21 EMBL June 2004 &cetera Newsletter of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory

EMBL and DESY extend collaboration Lab Day-and-a-half 2004... page 3 Kevin Leonard rides off into retirement... page 6

EMBL and DESY renew their vows New website spans EMBL and the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) have signed an agree- ment building on our 30-year track record of successful cooperation, continuing EMBL Units the partnership into 2015. A key component in the future collaboration is to A new portal has been launched to upgrade the PETRA ring into a dedicated synchrotron radiation source (begin- p rovide better access to re s e a rc h , ning in 2007). This will maintain EMBL and DESY’s global competitiveness in the services and training across EMBL’s field. The two organizations will also continue to collaborate on research and five sites, and to present more infor- development projects and organize seminars, symposia, workshops and other mation about news and events at the scientific events. Pictured above (left) are Chairman of the DESY Board of Lab. Major goals with the “umbrella Directors Albrecht Wagner and EMBL Director General Fotis C. Kafatos at the site” are to standardize the design official signing of the agreement in Hamburg on May 19, 2004. across the Lab and increase function- ality. Check it out at www.embl.org Chemical Genomics facility set to open on page 5

In cooperation with the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), EMBL has established a Chemical Genomics facility. By July, according to facility head Joe Lewis, everything should be ready to perform the first screens. Like EMBL’s Annual Report out now other core facilities, it will provide services to scientific groups from across the What’s the real story behind the EMBL lab, including small-molecule screening, hit validation and high-throughput logo? How did EMBL research change assay development. on page 2 Swiss watch-making forever? What’s the connection between Barbra Streisand and medaka development? The answers can be found in this year’s Annual Report, Lab Day 2004: from crystals to hard rock available now from OIPA ([email protected]).

This year’s Lab Day expanded to fill a day and a half of festivities, starting with graduation ceremonies for EMBL’s International PhD Programme, then skip- ping along to poster sessions, postdoc talks and concerts by EMBL’s talented musicians. If anyone finds a box of cereal with a picture of Walter Witke on it, in this issue... please return it to Monterotondo because this crucial component of his group’s poster display was mistakenly thrown away (after the contents were eaten?) by chemical genomics 2 the cleaning staff. on page 3 lab day 2004 3 www.embl.org 5 Groundbreaking ceremony held for PSB names to faces 6 On June 8 EMBL, the ESRF, ILL and IBS celebrated the start of construction on the EMBO corner 7 the new building for the Partnership for Structural Biology in Grenoble. The new science for teachers 7 facility will host over 60 scientists from the partner institutes and will house the core infrastructure for high-throughput protein expression, characterization and news & events 9 crystallization. This will include a Biological Deuterium Labeling Facility which will improve the quantity and quality of research that can be carried out using people@EMBL 10 ILL’s neutron facilities. The ESRF is also constructing a new, highly-automated dual station beamline for macromolecular crystallography. EMBL&cetera Issue 21 - June 2004

New Chemical Genomics facility to provide unique touch to EMBL

In cooperation with the German Cancer The result is a collaboration with the chem- EMBL has a very strong track record in Research Centre (DKFZ), EMBL has estab- istry company Tripos Discovery Research molecular biology and has made significant lished a Chemical Genomics facility, on the (TDR), whose chemistry labs are based in contributions to chemistry, but until recently fourth floor of the Heidelberg laboratory, the UK. TDR will provide the screening has not had all the in-house expertise to headed by Joe Lewis. Silke Schumacher, library consisting of approximately 50,000 develop small molecules. Carrying out proj- EMBL's Cooperation Manager, helped to molecules designed to be medicinally rele- ects in the past has required collaborating establish the joint effort between DKFZ and vant, and “follow-upable” to minimize proj- with an external chemistry group. “If you EMBL. By July, Joe says, the facility should ect attrition at later stages in the discovery couldn’t find somebody working on the be ready to perform its first screens. Like p rocess. In addition, TDR will pro v i d e same question, you were out of luck,” Joe EMBL’s other core facilities, it will provide design and synthesis expertise and access to says. “And many projects our researchers services to scientific groups from across the their extensive chemistry knowledge base to wanted to pursue weren’t attractive to phar- lab, including small-molecule screening, hit support chemical optimization of candidate ma or biotech, because they concerned very validation and high-throughput assay molecules that are identified in collaboration basic questions with no clear pay-off.” development. with the research groups. In cases where a collaboration did get off the Establishing a chemical genomics unit in an ground, there was another constraint: work academic setting is unusual, Joe says, at least had to be done on the basis of material trans- for Europe. Of all the types of “omics” out fer agreements, typically with pharmaceuti- there, Chemical Genomics is probably the cal companies. That meant that intellectual one most associated with industry, drug dis- property developed during projects belong- c o v e r y, and applied science. Conducting ed to the company, rather than EMBL. Now, high-throughput screens has been expen- intellectual property arising from work in sive, time-consuming, and difficult. While the facility will benefit the Laboratory. some universities in the US, for example, The facility staff will assist groups in the have created such facilities, EMBL’s unit is development of primary and secondary one of the forerunners in Europe. assays to screen against compound libraries, “This interdisciplinary setup combining then guide them through the process of molecular biology with chemistry gives Joe Lewis, Chemical Genomics facility head developing tool compounds for specific tar- EMBL the chance to create new cutting-edge gets. “This can be done in a cost-effective It’s definitely a worthwhile effort, according research tools for the life sciences,“ says way, opening up new avenues both for basic to Joe – one that fits well into EMBL’s plans Christian Boulin, Head of Core Facilities. research and potential therapeutic applica- for the future. “Small molecules play essen- “The new facility will be very helpful in ful- tions,” Joe says. tial roles in many areas of basic research and filling one of EMBLEM’s major goals: the A successful project needs to be carried out are often used to address important biologi- translation of EMBL’s research results into in stages, he says – typically a limited first new effective pharmaceuticals,” adds cal questions – we’ve seen a steady increase round of screening needs to be carried out to EMBLEM´s Deputy Managing Dire c t o r in the need for such services. Our DKFZ col- determine whether a project is worth pursu- Martin Raditsch. EMBLEM, the technology laborators will focus on finding small mole- ing and if further commitments should be transfer company of EMBL, used its net- cules that modulate cancer related pathways made. The staff has the expertise to help works and know-how to help pull all the and processes. Scientists at EMBL will now re s e a rch ers make these decisions. If you pieces together for the successful launch of be in a better position to develop their own have an idea for a project, stop by the facili- the facility. valuable tools for systems biology research.” ty and speak with Joe.

Life Sciences and the Developing World: How much do we care? EMBL Science and

A Science and Society minisymposium took tend to be so much more striking than their could cover but a limited number of the place at EMBL-Heidelberg in the afternoon similarities. But, leaving such terminology complex and important issues relating to it. of Friday, June 4. Topics of past meetings problems aside, the basic issue raised from The meeting unfolded along two basic per- have included “stem cells – their origins and different points of view by speakers and spectives: the meaning and viability of medical uses,” “ownership and commercial- panelists concerned the re l a t i o n s h i p doing life sciences in economically under- ization of science,” and “changing publish- between the life sciences on one hand, and privileged social settings, and, second, the ing practices in science.” Responding to the social and economic settings within possibility of influencing and directing the repeatedly expressed interest within the sci- which they are embedded, or, for some rea- life sciences in the more privileged settings entific community at EMBL, this time “Life son fail to get embedded, on the other. When so that the useful knowledge and technolo- Sciences and the Developing World” was we take into account the most appalling of gies that come out of them are more aligned chosen as the main theme. the problems plaguing the world communi- and tuned to the needs of people in the poor- Evidently, it was not so much the compo- t y, the unequal distribution of economic er parts of the world. nents of the main title, “Life Sciences” and resources, it should not come as a surprise to The first session of the symposium consisted “the Developing World,” that gained most anyone that the life sciences are abundantly of talks by three keynote speakers. Fotis of the attention at this meeting, but the rela- embedded in some national-geographic con- Kafatos, the Director General of EMBL, start- tionship between the two. One issue is the texts, loosely in some, and not at all in oth- ed by focusing on “The Developing World: fact that “the Developing World” is such a ers. Challenges and Opportunities.” He stressed broad, and hence loosely-defined, category; A d d i t i o n a l l y, Life Sciences and the the paramount importance of economics for d i ff e rences between the populations and Developing World is so vast a topic that pre- any attempts at improving the level of sci- societies that are assumed to belong to it sentations and discussions at this meeting ence education and research in poorer parts 3

A lab day-and-a-half like no other

EMBL’s annual Lab Day, held in conjunction postdocs, demonstrations of EBI databases, entertained. Festive dinners and a barbecue with the International PhD Pro g r a m m e ’ s tours of EMBL-Heidelberg’s facilities and gave everyone a chance to relax and talk graduation ceremonies, got a turbo boost workshops, and a group leader seminar by about things other than science. On Tuesday this year. Last year the senior scientists Iain Mattaj, wearing a t-shirt with a picture evening, EMBL’s super-talented musicians decided that the event could be made more of Darth Vader. performed a classical music concert, and, interesting and fun, especially for visitors Lab Day 2004 saw an unprecedented partic- after a short break for a Euro2004 football from the Outstations; they also felt that post- ipation of staff from the Outstations. To help match, EMBL’s own “The Pranks” plugged docs needed to be better integrated into the in their guitars and keyboards and rocked activities. Pernille Rørth, Christoph Müller staff traveling from afar feel more at home, the house down while the crowds danced. and Rolf Apweiler put their heads together EMBL-Heidelberg staff served as hosts, get- and came up with an enhanced programme ting together in small groups for informal The event was a great success, thanks to the lasting a day and a half. tours around the lab and conversation over efforts of Pernille, Christoph, Rolf and to the Alongside the traditional poster session and dinner. many others who helped out. talks by graduating PhD students, the Interspersed among the scientific events H e re are some outtakes to whet your revamped programme included talks by were plenty of activities to keep the troops appetite for next year...

Society minisymposium explores how science can serve the world community of the world. He presented a detailed assess- development, in rich and poor countries tion, biological treatment of water, in vitro ment of one major American initiative alike, can be described in broad terms as multiplication of plants, fermentation indus- (Millennium Science Initiative) for the putting scientific knowledge into practice. tries and textile industry. At the level of serv- improvement of the knowledge base and sci- But this requires that those responsible for ices, some biotechnological methods are entific research where most needed. Fotis policy-making be aware of both the poten- used for human, plant and animal disease stressed the importance of creating world- tial contribution and limitations of the rele- diagnosis, and paternity tests, for example. class re s e a rch institutions in developing vant science, whether they are engaged in Medically assisted procreation is also per- countries as a means of redressing some of promoting health care, increasing food pro- formed in response to a social need.” the current imbalances in the distribution of duction – or even protecting communities The second session consisted of a panel dis- human resources and know-how. from the impacts of global warming.” cussion with participants from both the David Dickson from the Science and Amel Benammar-Elgaaied of the Faculty of “North” and “South”. Initial comments from Development Network (SciDev.Net) dis- Sciences at Tunis University spoke about the the panelists gave rise to lively exchanges cussed the goals of this initiative that he state of affairs in the world of Tunisian with members of the audience. The variety launched in 2001 with the backing of the biotechnology. She told the audience that of different opinions that were expressed at journals N a t u r e and S c i e n c e. SciDev. N e t traditional biotechnologies have been used this meeting left the strong impression that seeks to put the potential of the Internet into in Tunisia since ancient times for the produc- many scientists are truly concerned about practice in the field of science communica- tion of wine, bread, and milk derivatives. tion between the technologically developed The number of firms involved with modern questions of how science can better serve the and developing parts of the world. In his biotechnologies is, however, small. “Their world community. words, “The process of social and economic activities concern vaccines and sera produc- – Halldór Stefánsson EMBL&cetera Issue 21 - June 2004

The six million dollar heart Fotis Kafatos receives honour Nadia Rosenthal, head of EMBL’s Mouse entiation. Based on their studies on mouse from German government Biology Programme in Monterotondo, has and human cells in culture and animal mod- been awarded a grant from the Fondation els, the team will use the new funding to ini- On June 2, Fotis C. Kafatos received a Leducq as part of a Transatlantic Network of tiate a clinical trial of human cells with distinguished award in Germany, the Excellence for cardiovascular research that enhanced potential for cardiac regeneration. B u n d e s v e r d i e n s t k reu z 1. Klasse. This will receive a total six million US dollars “We have been given a unique opportunity honor recognizes his significant over a five-year period. Together with grant to share the expertise, facilities, models, contributions to Germany and c o o rdinators Michael Schneider (MD reagents, and knowledge brought together E u r ope, in encouraging and Anderson Centre for by this superb group of sci- stimulating top quality scientific C a rdiovascular Develop- entists,” Nadia says. “We research in the life sciences during his ment, Houston, TX) and already collaborate in pairs, years as Director-General of EMBL. Stefanie Dimmeler (Goethe but as a team we will be German Federal Research Minister, University, Frankfurt), and able to move much faster Frau Edelgard Bulmahn, pre s e n t e d collaborators Robert towards applying our col- Fotis with the award during a Schwartz (Department of lective understanding of c e remony at the Federal Researc h Molecular and Cell Biology, adult progenitor cell biolo- Ministry in Berlin. University of Pennsyl- gy to effective human car- “It’s a humbling experience to receive vania), Giulio Cossu (Stem diac repair. It’s a typically this award from the German Cell Research Institute, San E M B L way of doing Government, which re p r esents a Raffaele, Milan, Italy), and research.” country that I greatly admire and A n d reas Zeiher (Goethe The project is one of only respect,” says Fotis. “This prestigious University, Frankfurt), Nadia will focus on four applications that were funded through award reflects the success of EMBL. the origins, engineering, and clinical appli- the Foundation’s Transatlantic Network of Germany, a state deeply committed cation of adult cardiac progenitor cells. Excellence, specifically intended to bridge to the European ideal, is a fine host Initial studies in both animals and humans the sciences between Europe and the United for the Laboratory, supporting using endogenous or exogenous cells to States in the area of cardiovascular disease. consistently the entire EMBL system. regenerate damaged cardiac muscle are The Fondation Leducq, created by French This support is all the more encouraging, yet critical gaps exist in the businessman Jean Leducq and his wife important now, when EMBL m u s t available information on mechanisms. The Sylvaine, is a Paris-based not-for- p ro f i t invest in a timely manner in order to combined efforts of the Network members foundation committed to improving health address immense new challenges: to will be applied to fundamental aspects of through international efforts to combat car- elucidate complex biological systems cardiac self-repair and engraftment, empha- diovascular disease. More information on and to orient this understanding to sizing the developmental origins of adult the foundation is available at the benefit of society.” cardiac progenitor cells, homing, and differ- www.fondationleducq.org

BIOXHIT kicks off with a special meeting at EMBL-Hamburg

Nearly ninety re s e a rchers gathered in sation technologies (Section 1), synchrotron were followed by lively and extensive dis- Hamburg on April 26-28, 2004, to officially technologies (Section 2), beamline end-sta- cussions and the project partners, as well as kick off the BIOXHIT project. BIOXHIT, tions and data collection (Section 3), data the members of the high profile scientific which stands for Biocrystallography (X) on a p rocessing and stru c t u re determination advisory board of the project, took the Highly Integrated Technology Platform, is (Section 4), databases and networking opportunity to discuss in detail the manifold an Integrated Project funded within the 6th (Section 5) and training, implementation tasks, objectives and challenges the project Framework of the European Commission and dissemination (Section 6). Towards the offers. More information on BIOXHIT can be and coordinated by Victor Lamzin at EMBL- end of the meeting, the representative from obtained from www.bioxhit.org. Hamburg. The major goal of BIOXHIT is to the EC gave a vivid overview of Structural consolidate re s e a rch activities at all Genomics in Europe. The pre s e n t a t i o n s – Daniela Jaenicke E u ropean synchro t rons and leading soft- ware developers in the field of biological crystallography in a timely and unprece- dented joint effort to develop, assemble and provide a highly effective technology plat- form for Structural Genomics. “The BIOX- HIT project attracted broad interest not only amongst crystallographers. We had the great opportunity to welcome many scientists working in various research areas coming from Europe as well as from Israel, New Zealand and the USA,” says project coordi- nator Victor Lamzin. In the course of the meeting the members of the Project Steering Committee reported on the respective scientific activities in crystalli- Structural biologists gather in Hamburg on April 26-28, 2004, to kick off the BIOXHIT project. 5

A new face on the web: EMBL launches www.embl.org

A new portal, www.embl.org, was launched the EBI, suggested it was time to put in place from Björn Kindler, Stephanie Weil, Rodrigo on June 22 to provide easier access to a new “umbrella site.” Major goals were to Lopez and many others. E M B L’s re s e a rch, services and training standardize the design across the Lab and An introduction to the new site and FAQs across its five sites, and to provide more increase functionality. can be found at www.embl.org/staffonly. information about news and events at the www.embl.org was designed by Jason Soffe, Please send your comments and corrections Lab. Over the years EMBL has grown in size who was joined in April this year by to [email protected]. and organizational complexity. In particular, Francesco Sottile, under the supervision of Below you’ll find a description of some of the increasing importance of our Outstations Christian Boulin, Iain Mattaj and Silke the features of the new site. For an in-depth and the services they provide, particularly at S c h u m a c h e r. They received crucial help look, visit EMBL on the web.

1 This window has changing 3 announcements of events that will take place at EMBL Links to the homepages of 2 2 the five different EMBL sites Link to the new intranet and 3 FAQ for the new website 1 The two most current press 4 releases and a subscription service for journalists and 5 4 others interested in receiving news from EMBL About us: facts and figures 6 5 for EMBL, plus news and events 7 Research within EMBL’s nine 6 Units and the newly estab- 8 lished centres Services provided by EMBL 7 to the scientific community Information on education 8 activities at EMBL, including the International PhD Programme, postdoctoral training and Science for Teachers

Some Frequently Asked Questions...

How will www.embl.org develop in the Can I/my group still have my/our own view and cannot access the “Staff Only” f u t u re and what will happen to the webpage? section. The internal version is currently being developed to include comprehensive Outstation websites? Yes. Existing group and personal pages will and dynamic information for in-house staff. automatically be linked to the new The Outstation websites will be redesigned For a complete list of seminars, courses and to fit the design of the new www.embl.org w w w. e m b l . o rg g roup homepages. If you would like to add a page for yourself or your c o n f e rences, follow the link to “Events” pages. The web team will work closely with under “About Us.” the Outstations to ensure that the content, g roup, please follow the instructions at w w w. e m b l - h e i d e l b e r g . d e / L o c a l I n f o / including internal information, will be How can I edit my personal information? CG/homepages/index.html specific to each Outstation. The EBI website You can choose to display your phone will not change. Where can I find “Today at EMBL”? number, email and photograph to external Content on www.embl.de that is specific for “Today at EMBL” – a daily list of the lab’s users. On your personal page, follow the H e i d e l b e rg will be transferred to a seminars, events and activities – can be link to “edit some values” and follow the temporary w w w. e m b l - h e i d e l b e r g . d e s i t e found under the “About Us” heading or by i n s t ructions. For other changes, please that will be expanded as soon as possible. following the “Staff Only” link. Regardless contact [email protected]. Pages for web-based administrative tasks, of which link you follow, “Today at EMBL” such as reserving seminar rooms in looks the same when accessed from inside (more FAQs can be found at Heidelberg, can be found there. EMBL. External users will see a different www.embl.org/staffonly) EMBL&cetera Issue 21 - June 2004 names to faces Ready for some Easy Riding: Kevin Leonard retires after nearly 30 years at EM(BL)

Although the daily arrival or departure of col - of the best facilities in Europe or even the leagues from EMBL may resemble shifting sand, world. there is a layer of bedrock beneath it all, made up My wife, Belinda Bullard, who is a bio- of people like Kevin Leonard, who is retiring after chemist, came to EMBL from England in 29 years at the Lab in Heidelberg. 1988, where she had her own position. Long- When did you come to EMBL? distance relationships are typical for scientif- ic families! We had collaborated on several I arrived at EMBL in November 1975, when p rojects earlier and have been working there were only about 10 employees. Kai together ever since. She is also interested in Simons from Cell Biology was already here muscle research. and Arthur Jones from Instru m e n t a t i o n , who passed away recently. Anne Walter was How has science changed over the years? here and possibly Nelly van der Jagt. I orig- It is more automated now, e.g. working with inally intended to stay only nine years. The genomes or developing microarray tech- Lab had offered me an initial contract of niques. There are also attempts being made either three or five years, and I took the three to automate electron micro s c o p y. The years because I thought I might not like it emphasis is more on “bulk biology” with here. After the first contract period, I was specimen preparation and high throughput. given an indefinite contract, but I never This is good in some ways, but bad in oth- thought I would stay this long! ers. With fast techniques, only the big pic- So you were here before the Lab was con- ture is visible and the smaller details, which structed? can be quite exciting, are often missed. Right, there were no facilities at the time. We How was EMBL different in earlier years? were in the MPI (Max-Planck-Institut für When an organization is smaller, its people Kernphysik) then. My office was right next are more visible. There were some interest- After 29 years at EMBL, Kevin leonard prepares to door to Sir John Kendrew, who founded the ing characters back then, like David Meyer, ride off into retirement on his “old-timer” motorocycle. Lab and was its Director General for 5 years. an American who founded the first diving In 1978 we moved into the new EMBL build- club. That was the very first club sponsored are held any more except Burns’ Night. The ing. The first Administrative Director was, by the Staff Association. The second was the annual Staff Association Summer Party has fittingly enough, a Mr. Embling. He was Alpine club, which I helped found in July more or less replaced them. EMBL became from the UK civil service and was chosen 1979. We tried to go to the Alps every second so big that the small, friendly character of because he had a good knowledge of weekend, mainly to hike. The club was very the national parties wasn’t possible any German. active until about 1985; at its peak there more. What brought you to Heidelberg? were about 30 members. But then participa- tion fell off because people left the Lab. It What do your retirement plans look like? I had always wanted to work in a foreign has become active again recently, but the No scientist ever really retires! We have a country and learn a foreign language. There emphasis is more on rock climbing now. house in Cambridge and will go back there. were two new labs being set up at the time, I hope to be able to collaborate on projects in Madrid and in Heidelberg. I wrote to Sir Another memorable character was Arthur with research groups in the UK. My wife John and he told me they were looking for Jones, who was head of electron microscopy will also be able to carry on her work in the people. My initial duties were to build up development and was very humorous. He UK. the electron microscopy (EM) facilities, was a sort of father figure to all electronic including instrument development. microscopy groups at EMBL. Other than that I plan to rebuild and race my Specifically I did research on muscle struc- There were also a lot more parties in earlier seven “old timer” motorcycles (the newest t u re using STEM (scanning transmission years. Each national group had its annual one was built in 1983). I will be back in electron microscopy). Later I examined the party: the Germans had Fasching, the Germany occasionally for these racing structure of membrane with Hanns French July 14, the Dutch celebrated their events, which are not taken too seriously Weiss, who was one of the first group lead- Queen’s birthday, the Swedes held their and are good fun. So I guess I am only ers. I am happy that EMBL is still actively Festival of Light, the English Guy Fawkes “semi-retiring.” supporting electron microscopy. It has one and the Scottish Burns’ Night. None of those – interview by Ann Thüringer

New investment for EMBL Technology Fund Stop the press! E M B L & c e t e r a has just learned that the US The EMBL Technology Fund (ETF) has invested in immatics biotechnologies GmbH, an National Alliance for Research on independent biopharmaceutical company from Tübingen, Germany S c h i z o p h renia and Depression (NARSAD) (www.immatics.com). Based on proprietary technologies, immatics identifies and has given a two-year, $60,000, Yo u n g validates novel drug candidates for therapeutic use in a range of cancer diseases. Investigator Aw a r d to EMBL-Montero- Drug candidates are based on short immunogenic peptides with the capacity to tondo’s Cornelius Gross. Cornelius will use stimulate the patient’s immune system. Apart from rapid clinical development in the the grant to study gene and environmental field of renal cell carcinoma, immatics additionally strives to identify novel peptide interactions underlying adult anxiety, using antigens in conjunction with other common types of cancer. The ETF joins the a mouse model. NARSAD, the largest donor- existing venture capital syndicate consisting of Wellington Partners, 3i Group, Grazia supported organization in the world, is Equity, Merifin Capital and SEED/L-EA. The 0.5 million Euro investment increases devoted exclusively to funding scientific the volume of the first financing round for immatics to a total of 8.25 million Euro. research on psychiatric disorders. 7

conference, which is held in different loca- next few years we’ll be increasingly eager to tions throughout Asia; EMBO also continues go to congresses there to see the scientific the to have an advisory role in the directions innovations being made in the Asia Pacific that the organization is taking. More recent- region.” He was also pleased to see that ly, EMBO decided to co-fund and co-organ- EMBL know-how and technology has made ize two practical courses with this organiza- its way to Asia – via commercializations and tion. licenses. The first meeting, “Fluorescence Microscopy This seven-day practical course consisted of corner of Living Cells,” organized by Philippe lectures by Japanese and European speakers Bastiaens and Rainer Pepperkok, took place as well as practical lab and computer work in the region in 2002. The second, on led by EMBL/EBI instructors. Twenty scien- EMBO in the Orient “ M i c roarry Techniques: Applications in tists participated in the course – six from In 1997, scientists from many of the Asian Biomedical Research,” was organized by Europe and the rest from the Asia Pacific and Pacific rim countries got together to Wilhelm and Alexandra A n s o rge and region. After an intensive course with topics work out a plan to promote molecular biolo- Christian Schwager, with input from the ranging from the technical implementation gy within the region. Their idea was to form EMBO World Programme Office, at the of microarrays to the results of their success- an organization similar to EMBO, which was Tokyo Medical and Dental University in ful application by the lecturing scientists, the founded by European scientists 40 years March of this year. participants reported the meeting to be very ago. Thus, the Asia Pacific International EMBO courses always have a very healthy beneficial and successful. EMBO scientists Molecular Biology Network (A-IMBN) was international participation, but it was also greatly benefitted, as many contacts born and grew with help and advice from impressive to see even more nations – some were made and collaborations discussed. EMBO and other international bodies. The of which aren’t represented often enough. O rganizers from Japan (Katsuro Koike, main aim of the organization is to generate The participants were extremely apprecia- Nobuo Tsuchida, and Masataka Nakamura) interactions between scientists within, and tive and eager to learn new things, and the as well as those from Europe were very sat- to build contacts with those outside, the instructors were impressed by the quality of isfied with the impact that the course had region. Since the establishment of the A- the presentations. Wilhelm reports, “It was and enthusiastically discussed future collab- IMBN, EMBO has sponsored a plenary lec- clear that Asia is a scientific giant in the orative ventures. ture by an EMBO member at their annual process of awakening. Undoubtedly in the – Mary Gannon science for teachers By now you must have heard of EMBL’s new suggestions on how to make activities more research or education institutions. Courses education facility – ELLS, or the European accessible to students, pictures and reports. in partnership with German, Italian and Learning Lab for the Life Sciences – devoted Sometimes we are able to go to classrooms Portuguese institutions are already sched- to giving high school teachers a chance to do and give the students a flavour of what hap- uled. real science again. ELLS was established pens in a modern molecular biology lab. Julia Willingale-Theune joined ELLS in June under a European Union grant called In November 2003, Gillian Brunt (Neumann as a new Education Officer. After a success- “Continuing Education for Euro p e a n group) went to the class of teacher Scott ful career in plant , Julia moved Biology Teachers,” coordinated by EMBO. Stalp at the American High school in into science communication. Her interdisci- Now one year old, the project has already Heidelberg. "I gave a talk about the basic sci- plinary background will certainly strength- touched the lives of teachers from across ence we’re doing in the Neumann lab and en and enlarge ELLS’s activities. Europe. explained the reasons for using zebrafish as National education and research institutions In our 3-day practical courses, called a model organism," Gillian says. "The chil- willing to organize activities in collaboration LearningLabs, teachers get scientific demon- dren were very receptive and asked many with ELLS are welcome to contact us at strations and do experiments, some of which questions. I think that both they and I learnt [email protected]. they can take to the classroom. Courses are a lot from the experience." rounded out by seminars, visits to facilities, By Christmas 2003, Alexandra Manaia from exchanges of teaching practices, discussions the ELLS staff had presented a seminar/ on the impact of science on society, and ex- demonstration on Developmental Biology at plorations of teaching resources on the web. the Escola Secundaria Professor Reynaldo As well as bringing groups of teachers into dos Santos in Vila Franca de Xira (Portugal). the lab for practical courses, the ELLS staff She also paid a short visit to the Basic school and some external contributors have in the same town. In April 2004, Alexandra launched a collection of materials that show p r esented another activity on Develop- what’s going on in science and that teachers mental Biology at the Escola Caro l i n a can download for use in class. Have a look at Michaelis, Porto, Portugal. “Science classes some of the projects at the ELLS website – in Portugal still tend to be too theoretical,” w w w. e m b l . o rg / t r a i n i n g / e l l s / . They may says José Mário Felix, a teacher at the school. give you ideas. We welcome contributions “Our students really appreciate the opportu- from scientists who’d like to turn their work nity to do hands-on experiments. In this way into stimulating, interesting projects for they are no longer just passive listeners and schools. become active, enthusiastic learners.” Students at the Escola Secundaria Professor At home, teachers adapt the activities they Another way of amplifying the ELLS net- Reynaldo dos Santos in Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal, try their hands at preparing chicken embryos for experienced at EMBL to their schools and work is organizing training activities outside examination under the microscope during a visit by they send us valuable feedback. We receive E M B L - H e i d e l b e r g together with national ELLS staff to their school. EMBL&cetera Issue 21 - June 2004

French researchers gather at CNRS headquarters in Paris for a look at EMBL

Around 150 French scientists gathered at the between the audience and the EMBL delega- inform scientists from the life sciences in CNRS headquarters in Paris on April 27, tion. Europe about the unique organization and 2004, for an in-depth look at EMBL and its “This meeting was organized for two rea- collective attitude of the scientists working activities. The event, organized by EMBC sons,” says Eric Karsenti. “First, the French at EMBL. This is a model that is very differ- and EMBL delegate Myriam Néchad, was research community stands to benefit from ent from national systems in Europe and opened by the Director of Research for the knowing more about EMBL and the possi- America. The gathering organized by the F r ench Ministry of Research, Elisabeth bilities that the Laboratory can offer in the French delegates was a valuable initiative, Giacobino, and a representative of Jérôme life sciences. Second, it is important to and should be repeated in other countries.” P a s q u i e r, the Director of Scientific Cooperation for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Senior re p resentatives from EMBL F o t i s Kafatos, Stephen Cusack, Nadia Rosenthal, Eric Karsenti and gave an overview of the Lab’s activities, while Group Leader Nicolas Le Novère and post- doc Stéphanie Blandin presented their expe- riences at EMBL. Les Grivell from EMBO also reported on the latest from the E-BioSci From left to right: Director for CNRS International Affairs Jean-Luc Clément, EMBL Director General Fotis C. intiative. The presentations were followed Kafatos, Director of Research for the French Ministry of Research, Elisabeth Giacobino, P. Barré from the by an informal question and answer session Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and EMBC and EMBL delegate Myriam Néchad.

The siege of Yersinia

Although it was not easy on March 27 gang are turning our own defensive protein Once more unto the breach, dear friends, (France won 24:21 and the rugby grand (which traps microbial attacking proteases) once more; slam) and again on June 13 (France won 2:1 against us. BACT- 2M looks to be part of a α Or close the wall up with our Protein in the Euro 2004 clash), French and English periplasmic defence system, for use when dead. people are trying hard to be nice to each the outer membrane has been breached by other – for it is the centenary year of the the host immune system. Clearly these The point of the story is this: Do come by Entente Cordiale. In this spirit, Stéphanie thieving prokaryotes must be punished! Of and show us your favourite sequences – usu- Blandin (Vive l’Angleterre!) linked up with course the punishment must also fit the ally we don’t find anything interesting but Aidan Budd and Toby Gibson (Allez la crime: Could we use the stolen protein as a sometimes we do... France!) to expose bacterial thieves that have vaccination target, so that our immunity stolen our very own α2 - m a c ro g l o b u l i n – Toby Gibson, Biocomputing gene*. This gang of microbes have gone and could more effectively exploit the opened V109, ext 8398 breach? We hope so. Sieging Harfleur is so passed the booty around amongst them- *Bacterial α2-macroglobulins: colonization factors passé and our Entente EMBLiale would pre- selves like – well like those pesky French acquired by horizontal gene transfer from the meta- three-quarters playing in the Parisian spring fer to lay siege to a common enemy like the zoan genome? A. Budd, S. Blandin, E. Levashina and with the sun on their backs. Worse still, the plague bacteria: T. Gibson. Genome Biology 2004, 5(6):R38

PhD students announce science writing competition “Receptor mediated endocytosis, nuclear issue to a non-scientific audience and is the entries, thus serving as an important magnetic resonance or non-sense mediated related to the topic of the symposium. checkpoint to make sure the winning essay decay ...” Do scientists only feel comfortable Submissions should be sent in electronic for- is understandable to people who have not if they can hide behind complicated techni- mat to the symposium committee by had formal high-level scientific education. cal terms or have they simply forgetten that November 1, 2004. Special attention will be The winner will be invited to the 5th hox, jak and ras are not everybody’s daily given to original and innovative styles of International EMBL PhD Students business? So junk the jargon and show that writing. Symposium, to be held on December 3-6 at high quality science can be communicated in One novel aspect of this competition is the EMBL Heidelberg, where the prize of 250 understandable language! a p p roach that will be used to evaluate Euros will be awarded. All essays will be The organizing committee of the 5th entries. Representatives from EMBL’ s compiled in a small booklet to be distributed International EMBL PhD Student Sympos- European Learning Laboratory for the Life during the symposium. ium, “Design of Life – Learning fro m Sciences, Science and Society programme Nature,” has launched a scientific writing and the Life Science Lab of the German For more information, including further competition, and it is open to all European Cancer Research Center will select the win- submission details, visit PhD students. Entries should be in the form ning essay. High-school students from the http://symposium.predocs.org/ of an essay that communicates a scientific Heidelberg Life Science Lab will also read – Fabian Filipp

Register now! EMBL Alumni Association Reunion, Nov. 26-28, 2004, EMBL-Heidelberg. www.embl.org/aboutus/alumni/ 9 report from the heads of units meeting news The Heads of Units and Senior Scientists met Graduate Committee and SAC, to unite all &events in Hamburg on May 10-11 and in Heidelberg training activities at EMBL (the Internat- on June 14-15 to discuss developments at the ional PhD programme, practicals, courses, Something got me started. The Euro- lab. Here’s a brief summary: workshops and conferences, postdoctoral pean Molecular Biology Org a n i z a t i o n (EMBO) has just launched its new service, • A new internal policy for bioethics has training, science for teachers and sabbati- the Life Sciences Mobility Consultancy been distributed and is also available at cal visitors) under one label. The aim is to improve coordination between the various h t t p : / / m o b i l i t y. e m b o . o rg. This online h t t p : / / e m b l o rg . e m b l . d e / s t a ff o n l y / p e r - activities as well as to increase visibility service is designed to give researchers sonnelmatters/personnel/policies.html. for EMBL’s training services to attract worldwide easy access to information on • Transgenic services are provided in both partners, additional funding and new par- mobility within Europe. It offers search- H e i d e l b e rg and Monterotondo. Pro j e c t s ticipants. able information on grants, fellowships, will be allocated to a location depending awards and training courses in the life sci- • Pink seminars will continue to take place ences. Furthermore it hosts a job page on resources available at the time. on Wednesdays at 1 pm in Heidelberg. advertising open positions in science • A proposal for an EMBL International Group Leaders may also now choose to Europe-wide and a scientific collaboration Centre for Advanced Training (EICAT) give their talks at one of the Outstations. partner database inviting all intere s t e d has been prepared by Matthias Hentze Talks should be tailored to a broad scien- scientists to post their research profiles. and Anne Ephrussi, with input from the tific audience. The Protein Expression and Puri- fication Unit has been re o rg a n i z e d . Tips and tricks for the new phone system at EMBL-Heidelberg Ann-Marie Lawrence has joined the group as an insect cell specialist, and another In March, EMBL-Heidelberg’s building phone calls through your computer). In- expert will soon join to take care of analyt- maintenance team swept through the Lab house training for these features will take ical biochemistry (analytical ultracentrifu- and the Boxberg Guest House and installed place during July. gation, fluorimetry, calorimetry). The facility’s web site has also been updated to m o re than 700 new telephone sets. The Tips & tricks: appliance and software technology of the include special offers, tips, and dire c t To make internal calls, remember to dial an previous system had become outdated, so access to the list of the projects. Check it 8 before the 3-digit extension. To call EMBO, with the expiration of the rental contract, it out at w w w. e m b l - h e i d e l b e rg . d e / dial a 5 instead of an 8 before the 3-digit was time to upgrade. E x t e r n a l I n f o / g e e r l o f / d r a f t _ f r a m e s / extension. Telephone numbers do not index.html There are several advantages to the new dig- change when calling from the outside. ital system: it is Euro-ISDN compatible; The EIROforum Assembly took place To make a three-party call, make a normal more lines are now available to accommo- on May 4-5 at EFDA-JET, Culham, UK. phone call to your first partner. While this date the ever increasing number of staff at The DGs of the EIROforum organizations person is on the line, dial the second num- the Lab; computer connections between tele- discussed a new vision paper, updates on ber, and wait until that partner picks up. phones and PCs/Macs have been created; the activities of the diff e rent working Now dial “3” and voila, all three partners can and the switchboard exchange and cost g roups and developments within their speak together. recording systems have been renewed, mak- institutions. EC Director General for ing for easier handling and accounting. To forward a call, dial the internal number, Research Achilleas Mitsos updated mem- The new system enables group leaders and wait until the partner has answered, then bers on developments regarding the EC’s secretaries to use not only digital telephon- hang up. next framework programme. In a separate ing but also the UMS (Unified Messaging Call back for missed calls depends on the meeting, press officers from the System, which combines telephones with type of telephone set you have. For full E I R O f o r um organizations gathered in fax, e-mail, voice mail, sms, and web inte- instructions on this and other features, visit Heidelberg on May 12 to exchange ideas, gration) and CTI (Computer Te l e f o n i e w w w. e m b l - h e i d e l b e r g . d e / L o c a l I n f o / share experiences, and discuss ways to Integration, which allows you to make tele- telephone/ work together in the future. News from EMBL Centres. An agree- ment has been reached for funding activi- ties within the first four centres. The from the staff association Centre for Disease Mechanisms will: con- tinue to organize the successful Molecular Bipartite meetings. The Staff A s s o c i a t i o n Volunteers. Feel like you’re not quite in the Medicine symposia series, develop a has initiated regular bipartite meetings with p i c t u re about the Staff Association? Then mouse database and sponsor one postdoc the EMBL management in order to keep the help us by designing one of the following: a f rom a medical school each year. The flow of information running smoothly in new version of our newsletter, the Bulletin; Computational Biology Centre will devel- both directions. The first meeting was held informational posters; or a web site for the op a website, organize computational doctors’ database. You provide the layout on May 4, the second is planned for July 6. biology training and develop a database and we’ll provide the contents. to analyse gene expression in 4D. The Working group. In April, two of our C e n t re for Molecular and Cellular Video club bills. A reminder that the bill re p resentatives participated in the first Imaging will develop tools for image you may have received for the period March meeting of the Council working group on quantitation and a 4D image database as 2003 – January 2004 is for rentals from the the Terms and Conditions of Employment, well as provide training in imaging meth- old collection system and is separate from ods. The Centre for High Thro u g h p u t which is reviewing EMBL salaries and any monthly e-mail reminders you have Functional Genomics will provide scien- benefits as compared to other international received from the Library since Febru a r y. tific and technical support to scientists organizations. Such reviews are carried out Please pay your old bill so that we can buy who are interested in setting up their own every five to seven years. the newest releases for the DVD collection. high-throughput experiments. EMBL&cetera Issue 21 - June 2004 people Who’s new? EMBL Yasmin A l a m - F a ruque (Apweiler), A l a s t a i r @ Baldwin (Zhu), Olivier Billet (Cusack), Sandor B r ockhauser (Grenoble Instru m e n t a t i o n ) , Jens Reich has joined EMBL as a consultant. Among his many Matias Castro (Zhu), Wei Mun Chan (Zhu), Adam Cliffe (Rørth), Lorenzo Corsini accomplishments, Jens wrote a pioneering book on systems biology (Sattler), Amaicha Mara Depino (Gro s s ) , (Reich, J. & Selkov, E.E., Energy Metabolism of the Cell. A Theoretical Michael David Donnelly (Sequence Treatise, Academic Press, London/NY, 1981). He is also Emeritus Database), Yann Dublanche (Serrano), Florine Professor of at Humboldt University Berlin and con- Dupeux (HTP Crystallization), Eric tinues to lead a project on the genetics of human lipid metabolism Fernandez (Computational Neuro b i o l o g y ) , at Max-Delbrück-Center in Berlin. Jens is also known for his active Stefan Fiedler (Hermes), Frank Gabel (Sattler), participation in the bioethics debate in Germany, where he contin- John Gamble (Apweiler), Charles Girard o t ues to serve on the National Council of Bioethics. Jens will spend (Furlong), Chellappa Gopalakrishnan part of his time at EMBL as a consultant working with scientists in computational biology (Sequence Database), Uta Haselmann-We i fl and other areas. He will also be involved in the Lab’s Science and Society activities. (Antony), Javier Herrero (ENSEMBL), Simon Holton (Wilmanns), Julius Jacobsen (Apweiler), Phil Jones (Zhu), Taner Karalas Reinhard Schneider joined EMBL-Heidelberg as a Team Leader in (Scientific Instruments Maintenance), Jack May. He received his PhD in ’s group at EMBL in 1994. Daniel King-Scott (Tucker), Va s u d e v He continued his research at EMBL until 1997 when he co-founded Kumanduri (Zhu), Ann-Marie Lawre n c e LION bioscience AG in Heidelberg. In 1999 he moved to Boston to (Protein Expression and Purification Facility), set up LION’s US operations and a Center of Excellence for Target Binoy Matthew (Lamzin), Lisa Janet Mullan Finding for the Bayer Corporation. He moved back to Heidelberg in (Thornton), Max Nanao (Cusack), Katarzyna Oktaba Sosin (J. Müller), Aurelien Olichon 2001 to become the Chief Information Officer for LION. After this (Surrey), Thomas Portmann (Treier), Antony management experience, he looks forward to be involved again in Francis Quinn (Zhu), Tim Rayner (Brazma), "hands on" activities. Friedrich Reinhard (Chemical Genomics Core Facility), Catarina Resende (Antony), Gabriella Rustici (Microarray), Ignacio other appointments Enrique Sanchez (Serrano), Francesco Sottile Daniela Jaenicke has joined EMBL-Hamburg as the Administrative Project Officer for ( O I PA), Annett Spanner (Rosenthal), Julia BIOXHIT (see page 4 for more). Willingale-Theune (ELLS), Brendan Vaughan (Lopez), Nisha Vinod (Sequence Database), Hiroki Yoda (Wittbrodt) awards, honours &cetera events Former predoc A n d r e a H e r o l d has received the “P reis der Unterfraenkischen @EMBL Gedenkjahrstiftung” from the Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. The 500 3 July 2004 Euro prize was awarded on May 11 to Andrea in recognition of her thesis work entitled “The EMBL-Heidelberg role of human and Drosophila NXF proteins in nuclear mRNA export.” The Joint Annual EMBL-Staff Association Frank Gannon has been elected a member of the Academia Europaea, a non-governmental Summer Party. Don’t miss it! association, founded in 1988 with the aim of promoting learning, education and research Aug 28 - Sept 1, 2004 across Europe. Frank will be formally inducted into the Academia during a ceremony to be EMBL-Heidelberg held at the Academia’s annual conference in Helsinki in September 2004. 6th EMBL Transcription Meeting Long-time EMBL collaborator (Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, SIB, Geneva) November 22-23, 2004 has been awarded the 2004 Pehr Edman prize. The award, funded by Applied Biosystems, EBI Hinxton Inc., is given to scientists who have made significant contributions to the field of protein Symposium on Alternate Transcript Diversity – chemistry, structural biology and . Amos launched SwissProt, the highest quality Data, Biology, and Therapeutics protein database in the world, which has been run as a collaborative project between EMBL and the SIB for almost two decades. For more events, see www-db.embl.de/jss/EmblGroupsOrg/t_1 a note of thanks Having a jolly good clean out? EMBL postdoc Emmanuel Reynaud would like to thank EMBL staff who helped collect and Anne Walter regularly collects second- send 2,500 kg worth of laboratory equipment to B. Klheminstky University in Cherkasy, hand clothing, shoes, and other items, Ukraine and A. Xhuvany University in Elbasan, Albania. The donation was an initiative like bedding and sleeping bags, for the organized by Adéquation et Développement, a non-governmental agency that aims to help Heidelberg Red Cross. If you’ve got used schools, colleges and universities. Particular thanks go to Fotis Kafatos, Prof. Campbell items that are in good condition and can (FEBS), the Mazurier family, the Szilard Library team, the Purchase Department, Vladimir be put to good use, pack them up neat Benes, Richard Carmouche, David Ibberson, Sophie Chabanis-Davidson, Birgit Schramm, and tidy and leave them in front of the Stores team, Building Maintenance, and the boys who helped lift four palettes right after Anne’s office (V309), or give her a call at a Friday evening beer session... "Everyone gave a bit of time and muscle," says Emmanuel, ext. 8522. "and helped us to make it possible. Merci beaucoup."

EMBL&cetera is published by EMBL’s Office of Information and Public Affairs, Meyerhofstrasse 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, e-mail: [email protected]. Online version available at http://emblorg.embl.de/aboutus/news/publications/newsletter.html. Editor: Sarah Sherwood; Assistant Editor: Trista Dawson; Editorial Advisor: Russ Hodge. Copy editing: Caroline Hadley. Photographic support: EMBL Photolab; Graphics support: Petra Riedinger. Printed on recycled paper by ColorDruck, Leimen.