EMBO activities. Fellowship to work in Europe, and eight India- Many European researchers already have estab- Maria Leptin and VijayRaghavan based scientists received the EMBO Short-Term lished scientific connections in India. No doubt exchanging the signed Fellowship. A satellite symposium focusing on agreement at the launching these will be strengthened further once more research in India has been a part of the annual ceremony in New Delhi tools and formal opportunities for interactions conference, The EMBO Meeting. 2 EMBOencounters | Spring 2016 | [email protected] ©2016 EMBO NEWS Scientific lecture at the Global Biotechnology Summit following the launching event EMBO delegation arriving at the National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi ©all pictures: Prasenjeet Yadav Panel discussion with Matthew Freeman, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Satyajit Mayor, Ada Yonath, VijayRaghavan and Maria Leptin Though the EMBC was founded by its member scientists from Singapore have already joined Further reading: states as an intergovernmental organization to the Young Investigator Programme. “In addition, Official India-EMBO Partnership Symposium provide for cooperation among European States EMBO has cooperation agreements with South webpage: india.embo.org Website of the Department of Biotechnology / for life science research, EMBO as EMBC’s execu- Africa and with the Taiwanese Ministry of Science Government of India (including recordings of the tion body may expand its engagement with and Technology. Discussions are underway with scientific presentations and talks): further states outside Europe. After Singapore, other potential partner countries, particularly indiabioscience.org which signed a similar agreement in July 2015, elsewhere in Asia and in South America,” said Personal impressions and thoughts from EMBO India is the second country to acquire the status Anne-Marie Glynn, Manager in charge of EMBO’s Member James Briscoe: [thenode.biologists.com/ of EMBC Associate Member State. Four young Global Activities. far-india-europe/discussion/] “Frontiers in cytoskeleton research: coordina- saw there,” recalls Janke. On this occasion, he tion, adaptation, fine-tuning” was the title of visited various research institutes in Bangalore, the three-day seminar. The meeting brought Pune and Mumbai and established contacts Indo-French together leading experts with different perspec- to local researchers. Together they decided to tives on cytoskeletal functions – in vitro as well set up a platform of exchange between French connections as in cells. The workshop turned out to be a and Indian group leaders and students. One high-level platform for intense and focused year later, Roop Mallik of the Tata Institute of EMBO Member Carsten Janke discussions, which “will certainly result in Fundamental Research in Mumbai and Aurnab active research collaborations and joint grant Ghose of the IISER Pune teamed up with Janke initiates a cytoskeleton seminar proposals in the future,” Janke is convinced. to submit a workshop proposal to the French- in Pune The 20 participating group leaders talked Indian exchange program CEFIPRA, which about novel frontiers to be addressed in future promptly selected it for funding. and how these challenges can be mastered “France has never been closer to India,” by combining complementary expertise and tweeted EMBO Young Investigator and speak- MBO engagement in India has gone a knowledge in interdisciplinary research. er Manuel Thèry on the second day of the long way and builds upon many already cytoskeleton seminar. There are already plans Eexisting links between Indian and The idea for the workshop was born in for a follow-up conference – this time on European researchers. One example is a confer- 2013, during an EMBO-India Bioscience meet- French territory. ence on cytoskeleton research that took place ing that was held in Bangalore and organized in Pune last October co-organized by EMBO by the EMBO Young Investigators Programme. www.iiserpune.ac.in/events/Indo-French+ Member Carsten Janke of the Institut Curie in “It was my first visit to India. I was thrilled by Conference+on+Cytoskeleton+Research France. the great institutes and the high-level science I ©2016 EMBO EMBOencounters | Spring 2016 | [email protected] 3 gene therapies. Gene-transfer efficacy and safe- th EMBO | EMBL ty have long been the major problems for gene Science and Society therapy, but Naldini’s team has developed new techniques that seem to have overcome these conference problems and recently produced results in two clinical trials for the treatment of rare diseases in children, raising hopes and expectations of cures for devastating genetic diseases. In this area there is often a tension between patients, their fami- lies, scientists and doctors, who are eager to test research advances in the clinic as soon as possi- and ble to treat some otherwise lethal diseases, and regulators, who, in order to protect patients, take a cautious approach and often impose controls he conference Emerging Biotechnologies: concerns both inside and outside the scientific that are thought to delay progress. Hype, Hope and Hard Reality focussed on community. These concerns relate in particular In the session about biotechnologies and the Tthe social impact of innovative biotechnol- to its potential use in editing the human germ- environment, Anne Osbourn, project leader at ogies, particularly in the fields of human health line, resulting in changes being passed on to the John Innes Centre in the UK, talked about and the environment. An interdisciplinary and future generations. More research is needed to the fantastic contribution of plants to impor- international group of 17 speakers and about 200 prove that the technology is safe and that genome tant pharmaceutical and industrial products. participants from Europe and beyond gathered edits occur in the desired position. Moreover, the Biotechnology has opened many alternative for two days in the auditorium of the Advanced possible application of CRISPR-Cas9 to germ-line routes in the production of plant products. A Training Centre in Heidelberg last November. The editing has revived international ethical and poli- well-known example is artemisinin, an anti- discussion topics included the roles and respon- cy discussions about