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Editorial Maria Leptin introduces the Feature Alexander Levitzki describes the Interviews Young Investigators and 50th anniversary year of EMBO. evolution of targeted cancer treatments. Installation Grantees discuss their research, careers and challenges.

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www.embo.org embo 50th anniversary

years of 50achievement

Director’s welcome to the 50th anniversary of EMBO 2014 is the 50th anniversary of EMBO and it is a pleasure to inform you about our plans for celebration.When I became Director in 2010, I was familiar with some of the remarkable work of EMBO since I had served on committees responsible for the membership and publications. Since then, my appreciation has deepened further by working more closely with its community of scientists and staff. We can be proud of what EMBO has achieved. Since 1964, EMBO has created, developed and nurtured a network of some of the best life scientists who have helped to build a successful European research environment.

Over the course of 2014, we have planned activi- available via the timeline on our web site and the growth of a scientific community in Europe. It is ties and events to highlight the many contribu- book will be published by April this year. These the spirit of this community that we hope to cap- tions that EMBO has made to the life sciences. personal accounts comprise engaging informa- ture in our anniversary year. We will be looking back on achievements, reflect- tion about the formative years of molecular biol- I would like to thank everyone who has con- ing on progress, and also taking a look at what ogy and we hope this will be of interest to our tributed to EMBO over the past fifty years. I is in store for our organization. I invite you to wider audience. would also like to thank all the people who have explore our anniversary web pages at www.embo. Three anniversary events are planned in 2014, helped to organize the celebratory activities and org/anniversary that describe the programme of a science and policy meeting which will be held in events that will take place in 2014. events planned for 2014. The web pages include Heidelberg in July, a joint anniversary event with We are already looking forward to the next an interactive anniversary timeline where you FEBS and the French Society of Biochemistry and decades and further scientific achievements. can learn more about EMBO and meet some of Molecular Biology that will take place in Paris Maria Leptin EMBO Director the people who have influenced the organiza- at the end of August and a special membership tion over the years. We will also be keeping you meeting scheduled for October (see Anniversary informed through our anniversary blog (www. events in 2014 for dates and location). embo.org/anniversary/blog). EMBO was founded in 1964 to promote molec- For our anniversary, we have been working ular biology in Europe. Today molecular biology with Georgina Ferry on a collection of interviews pervades all the life sciences, from agriculture with scientists who have witnessed and influ- and medicine to forensics and ecology, and it enced the history of molecular biology and EMBO. continues to be a foundation for essential scien- Selected material from the book will be made tific progress. The EMBO story is really about the

Anniversary events in 2014 EMBO | EMBL The FEBS–EMBO Conference 2014 Anniversary Science and Policy Meeting 2014 EMBO Members’ Meeting 2–3 July 30 August – 4 September 29–31 October EMBL Advanced Training Centre, Palais des Congrès, Paris, France Heidelberg, Germany Heidelberg, Germany

Eric Green explained that even while we have smoking, lack of exercise or a healthy diet – are Public and made enormous progress since 2003 when the much more important risk factors than genes. complete human genome sequence was pub- Wolfram Henn highlighted the application of private health lished, it will take many more years of intense whole genome sequencing to prenatal genetic research until a better understanding of dis- diagnosis, which raises questions about how doc- The contribution of genomics to ease can inform medical practice. Anne-Lise tors and parents handle the knowledge about individual and public health was Børrensen-Dale described how genomics is possible diseases and disease risks even before already benefiting cancer patients. Since cancer a child is born. the topic of the 14th EMBO | EMBL is mainly caused by massive genomic changes, The Public and Private Health conference was Science and Society Conference genome sequencing is already being used to help an ideal opportunity for experts, professionals held at EMBL in Heidelberg last physicians select the most effective treatments for and laypersons to discuss the opportunities of patients. and challenges for genomics research to improve November. More than 200 attendees Estee Török described another healthcare health and wellbeing. and leading experts in the field application of genomics and presented a detec- discussed how knowledge and tive story of how the technology was used to Holger Breithaupt Senior Editor, EMBO reports investigate and deal with an outbreak of methi- technological advances in genomics cillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on could revolutionize health care. a hospital newborn care unit. Translating genomics research into healthcare iselotte Højgaard outlined the societal is not only a scientific and technological quest but challenges in her keynote speech: an age- it also a challenge for society. Jane Kaye reported Ling population, the prevalence of major how the Human Genome Project was a starting diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease point to investigate the ethical, legal and societal or diabetes and increasing costs for health care. implications of genetics. She explained how ini- Genomics has considerable potential to transform tial public concerns have changed over time and medicine, but it will require the involvement of how the social research around genomics itself all stakeholders – patients, researchers, health- has adapted. Bartha Knoppers discussed the care professionals and politicians. issue of sharing and protecting patients’ genomic Jan Korbel, Geneviève Almouzni and Paul and health data in light of international research Flicek highlighted the scientific and technological collaborations. challenges. As cells accumulate mutations over Buddug Cope and Helena Kääriäinen spoke time, not all body cells share the same genome, about the perspectives and expectations of which makes it harder to predict disease risk patients and parents of children with a genetic based on sequencing a few select cells. Moreover, disease. To better help them would require new life and lifestyle leave so-called epigenetic marks– guidelines for clinical counseling but also educat- chemical modifications of DNA and the way it is ing medical staff about how to deal with genet- organised–that probably determine health risks ic information and explain the implications to more than genetic changes. The technological patients. The importance of private genetic and advances themselves have created new prob- health information also makes a strong case for lems: current sequencing technologies generate patient empowerment to include them into dis- as much information within a day as the Human cussions about therapy and lifestyle options. Genome Project did in a decade. It is a major task Timothy Caulfield critically discussed the role to store this exponentially growing amount of of private genetic diagnostics companies and data and translate it into a better understanding the limits of making health predictions based on Personalised medicine was the topic of Buddug Cope of disease. genomic data. He argued that lifestyle – such as

Jan Korbel spoke about human genetic variation in

©EMBL PhotoLab | M. Schupp health and disease ©EMBL PhotoLab | M. Schupp

©2014 EMBO EMBOencounters | Winter 2013 | 2014 | communications@embo.org 3 FOCUS ON RESEARCH IN INDIA Life sciences in India – on the right track The past twenty years have seen tremendous changes in the life science sector in India. New initiatives have helped to build basic science, establish laboratories, set up funding and recruitment programmes for postdoctoral researchers and faculty. India’s challenge now is to improve the flow of funds, to retain or bring back their best brains and to become more competitive internationally.

s in many other fields, India has become 1950s, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Main players a worldwide hub for science and technol- Nehru expanded support of the nation’s institutes The government support for creating new Aogy. It participates in large-scale projects of science and technology. In the sixties, India led research centres, for funding and science infra- such as the International Rice Genome Project, the “green revolution,” which served as the basis structure has been tremendous. “India is much Large Hadron Collider and ITER – one of the big- for its efforts to feed its citizens and which set the better endowed in terms of research support than gest international collaborations to produce elec- stage for economic growth. Traditionally, there is it was twenty years ago,” says VijayRaghavan. tricity from nuclear fusion. Indian government a deep appreciation for learning. Academics who NCBS, where he still has a laboratory, was set spending on research and development (R&D) spend their time in research and teaching are up in 1988 and gave new impetus to the develop- has grown by seven per cent each year between highly valued. ment of modern biology in India. In a partnership 2007 and 2012. By contrast, in Europe it fell by with the UK-based Wellcome Trust, DBT offers 0.5 per cent and in the United States by 2 per The quest for knowledge fellowship schemes to biomedical scientists, cli- cent a year (1). nicians and public health researchers who wish The focus of research in India is traditionally is deeply rooted in India’s to pursue academic research in India. The aim of engineering and IT – sectors that are easy to com- identity as a nation. the schemes is to provide flexible and generous mercialise. The country also hugely invested in funding to allow for internationally competitive nuclear R&D and the national space programme. The life science sector is gaining ground. science. “Astronomers and physicists made excellent Innovative national research centres have been IndiaBioscience (IBS) is another example of cases for investments of large sums of money founded, including five new Indian Institutes an initiative created to help the life science sec- in major intellectual quests that may have col- of Education and Research, nine new Indian tor get out of its niche existence. IBS functions as lateral practical benefits,” says EMBO Associate Institutes of Technology, a new National Institute a catalyst organization to strengthen recruitment, Member VijayRaghavan, who is a professor of Science Education and Research and 28 new networks, collaborations, research-oriented edu- at the National Centre for Biological Sciences Central Universities. Several career-develop- cation and science communication. The initia- (NCBS) in Bangalore and head of the Department ment and recruitment schemes for postdoctoral tive grew out of the annual Young Investigator of Biotechnology (DBT) under the Ministry of researchers have been set up. The rapid growth Meeting that started in 2009. The meeting brings Science and Technology. of India’s economy makes for a dynamic job mar- together India’s best young life science research- ket with many new job openings. New research ers, senior faculty, representatives of grant-fund- Science – a historical effort projects help to understand how the immune sys- ing agencies and science policy makers. The quest for knowledge is deeply rooted in tem works against disease, and how nutrition and EMBO is a regular participant at the annual India’s identity as a nation. The country began brain development are linked. Clinical, agricul- Young Investigator Meeting. The organization has to build a strong foundation in modern science tural and biotechology research is steadily gain- contributed to the life sciences in India in many during the first days of its independence. In the ing momentum. ways. A number of scientific meetings, lecture

The National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), located in Bangalore, is part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. It is one of the oldest research institutes

©Avinash Chinchure, NCBS in the country.

series and keynote lectures were funded by EMBO in recent years. In November 2013, an EMBO– India Young Scientists Networking meeting in Bangalore brought together thirty European and Indian young group leaders to discuss joint collaborations and funding options. Further lectures and a workshop are planned for 2014. The opportunities for doing research are tremendous. Yet there are several challenges. “While our foundations in modern biology are good, we will slip back rapidly if we do not keep pace with the changing world,” warns VijayRaghavan.

How to bring back the best brains? According to EMBO Associate Member Inder M. Verma, professor at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, United States, India has not succeeded in attract- ing its diaspora as effectively as China. Chinese politicians have made it much easier for their ©The Salk Institute ©Arun Kumar K. VijayRaghavan Inder Verma researchers to come back. Their salaries at home are internationally competitive and they receive strong personal support. A critical mass of scientific leaders customs and duties. At every level, a small per- The Indian government needs to make its top The Indian government has just announced more centage of time and quality is lost. Resources per scientists feel they are in the same advantageous than twenty new research centres. Most of them se are often not a problem, yet their distribution position as their colleagues abroad. “Scientists do are lacking scientific leadership. Large grants of is one. not want to take a chance to go back to a system up to millions of dollars are available for people The same is true for other practicalities. India where they are afraid they will not succeed. And who decide to take the helm. Yet there have not does not have proper animal facilities. There I do not blame them, I did not do that myself,” been many takers. The country does not have a has hardly been any development of transgenic says Professor Verma, who left India in 1967 to sufficient number of science leaders who are will- or knock-out mice – an essential component of pursue his scientific career, first in Israel and ing to go to these new places and mentor young modern biology. The country is still suffering then, in 1971, in the United States. Since 1983, faculty. The Indian system of family, close col- from lack of substantial equipment, which else- he has been involved in improving the country’s leagues and of being established in one place is where is taken for granted. basic science infrastructure. He visits India regu- difficult to break. “In the United States, people “These are serious problems and we are all larly and was also one of the founding fathers go where the best science is done. In India, fam- working together to push changes. There is of DBT. ily seems to be the strongest magnet,” explains tremendous enthusiasm here,” summarizes The good news is that this structural problem Verma. VijayRaghavan. “The foundation and very strong is slowly reversing. The younger generation of A huge challenge is institutional support for competence we have in clinical and agricultural scientists is especially eager to return to India. scientists. Decent housing and unlimited access research and in ecology can be brought to basic For a reason: The Wellcome Trust-DBT Indian to the laboratory are required to keep scientists biology in a wonderful way. If we manage to Alliance gives up to 200,000 US dollars per year happy. There is a need for more flexible sup- piece all the components together, great things to outstanding returning scientists to help them port for international travel. The flow of funds can happen.” set up their own laboratories. Other prestigious has to improve. Indian science still suffers from “I think the government is on the right track,” schemes include the Ramalignaswami Re-entry excessive bureaucracy. The purchasing system for adds Inder Verma. “It is tremendous compared to Fellowship also run by DBT. supplies is full of problems created by distance, what used to be twenty years ago. They have a reasonably good idea that basic science is still the fundamental path along which the clinical and translational research will stand. The government has realized that you need to invest a lot initially in order to have a lot of gains much later.”

Reference 1. Source: J. Chakma et al. (2014) New England Journal of Medicine 370: 3 – 6 doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1311068

A passage to India: A group of EMBO Members and EMBO managers visited India in January 2011. The delegation attended the Indian Science Congress in Chennai, where Tim Hunt gave a lecture, and then toured nine academic institutes across India. The visit marked the beginning of EMBO Global Activities in India with the goal to connect researchers from both continents. Left to right: Anne-Marie Glynn, Vivek Malhotra, Maria Leptin,

©Private ©Xxxxx Tim Hunt, MRS Rao, Anuranjan Anand, AN Jayachandra.

The project takes my laboratory in a direction it has been going for a few years. We want to ramp it up now. In the eighties and nineties, my laboratory focused on yeast genetics but we have now moved on to mammalian cells. More recently we started working on mice to better understand the process of cell growth in the context of whole body growth. To find out what happens when this process is not functioning properly, we decided to start working on human tumours. It is a logical conclusion to how my laboratory has been evolving since the eighties.

Were you surprised to hear that your past discovery earned you the Breakthrough Prize? I was very surprised. In fact, it took me a while to believe it.

A declared goal of the prize is “to celebrate scientists and generate excitement about the ©Biozentrum Basel pursuit of science as a career”. Do you believe this will happen? The prize certainly celebrates scientists as indi- Breakthrough research viduals. At least I and the other laureates felt very celebrated. I am sceptical that the prize itself is Michael N. Hall, Professor of Biochemistry at the Biozentrum of the going to encourage a young person to go into sci- University of Basel, is one of the winners of the 2014 Breakthrough ence. You do not go into science to win prizes. But, hopefully the prize will generate excitement Prize in Life Sciences. He received the prize for his discovery of the about science, which will then lead young peo- protein kinase target of rapamycin (TOR) and its role in cell growth ple to pursue a scientific career. We need more control. In the same week in December, Hall’s laboratory was people and funding in science. There are many problems that still need to be solved, for exam- announced as a co-recipient of an 11.2 million Euros Synergy Grant ple, cancer and climate change. Who will solve from the European Research Council (ERC). In an interview with these problems if not scientists? Who will make EMBOencounters, Hall recalls the award ceremony in California and the next technological breakthrough that will lead to something as important and useful as the the highlights of 2013. internet?

What were the factors that made 2013 such a You mentioned that the protein offers a What was the award ceremony like? success? promising target for a wide range of diseases. The gala was a unique experience. It was a glitzy The support from the ERC came after several years Which one would you like to focus on in the Oscar-type ceremony at NASA’s Ames Research of applying to different agencies. We submitted future? Center in California that brought together very the project a number of times before finally suc- For us it is clearly cancer. We do some research different types of people. A genuine mix of ceeding. We learned from our failures. For exam- that relates to obesity and diabetes, but the main Hollywood celebrities, Silicon Valley bigshots and ple, initially we underestimated the importance focus is going to be liver cancer. This is the focus scientists. Movie stars and scientists do not often of pathology. By the time the successful applica- of the 11 million Euro Synergy grant that Niko have the chance to mix. Yet everybody seemed tion rolled around, we had proof of concept. It Beerenwinkel, Gerhard Christofori, Markus Heim to enjoy each other’s company and have a good also took time to recruit patients with hepatocel- and I just received. time. lular carcinoma for the study. With regard to the prize, I suppose the story had matured to a point How will the Synergy Grant change your How are you going to use the money? where the significance of the original discovery research and your set-up? I am not exactly sure yet, but I probably will not was clear. It will help me expand my basic research into use it for my research. However, I would like translational research areas and increase my to give back to science, most likely by helping What makes the TOR protein so special? It has team by a few people. Our laboratory received young scientists. kept your research going for more than two the grant together with colleagues in the decades. Department of Biomedicine of the University of You were born in Puerto Rico, grew up in South TOR is a highly conserved protein that controls Basel and the Department of Biosystems Science America and have lived in Switzerland for the fundamentally important processes of growth and Engineering at the ETH Zurich to explore almost thirty years. Are you planning to move and aging. It is found in all eukaryotes – all the how tumours become resistant to targeted ther- continents again? way from yeast to humans, including flies, plants apies. It is a translational project that takes us I feel very lucky that I ended up in Basel, and and worms. TOR is a validated drug target, impli- into the operating room. In fact, I have visited the in particular at the Biozentrum. It is a scientific cated in several diseases such as diabetes, cardio- operating room to see how the tumour samples paradise. And I am still happy here and do not vascular disease and cancer. As a result, several are collected. This helped me to understand that plan to move. In addition to my American citi- communities are interested in TOR – the pharma- there are people behind our research – something zenship I am a Swiss citizen now. I could how- ceutical industry, clinical researchers and basic I knew of course but did not fully appreciate. It ever go back to the United States once I retire as scientists. The positive side is that we have an makes a huge difference for someone who started my mandatory retirement approaches here. I like immediate audience for whatever we do. The out as a yeast geneticist. being a scientist and I do not see myself stopping, downside is that it is extremely competitive. at least not yet.

This results in tumour-specific internalization of inhibitors in 1997. After developing a number of From targeted large amounts of PolyIC. The internalized PolyIC generations of such inhibitors, we came across a activates several signaling pathways, including family of tyrphostins that act as allosteric kinase to multitargeted protein kinase R and other double-stranded RNA- inhibitors of these receptors,” says Levitzki. An dependent factors, leading to cell death. In addi- unexpected property of this particular family of cancer tion, PolyIC induces a “bystander effect,” due to novel tyrphostins, which include NT157, was the production of interferon-alpha, interferon- the ability to induce the irreversible proteolytic beta and cytokines that recruit immune cells, such destruction of Irs1 and Irs2, the signal transduc- treatments as NK and T cells. These immune cells attack all ers of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor. This of the tumour cells, including cells that do not results in dramatic anti-tumour effects in experi- MBO Member Alexander Levitzki, Professor overexpress EGFR (Figure 1). Thus, the internal- mental animals harboring prostate cancer, ovar- of Biochemistry at the Hebrew University ized PolyIC induces the rapid demise of the tar- ian cancer or metastatic melanoma (3). Recently, Eof Jerusalem, Israel, pioneered the gen- geted cell as well as neighboring tumour cells, but B-Raf inhibitors have been hailed as effective eration of tyrosine phosphorylation inhibitors spares the more robust non-tumour cells. Indeed, therapy against metastatic melanoma, but resist- (tyrphostins) in the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. this vector led to the complete regression of dis- ance develops rapidly. NT157 is effective even Work in his group focused on the development seminated EGFR-overexpressing tumours in mice against tumours that carry B-Raf activating muta- of “tyrphostins”, or “tyrosine kinase inhibitors” (1). “This new strategy tackles an important defi- tions that are resistant to Vemurafenib (Zelboraf). (TKI), directed against epidermal growth factor ciency of targeted therapy, namely its inability “Our laboratory is currently developing strategies receptor (EGFR), Her-2, Bcr-Abl, Jak-2, vascular to contend with the heterogeneity of malignant to induce the irreversible destruction of other endothelial growth factor receptor 2 and platelet- tumours,” says Levitzki. signaling molecules, such as mutated K-Ras,” derived growth factor receptor. These findings The vector for delivery of PolyIC consists of adds Levitzki. The focus of Levitzki’s laboratory led to the development of 15 tyrosine kinase polyethyleneimine-polyethyleneglycol–ligand, is finding ways to target specific tumour markers, inhibitors that are currently used in cancer ther- where the ligand can be epidermal growth factor, while invoking a holistic anti-tumour response. apy. Dramatic effects have been achieved in the as in the initial experiments, or any other suit- treatment of early chronic myelogenous leukemia able ligand. “In our most recent studies, we have References with Gleevec. Nevertheless, despite the increas- replaced the homing epidermal growth factor 1. Shir A, Ogris M, Roedl W, Wagner E, Levitzki A (2011) ing use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in the clinic, moiety by a ligand that zeros in on Her‑2, destroy- EGFR-homing dsRNA activates cancer-targeted immune response and eliminates disseminated EGFR- their performance has been modest against solid ing Her‑2 overexpressing breast cancer cells (2), overexpressing tumors in mice. tumours. even ones that are resistant to Trastuzumab Clinical Cancer Research 17(5): 1033–1043. Most targeted therapies are aimed at one criti- (Herceptin).” Similar vectors have been generated 2. Zigler M, Shir A, Levitzki A (2014) Her-2 homing PolyIC cal oncogenic marker, so it is easy for tumours to target metastatic prostate cancer using a vec- inhibits breast cancer overexpressing Her-2. to develop resistance, especially as tumours are tor targeting prostate surface membrane antigen Submitted. constantly evolving. “We sought strategies that (PSMA), and metastatic melanoma using a vector 3. Reuveni H, Flashner-Abramson E, Steiner L, Makedonski K, would hit tumours at many targets, since malig- targeting protease activated receptor 1 (Par1). Song R, Shir A, Herlyn M, Bar-Eli M, Levitzki A (2013) nant tumours exhibit ever-changing heterogene- Another approach to enhance targeted therapy Therapeutic destruction of insulin receptor substrates for ity,” says Levitzki. “We began with tumours that was discovered by serendipity. “We began look- cancer treatment. overexpress EGFR, which is currently targeted ing for insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor kinase Cancer Research 73(14): 4383–4394. in the clinic by the tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Gefitinib, Erlotinib, Lapatinib and by two antibod- ies, Cetuximab and Panitumumab. These targeted ▸ pIC/PP-ligand Further activation

agents exhibit weak efficacies against tumours ▸ Proliferation

that overexpress EGFR.” In these tumours, ▸ IFNγ

although EGFR is overexpressed, it apparently is ▸ IL

not an essential survival factor. Therefore, in the ▸ Others clinic, only a small subset of EGFR-overexpressing ▸ IFNγ

tumours responds to EGFR inhibition, and these ▸ TNFα

tumours often acquire resistance rapidly. ▸ FasL “We have converted the overexpression of pIC EGFR, rather than its activity, into the Achilles heel of the tumour,” says Levitzki. This was IFNα/β ▸ achieved by using the EGFR as an entry point Gro-α ▸ into the tumour. Levitzki’s group uses an EGFR- IP ▸ targeting vector to specifically deliver synthetic CCL ▸ double-stranded RNA, PolyInosine-PolyCytosine (PolyIC), into tumours that overexpress the EGFR. Immune cells Cancer T cells Macrophages

cell Neighboring Fig. 1 | The multitargeting of long chain dsRNA ▸ NK cells cancer cells IFNγ

Upon internalization of long chain dsRNA a number of ▸ TNFα

signaling proteins are activated: dsRNA dependent protein IFNα/β ▸ ▸ FasL kinase, PKR, TLR-3 , RIG-1 and MDA-5, leading to the inhibition of protein translation, activation of caspase-3, the secretion of type-I interferons and pro-inflammatory cytokines. These events acting in concert, lead to the demise of the targeted tumor cell but also of its neighboring tumor ©Concept A. by Levitzki cells, saving the more robust neighboring normal cells.

©2014 EMBO EMBOencounters | Winter 2013 | 2014 | communications@embo.org 7 news from the embo community Meet the scientist EMBO Young Investigators & Installation Grantees ©Photolab EMBL | M. Schupp ©University of Warsaw Ido Amit Joanna Sulkowska 2013 EMBO Young Investigator | Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel 2013 EMBO Installation Grantee | University of Warsaw, Poland

My career. Growing up in an Israeli kibbutz affected my thinking. The sur- Key career experience. Two important steps determined my scientific career. rounding diversity of biological processes started to fascinate me early on. The first one was a masters project at the VU University Amsterdam in the As a PhD student, I took on research in growth factor receptors, specifi- group of Christoph F. Schmidt. It was amazing to be part of this group, to lis- cally those involved in cancer. At that time, systems biology took off at ten to their endless discussions and arguments about science and to perform Weizmann. I started to integrate classical biochemistry and the physiologi- experiments. My time there convinced me to become a scientist. cal understanding of tumours into the new approach that came from physics. Another one was my postdoctoral experience at the University of It was exactly what I dreamed of: using an engineering approach to under- California, San Diego, in the group of José Onuchic. This was a perfect stand how systems and networks work. environment to learn how important it is to look at a problem from many I was very fortunate to work with leaders in growth factor signalling perspectives such as theoretical physics, mathematics or biology. such as Yosef Yarden and systems biology pioneers such as Uri Alon who Since that time, knotted proteins have been in the center of my scientific came to Weizmann at that time. For me, this really was an eye-opener. interest. I started to work on them six years ago and they keep surprising In 2007, I moved on to do postdoctoral research at the Broad Institute me. They are very special and cannot be directly compared to other proteins, in the United States. This centre was leading in high-throughput biology knotted DNA or polymers. I like working on things that challenge me all and genomic infrastructure to measure functional genomics. I tried to move the time. away from cancer, which is a very complex problem because of its huge heterogeneity and genome instability. I stayed in Massachusetts for four years Coming back to Poland. When leaving Poland in 2008, I did not see many and then came back to the Weizmann Institute. young group leaders around me. Poland always had some amazing scien- I never had any doubts about my scientific career. From day one I had a tists who inspired me, however not too many new laboratories. Therefore I clear idea about how to tie biology into a bigger, systemic field. was not sure if I could establish my independent group and be accepted by the community. However, my uncertainty was not necessary. Recent research. Our lab studies how chromatin regulation and transcrip- I found Poland very open for young scientists returning from abroad. tion factor networks affect haematopoiesis and immune responses. We want The Polish Foundation of Science strongly supports young scientists with to understand the principles of the genome regulatory sequence and how training and grants. I learned how to make a science business plan and how it functions to shape development and homeostasis in our body, in both to apply for bigger grants to establish my independent group. normal physiology and disease. Whilst all cells in our body have the same genome, different cells in our body have different functions. Understanding Recent research. My research concentrates on the free energy landscape the regulatory sequences in the genome and how they are activated during of proteins from the perspective of folding and mechanical unfolding. development is an open and critical question we are very excited about. Recently, I have been using physical, chemical and mathematical methods to understand new types of protein topology, which involves knots. It is not Networking. Each laboratory is like an island. Only if we connect these yet understood what is the function of knots in proteins. In the past, my islands by networking or interdisciplinary work, will we be able to boost research focused on how knotted globular proteins can fold. Now I would our research. like to concentrate on their functions and also explore them experimentally. We are running into problems on a weekly and sometimes even daily Knotted proteins are involved in diseases such as Parkinson’s or AIDS. basis. Being part of the EMBO network makes you feel like you are not alone. EMBO Installation Grant. I will use the funds from EMBO to hire students, buy computers, and for collaboration with experimental laboratories. I What drives me. I think the most important thing is to enjoy and believe in would like to learn how to perform experiments in my own laboratory in what you are doing. There is a lot of hardship along the way but if you work the future. So far, knotted topology could only be detected in computer with passion it becomes contagious and eventually you and your team can simulations, however my goal is to design experimental techniques, which overcome these stumbling blocks and get to where you want to be. will enable to detect knots in vitro.

8 EMBOencounters | Winter 2013 | 2014 | communications@embo.org ©2014 EMBO news from the embo community Meet the scientist EMBO Young Investigators & Installation Grantees ©University of Groningen ©Gulbenkian Institute of Science Jan-Willem Veening Raquel Oliveira 2013 EMBO Young Investigator | University of Groningen, Netherlands 2013 EMBO Young Investigator | Gulbenkian Institute of Science, Portugal

Recent research. In 2009, I established my own research and teaching Turning point in my career. Deciding to move to the University of Oxford group in the Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute and to work in Kim Nasmyth’s laboratory. For my PhD degree I worked at the University of Groningen. My laboratory studies chromosome segrega- on Drosophila and very much focused on mitosis and chromosome organi- tion, mechanisms of antibiotic tolerance, and noise in gene expression in sation. So my plan was to go to a hard-core Drosophila lab. I continued Streptococcus pneumoniae. research on fruit fly during my postdoctoral research. However the focus of Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the main human pathogens killing Kim’s laboratory is yeast. nearly one million children each year. My lab uses molecular genetics and It was a privilege to be part of Kim’s team. The set-up in his laboratory single cell analysis to study fundamental aspects of its biology such as cell was different than in other places. Usually, people have different biological division and chromosome segregation. Another goal is to find out why and questions and use the same kind of techniques in model organisms. In his how it switches from a commensal to a pathogen. laboratory, almost everyone is focussed on the problem of sister chromatid cohesion, but they look at it from different angles, using completely differ- Changing directions. I was originally trained to work with the model bac- ent approaches. terium Bacillus subtilis. I continued working with Bacillus during my postdoctoral research, but I was always interested in Streptococcus pneumonia, Influence as group leader.In Oxford, I was constantly confronted with many since this is the organism that was instrumental in showing that DNA is the different types of research: From hard-core biochemistry to cell biology and carrier of genetic information. This little organism set the stage for modern organism-related questions. It was a big learning period. molecular genetics. At the Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology (CBCB) I got the My time spent there hugely shaped the way I developed my scientific opportunity to set-up the first cell biological tools for S. pneumoniae and approach. Kim is well known for having a question-based approach and for now my whole research is focused on this amazing bacterium. developing new methods to do the best-controlled experiments in the clean- est way possible. This is something I inherited from him. Turning point in my career. My postdoctoral research at the Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology (CBCB) in Newcastle was certainly a major turn- Challenges in setting up my own group. The biggest one is to attract very ing point. Coming from a teaching oriented university where most of the good postdocs. Usually, young group leaders are quite attractive for PhD research is performed by master and graduate students to an institute main- students, who like the advantage of a small group. But postdocs are fre- ly run by top post-docs striving for big papers was really stimulating. Now quently looking for more established laboratories. Another one is to adapt I try to combine the best of both worlds: excellent research with excellent to a new working-style. Combining the paperwork and grant writing with students. working at the bench is not easy. At the moment I spend less than half of my time at the bench and I need to change this. Becoming a group leader. The biggest challenge for me as a group leader was to adjust to the fact that I am not doing the experiments myself any- Advice to new group leaders. To thoroughly think about what is the main more. I had to learn to give the responsibility to my students and postdoc- question you want to pursue in your own lab and what are your unique toral researchers. Now it is my favourite part of the job – to discuss results selling points. Having a clear idea about these things is very important for and help thinking about the experiments. writing grants, applying for jobs and for additional funds. Another piece of advice would be to gain more experience in guiding other people during Selection as EMBO Young Investigator. To be part of a network with some of your postdoctoral research. Also to learn how to write grants. It boosts your the best scientists in Europe is fantastic and will open new doors for collab- confidence when you master these skills from the beginning. orations and funding possibilities. The recognition and exposure might also motivate new students and post-docs to join my team. Also, the extra funding and access to EMBO and EMBL courses and facilities will be very useful.

©2014 EMBO EMBOencounters | Winter 2013 | 2014 | communications@embo.org 9 NEWS EMBO Press launches More than 230 guests attended the launch of EMBO Press held concurrently with the American Society of Cell Biology meeting on 15 December 2013. The event took place at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas overlooking the Mississippi.

e are proud to announce EMBO Press written record of a research project with illustra- speakers addressed concerns about peer review to such a wonderful crowd of people,” tions to a fully fledged research tool without los- and research assessment from the perspective of Wsaid Bernd Pulverer, Head of Scientific ing sight of accessibility to our broad readership. funders, institutions, journals, and scientists. Publications at EMBO, speaking at the launch The four EMBO Press journals will achieve wider Bernd Pulverer also took part in a panel dis- event. “EMBO Press affords us the independence global reach through collaboration with our pub- cussion on DORA, the San Francisco Declaration to lead in implementing innovations to ensure lishing partners HighWire Press and Wiley.” on Research Assessment, which has attracted that journals continue to aid scientists and to Also at the American Society of Cell Biology, more than 10,500 signatures, including 437 encourage scientific research. The striking new EMBO Director Maria Leptin chaired a panel organizations, across all the sciences. The dec- designs of the four scientific journals on the plat- discussion focused on whether peer review is laration highlights the problem of using journal- form, with new functionality and forward-look- under threat. The panel included contributions based metrics as a proxy for quality in the assess- ing policies, should speak for themselves,” he from Bruce Alberts, Professor Emeritus in the ment of individual scientists, highlighting that added. “EMBO Press is founded on the themes of Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics all the stakeholders – journals, funders, research transparency and accountability of the editorial at the University of California, San Francisco, institutions and, importantly, researchers – have process and on innovation to allow us to publish Anthony Hyman, Research Group Leader and to work together to bring about change. high quality research in a way that is more acces- Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular More than 5000 people attended the American sible and useful. We hope to contribute to a reli- Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany, Society of Cell Biology meeting from 50 countries. able, quality literature and to encourage others to Jon Lorsch, Director of the National Institute of share in this vision.” General Medical Sciences, Emilie Marcus, Chief The new EMBO Press platform is online at EMBO Press went public online early in the Executive Officer of Cell Press, and Melina embopress.org New Year. The new publishing platform delivers Schuh, Group Leader at the MRC Laboratory of enhanced functionality, an innovative design, as Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. The well as constructive editorial policies, processes and quality standards across the four EMBO publications. “It is one of our goals to add maximal value to published research through the optimized presentation of research data and to provide a more flexible and cus- tomizable interface to allow the reader to drill down as deep into a paper as they see fit,” added Pulverer. “It is our aim to transform the research paper from a

Life Science Network Three EMBL alumni have launched an interactive Our offering is a web platform designed to bring share, maybe you want to promote an event, or science portal. The Life Science Network together the life science community and stimu- tackle an elusive question. There is something for (www.lifescience.net) is an internet platform for late a culture of sharing and openness,” says Alen everyone.” professional networking and sharing knowledge Piljic, one of the original founders of the non- So far, more than 400 institutions and compa- in the life sciences. profit organization behind the project. “We saw nies are listed in the network and over 2000 sci- the need for a new service that would be both entists have signed up for an account. “We look www.lifescience.net informative and useful for the everyday activities forward to welcoming new members and the con- of scientists.” tent they contribute. The Life Science Network is What started as an extensive directory of a community-driven project. Should it generate life science infrastructure, including universi- profits, those funds will be used to support our ties, institutes and companies, and their inter- members and their research,” concludes Piljic. nal organizational structures, now includes six EMBO has made available information on its different modules integrated into a single web upcoming Courses & Workshops for the portal. application. Aleksander Benjak and Vibor Laketa are “Each module was developed to address a par- cofounders of the Life Science Network. The ticular problem. For instance, the publications Google Grants programme for non-profit organi- module includes post-publication review features. zations has provided support for the project. The jobs module allows you to post a job opening, All inquires related to the Life Science Network receive applications and directly evaluate them, initiative should be sent to: [email protected] making the recruitment process more efficient,” says Piljic. “If you have no scientific protocols to

industry and academic partners on a wide range Seeds to sow in a slow economy of projects and create a pathway to new indus- tries with employment opportunities for talent- A group of researchers, including EMBO Members Kenneth Timmis and ed young scientists,” says Timmis. “I urge like- Victor de Lorenzo, recently put forward a proposal to revive innovation- minded EMBO Members, particularly those of based economies in Southern European countries. The plan centres on the Southern Europe, to bring the initiative to the attention of influential national and European discovery and exploitation of new chemicals obtained from the biological stakeholders whom they know.” diversity of countries in the region. Pipelines for New Chemicals: a strategy he global economy of Europe has suf- is an initial investment that would in time bring to create new value chains and stimulate fered in recent years, in particular in bigger returns in employment and social and eco- innovation-based economic revival in Southern Tcountries in Southern Europe. The prob- nomic prosperity.” European countries. lems may well be long lasting due to catastroph- The proposed network would rely principally Kenneth Timmis, Victor de Lorenzo, ic constraints on employment, especially for upon existing academic research and infrastruc- Willy Verstraete et al. (2013) younger qualified people. In a recent paper in ture but would also require the creation of new Environmental Microbiology 16(1), 9–18 Environmental Microbiology, Kenneth Timmis core centres and national networks of laborato- doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.12337 and colleagues argue for the creation of transna- ries. The core centres would be self sufficient tional partnerships that would foster the discov- and charged with initial proof of concept studies ery and synthesis of new chemicals for medicines, as well as potential technology transfer as ideas agrochemicals, materials and other products and reach maturation. The proposal described in the applications. paper calls for a Euro 120 million investment over “Europe has incredible unused resources for the course of ten years to support infrastructure, new biological diversity that could be used as a staff and equipment. starting point for the discovery and development “A key feature of the Pipelines for New of new chemicals. Much of this natural wealth Chemicals Initiative is to create networks of cell resides in the countries of Southern Europe and, and molecular biologists to convert new discover- if correctly used, could generate significant eco- ies in cell biology into new screens for agonists- nomic returns,” says Timmis, Professor at the antagonists, without diverting people from their Institute of Microbiology, Technical University primary research objectives. The Pipelines for Kenneth Timmis of Braunschweig, in Germany. “What is needed New Chemicals Initiative would bring together ©TU Braunschweig

Book review

Brave Genius “This book was an extraordinary adventure for me, as I was given all sorts of previously unknown and ean B. Carroll has published a new popu- unpublished materials by many peo- lar science book entitled Brave Genius. The ple who were close to Monod. That Sbook, which describes the little known trust allowed me to tell the story of friendship between the scientist Jacques Monod two remarkable individuals, who each and philosopher Albert Camus, chronicles the in their own way shaped the course of bravery of both men during the occupation of modern literature and science,” says France in the Second World War, their opposition Carroll. to Stalin and communism, and traces their differ- Brave Genius takes the reader on a ent paths towards their respective Nobel Prizes. journey from the early days of the Second Carroll’s book is the unexpected story of the World War, through the development personal relationship between French philoso- of their friendship in post-war Paris, to pher Albert Camus and Jacques Monod, a friend- the announcements of their Nobel Prize- ship that developed over a 12-year period after winning achievements. “Both men were the end of the Second World War. The relation- exquisite writers and it was fascinating ship was built on a deep mutual respect for sci- to explore what drew Monod and Camus ence and philosophy and the need to formulate together,” says Carroll. Top: and express a clear moral direction at a highly The book unearths some of the extraor- Jacques Monod’s unsettled time in world history. dinary risks both men took to protect their identity card for the French Forces of the “I am a lifetime Second World War buff, and home country from the ravages of an occu- Interior, in his nom once a serious student of French literature,” pying army, Monod as an officer in the de guerre “Malivert” says Carroll, an internationally known scien- French Resistance and Camus as the editor of (Courtesy of Sean tist and educator who heads the Department of a leading underground newspaper. Carroll’s Carroll and Olivier Monod). Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical book also includes a description of the repres- Institute. “That, and my instant attraction to sive years in Russian-occupied Hungary and Left: Monod and Jacob’s pioneering work on bacte- includes an account from EMBO Member Agnes Book cover rial gene regulation, was the accidental prepara- Ullmann about her escape from her home coun- tion for researching and writing this book,” he try, an initiative that was directly orchestrated by explained. Monod and others.

iBiology.org is a new website featuring free, open-access videos by world-renowned scientists describing their work or sharing personal stories.

n the video series, some of the world’s lead- ©Eric | iBiology.org Kornblum ing life scientists describe their ongoing Iresearch. Intended audiences include under- Bruce Alberts (left), former graduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fel- Editor-in-Chief of Science lows, and teachers who have access to a useful Magazine, and 2013 Nobel Laureate Randy Scheckman tool to learn about a specific subject and to find giving lectures in the video room out how leading scientists go about their research. Topics range from cell biology to neuroscience and human health. Currently more than 140 of the talks have English subtitles and more than 40 have Spanish subtitles. The goal of iBiology. Relaunched in October 2013, the site now fea- webinars with famous scientists. Recently, Bruce org is to develop partnerships with graduate stu- tures new content under the iBioEducation sec- Alberts answered questions from the audience dents, postdoctoral fellows and educators around tion. Educators can also choose from a library of about the Future Challenges for Science and the world and to disseminate materials to them to hundreds of short videos to use in their courses. It Science Education. In March, Keith Yamamoto make science accessible to all. offers microscopy course materials including lec- will continue the discussion on the biomedical Originally launched as iBioSeminars in 2007 tures on High Throughput Microscopy by EMBL workforce, including the future of postdoctoral (see also EMBOencounters issue 17), the videos scientist Jan Ellenberg or topics like cellular training, which was started by Gregory Petsko in include full-length scientific seminars by sci- membranes by Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman. December. To find out more about iBiology’s live entists such as Max Planck Institute’s Anthony The section Famous Discoveries introduc- Q&A events, visit: ibiology.org/hangout-with-a- Hyman, Alfred Wittinghofer or Kai Simons. A es students to the primary scientific literature. scientist.html. companion series called iBioMagazine offers These videos feature scientists giving personal For more information, contact Laurence Clement short talks on topics such as the importance of accounts of their own discoveries. Nobel Laureate at [email protected] learning from failure by former Science Magazine Elizabeth Blackburn discusses telomerase and Editor-in-Chief Bruce Alberts, on how to give a Martin Chalfie talks about his discovery of green good talk by Stanford scientist Susan McConnell, fluorescent protein. or the process of developing animations for cell Since November 2013, iBiology has organ- biology by Janet Iwasa. ized several live Question and Answer (Q&A)

Translating Diabetes Molecular Machines The Complex Life Lessons from Integrating Structure, of mRNA 2014 Biophysics and Chemistry

EMBO|EMBL ORGANISERS J. Brüning, S. Herzig, M. Tschöp ORGANISERS T. Carlomagno, J. Chin, J. Puglisi ORGANISERS A. Ephrussi, N. Sonenberg, Symposia J. A. Steitz, D. Tollervey 30 April – 3 May 2014 18–21 May 2014 5–8 October 2014 Tumour Microenvironment Epithelia Frontiers in Metabolism The Building Blocks of Multicellularity From Molecular Physiology to Systems and Signalling Medicine

ORGANISERS A. J. Berns, P. P. Pandolfi, B. Pauly ORGANISERS H. Clevers, E. Fuchs ORGANISERS J. Auwerx, S. Dimmeler, T. Lemberger, V. Mootha 7–10 May 2014 27–30 August 2014 17–20 November 2014

12 EMBOencounters | Winter 2013 | 2014 | communications@embo.org ©2014 EMBO EMBO SCIENCE POLICY EMBO Science Policy Established in 2011, Science Policy is the most recent programme at EMBO. Its goal is to provide informed analyses to policymakers and other policy leaders, research administrators and scientists for use in their decision-making processes.

iotechnology, research integrity, and scientific publishing are the most important Bissues on the agenda. “We deal with topics that are important to the EMBO membership,” says programme manager Michele Garfinkel. The focus is on the governance of new technologies for advancing science and what the implications of these are for scientists and for the public. Garfinkel works with the assistance of Sandra Bendiscioli, who previously contributed to the ©EMBL M. Schupp PhotoLab | Photos by EMBO Science & Society Programme. “Our task Working hand in hand: Sandra Bendiscioli (left); programme manager Michele Garfinkel (right) is to identify the gaps in science and policy with respect to the development and use of new technologies, and to provide informed analyses as to Recently, Garfinkel and Bendiscioli received Part of Garfinkel’s current role is frequent trav- how to fill those gaps.” a second grant from the European Science el to present the prepared reports, participate in Identifying experts, organising workshops, Foundation to conduct a case study on Personal European policy making processes and give talks. providing reports – this is a typical sequence of identifiable human genome sequencing in She was a speaker at the 3rd World Conference work. “We are very analytical in our approach,” research. on Research Integrity in Montreal, Canada, last says Garfinkel. As simple solutions to complex The interdisciplinary group will evaluate the year. In Brussels she frequently attends meetings problems are rare, the programme operates on current situation and explore scientific and poli- of committees and science policy groups. In this a longer timescale involving requests for opin- cy options for the distribution of metadata along setting she learns about the views of European ions from the EMBO community, and the evalua- with the genetic data, and possible consequences. political and policy bodies and provides them tion of a wide spectrum of inputs. “I am a policy Jointly with Gerlind Wallon, manager of the with information and knowledge generated by geek,” adds Garfinkel who prior to joining EMBO Women in Science activities, the programme the EMBO community and the Policy Programme. worked as policy analyst at the J Craig Venter has also received a grant from the Robert Bosch “Our success in applying for grants and accept- Institute in Maryland, United States. Foundation for a project called Exploring Quotas. ance within the European policy community is The topics are diverse. National and European Its goal is to produce a series of options for poli- recognition for our approaches to policy prob- policy processes concerning the environmen- cymakers who are considering the use of gender lems and the high quality of our work,” says tal release of synthesized microorganisms were quotas. A closed workshop in May 2014 will help Garfinkel. A personal award followed recently: in focus at a workshop held in Heidelberg in work out the benefits and problems arising from For her work on the societal impact of molecular November 2012. Scientists, sociologists and the use of such quotas. biology, synthetic biology and human genomics, policy practitioners including a representa- EMBO was one of the few European organiza- Garfinkel was elected a AAAS Fellow in 2013. tive from the European Commission attended tions involved in the development of an online www.embo.org/science-policy the workshop. Its results were summarised in training course on research integrity. The tool the report Biological containment of synthetic is available to the entire EMBO community, its microorganisms (www.embo.org/science-policy/ Members, Fellows and Young Investigators. reports-publications).

Upcoming deadlines Editorial Next issue EMBOencounters EMBO Courses and Workshops FEBS | EMBO Managing Editor 1 March 2014 Conference: Barry Whyte The next EMBOencounters issue – Summer 2014 – EMBO | EMBL Symposia Application deadline for bursaries Editor will be dispatched in 1 March 7 April Yvonne Kaul July 2014. EMBO Keynote Lectures Abstracts submission closing Print layout 1 March | 1 June 1 May Uta Mackensen Please send your suggestions, contributions and news, to EMBO Young Investigators End of early registrations Web version communications@embo.org 1 April 12 May Aditya Kusuma Jati by 12 May 2014. EMBO Installation Grantees E-newsletter 15 April Sandra Krahl, Katja Linssen

Practical Courses Workshops Conferences ESF | EMBO Symposia Advanced optical microscopy Stalked alpha-Proteobacteria and Human evolution in the genomic era: Cell polarity and membrane UK-Plymouth, 2–12 April relatives: From genes to structure Origins, populations and phenotypes trafficking DE-Ebsdorfergrund, 30 March–3 April UK-Leicester, 1–4 April PL-Pułtusk, 10–15 May Computational biology: Genomes to systems Recoding: Reprogramming genetic Telomeres, telomerase and disease Biology of plastids: Towards a CL-Puerto Varas, 3–9 April decoding BE-Brussels, 30 April–4 May blueprint for synthetic organelles IE-Killarney, 13–18 May PL-Pułtusk, 21–26 June 2014 Computational structural biology Molecular biology of muscle UK-Hinxton, 7–11 April Glycobiology and glycochemistry: development and regeneration Synthetic biology of antibiotic Applications to human health and IT-Acaya (Lecce), 14–18 May production Computational molecular evolution disease ES-Sant Feliu de Guixols, GR-Heraklion, 5–14 May PT-Lisbon, 24–28 May Lymphocyte signalling 30 August–4 September IT-Bertinoro, 17–21 May Bioinformatics and genomes analyses Magnetic resonance for cellular Long regulatory RNAs GR-Athens, 5–17 May structural biology Cellular signalling and cancer therapy PL-Pułtusk, 13–18 September IT-Principina Terra (Grosseto), 1–6 June HR-Cavtat, 23–27 May The structural characterization of Flies, worms and robots: Combining macromolecular complexes Histone variants Microtubules: Structure, regulation perspectives on minibrains and FR-Grenoble, 2–7 June FR-Strasbourg, 2–4 June and functions behaviour DE-Heidelberg, 28–31 May Non-coding RNAs: From discovery to ES-Sant Feliu de Guixols, Cellular imaging of lipids 8–13 November function IT-Vico Equense, 2–6 June Enzyme mechanisms by biological IE-Galway, 7–13 June systems Simultaneous profiling of RNA and UK-Manchester, 1–4 June Molecular genetics with fission yeast protein using proximity ligation assay EMBO | EMBL Symposia FR-Paris, 30 June–11 July UK-Chelmsford, 7 July Gene transcription in yeast: From regulatory networks to mechanisms Translating diabetes 3D Developmental imaging Intercellular communication in plant ES-Sant Feliu de Guixols, 14–19 June DE-Heidelberg, 30 April–3 May PT-Oeiras, 4–12 July development and disease Tumour microenvironment and FR-Bischoffsheim, 24–29 August The molecular and developmental Correlative light electron microscopy biology of Drosophila signalling UK-Bristol, 6–11 July The regulation of aging and GR-Kolymbari, 22–28 June DE-Heidelberg, 7–10 May Solution and solid-state NMR of proteostasis Molecular machines: Lessons from IL-Ma’ale Hachamisha, 7–12 September Microbiology after the genomics paramagnetic molecules revolution (Genomes 2014) integrating structure, biophysics and IT-Sesto Fiorentino, 13–19 July Advances in protein–protein FR-Paris, 24–27 June chemistry DE-Heidelberg, 18–21 May Biomolecular simulation interaction analysis and modulation FR-Hyères, 9–12 September Viruses of microbes: Structure FR-Paris, 20–27 July and function, from molecules to Epithelia: The building blocks of Current advances in membrane communities multicellularity Genotype to phenotype mapping of DE-Heidelberg, 27–30 August complex traits trafficking: Implications for polarity CH-Zurich, 14–18 July and diseases UK-Hinxton, 28 July–1 August Chemical biology The complex life of mRNA CL-Puerto Natales, 9–14 September DE-Heidelberg, 5–8 October 2014 Multidimensional NMR in structural DE-Heidelberg, 20–23 August biology Unraveling biological secrets by Frontiers in metabolism: From single-cell expression profiling Brain development and disorders DE-Joachimsthal, 10–15 August FR-La Ciotat, 5–8 September molecular physiology to systems DE-Heidelberg, 25–26 September medicine Light sheet microscopy The molecular and cellular basis of DE-Heidelberg, 17–20 November DE-Dresden, 18–29 August Decoding neural circuit structure and function regeneration and tissue repair Cryo-electron microscopy and 3D TR-Istanbul, 26–28 September ES-Sant Feliu de Guixols, image processing 6–10 September EMBO | FEBS DE-Heidelberg, 31 August–9 September Development and regeneration of the Lecture Courses spinal cord Interdisciplinary plant development Ubiquitin and related modifiers ES-Sitges, 1–4 October UK-Cambridge, 21–24 September Biophysics of channels and IT-Alghero, 6–13 September Innate lymphoid cells transporters Cancer stem cells 20 years later: IT-Erice, 11–17 May Protein expression, purification, and Achievements, controversies, FR-Paris, 29 September–1 October characterization (PEPC9) emerging concepts and technologies Centrosomes and spindle pole bodies Nuclear proteomics DE-Hamburg, 8–16 September IT-Catanzaro, 3–6 October PT-Lisbon, 30 September–3 October GR-Kos, 17–22 May

Microscopy, modelling and Human RNA viruses Stem cells in cancer and regenerative biophysical methods TR-Istanbul, 6–8 October 2014 medicine EMBO Global Activities DE-Heidelberg, 8–20 September Wnt signalling: Stem cells, DE-Heidelberg, 9–12 October Lecture Courses Single-cell gene expression analysis development and disease Experimental approaches to High-throughput next generation DE-Heidelberg, 19–25 September AU-Broome, 6–9 October 2014 evolution and ecology using yeast sequencing applied to infectious Targeted proteomics: Experimental Translational advances in cancer cell DE-Heidelberg, 12–15 October diseases TN-Tunis, 15–25 September design and data analysis signalling and metabolism Ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like proteins: ES-Barcelona, 28 September–3 October ES-Bilbao, 7–9 October 2014 At the crossroads from chromatin to Biochemistry and molecular biology: Non-coding RNA in infection Non-coding RNAs in genome protein Bench to bedside approaches DE-Würzburg, 12–18 October expression, maintenance and stability AR-Buenos Aires, 19–24 October BR-Cuiabá/Poconé, FR-Cargèse (Corsica), 7–10 October 27 October–7 November Analysis of high-throughput The Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) as a sequencing data Cell plasticity and nuclear dynamics hub for organelle communication UK-Hinxton, 20–25 October SG-Singapore, 12–15 October ES-Girona, 26–31 October Other EMBO events From functional genomics to systems High-throughput microscopy for Epigenetic plasticity: Implications in EMBO Laboratory Management systems biology neural (dys)function biology DE-Heidelberg, 8–11 November Courses DE-Heidelberg, 20–26 October PT-Braga, 22–25 October 2014 DE-Leimen, Various dates

Solution scattering from biological Stem cells and epigenetics in cancer FEBS | EMBO 2014 macromolecules CN-Hong Kong, 16–18 October FR-Paris, 30 August–4 September DE-Hamburg, 27 October–3 November For further information, A systems-level view of cytoskeletal please visit EMBO Courses EMBO Members’ Meeting Biomolecular interaction analysis: function DE-Heidelberg, 29–31 October From molecules to cells IL-Rehovot, 27–31 October & Workshops PT-Porto, 24–28 November 15th EMBL|EMBO Upstream and downstream of Hox www.embo.org/ Science and Society Conference genes funding-awards/ Foods are us! IN-Hyderabad, 14–17 December On eating and becoming courses-workshops DE-Heidelberg , 6–7 November

THE THE EMBO EMBO EMBO Molecular Medicine JOURNAL JOURNAL Mesenchymal Epithelial cell stem cell Dysfunctional Fundingmitochondria Reviewers Mitochondria agencies Intercellular Congress nanotubules$ Awards

Investigators Actin-microtubular Research article Research article Research arthighwayicle Science & Society

ROS Miro1/Rhot1 Acessory Fragile X syndrome protein The benefits of bacteria for Stem cells improveproteins damage Researchers propose linked to breast cancer gut health in other cells by exporting alternative way to progression mitochondria allocate science funding Scientists from the Emory A research team led by scientists University School of Medicine in A research team has identified a Researchers in the United States from VIB/KU Leuven, Belgium, and Atlanta, United States have shown protein that increases the transfer have suggested an alternative way the University of Rome Tor Vergata, that specific gut bacteria are of mitochondria from mesenchy- to allocate science funding. The Italy, in collaboration with several beneficial for maintaining a healthy mal stem cells to lung cells. The method depends on a collective research centers and hospitals intestine in the fruit fly Drosophila researchers reveal that the delivery distribution of funding by the in Italy, the United Kingdom and mice and also contribute to the of mitochondria to human lung scientific community, requires only and, Belgium, has identified the overall health of these organisms. cells can rejuvenate damaged cells. a fraction of the costs associated way Fragile X Mental Retardation The researchers demonstrated that The migration of mitochondria with the traditional peer review of Protein or FMRP contributes to bacteria in the gut, particularly from stem cells to epithelial cells grant proposals and, according to the progression of breast cancer. members of the genus Lactobacillus, also helps to repair tissue damage the authors, may yield comparable The researchers demonstrated promote the growth of host epithe- and inflammation linked to asthma- or even better results. that FMRP acts as a master switch lial cells and that this is essential like symptoms in mice. “Peer review of scientific propos- controlling the levels of several for maintaining homeostasis in “Our results show that the move- als and grants has served science proteins involved in different stages the intestinal system. The findings ment of mitochondria from stem very well for decades. However, of aggressive breast cancer, includ- could have implications for the cells to recipient cells is regulated there is a strong sense in the ing the invasion of cancer cells into treatment of inflammatory bowel by the protein Miro1 and is part of scientific community that things blood vessels and the spread of disease as well as allergic, meta- a well-directed process,” remarked could be improved,” said Johan these cancer cells to other tissues. bolic and infectious disorders. Anurag Agrawal, Professor at the Bollen, professor and lead author “Previous studies indicated that “It is well-known that mammals CSIR-Institute of Genomics and of the study from the School of patients with Fragile X Syndrome live in a homeostatic symbiosis Integrative Biology in Delhi, India, Informatics and Computing at had a decreased risk of developing with their gut microbiota and that and one of the lead authors of Indiana University. “Our most cancer but little is known about the they influence a wide range of the study. “The introduction of productive researchers invest an molecular events that lead to this physiological processes. However, mitochondria into damaged cells increasing amount of time, energy, beneficial effect. We showed that the molecular mechanisms of the has beneficial effects on the health and effort into writing and review- high levels of the FMRP protein symbiotic cross-talk in the gut of cells and, in the long term, we ing research proposals, most of in human breast tissue samples are largely unrecognized,” stated believe that mesenchymal stem which do not get funded. That are linked to increased risk of Andrew S. Neish, Professor at cells could even be engineered to time could be spent performing breast cancer and the spread of the the Emory University School of create more effective therapies for the proposed research in the first disease to other tissues through- Medicine, who led the research. “In lung disease in humans.” place.” out the body,” EMBO Member our study, we have discovered that In the study, the protein Miro1 The new approach is possible Claudia Bagni from VIB/KU Leuven, Lactobacilli can stimulate reactive was shown to regulate the transfer due to recent advances in math- Belgium, and the University of oxygen species that have regula- of mitochondria from mesenchymal ematics and computer technolo- Rome, Italy, who led the study, tory effects on intestinal stem cells, stem cells to epithelial cells. Stem gies. The system involves giving remarked. “Our results suggest that including the activation of prolifera- cells that were engineered to have all scientists an annual, uncondi- FMRP acts as a master regulator of tion of these cells.” higher amounts of Miro1 were tional fixed amount of funding to a large group of mRNAs that are Using two different animal able to transfer mitochondria more conduct their research. All funded involved in multiple steps of cancer models, the researchers showed efficiently and were therapeuti- scientists are, however, obliged to progression.” that the highly conserved underly- cally more effective when tested donate a fixed percentage of all of The researchers suggest that the ing mechanism of this symbiotic in mouse models of airway injury the funding that they previously levels of FMRP might be used as relationship is the production of and asthma, compared to untreated received to other researchers. As an indicator of aggressive breast reactive oxygen species (ROS), by a cells. a result, the funding circulates cancer and could be used to predict class of conserved enzymes called “We hope to determine how this through the community, converging the likelihood of the spread of NADPH oxidases or Nox’es. pathway might translate into better on researchers that are expected to cancer to other organs like the lung. Symbiotic Lactobacilli stimulate gut stem cell therapies for human make the best use of it. The Fragile X Protein binds mRNAs epithelial proliferation via nox-mediated disease,” added Agrawal. From funding agencies to scientific generation of reactive oxygen species involved in cancer progression and Miro1 regulates intercellular agency: Collective allocation of science modulates metastasis formation Rheinallt M. Jones, Liping Luo, funding as an alternative to peer review Courtney S. Ardita et al. mitochondrial transport and enhances Rossella Luca, Michele Averna, mesenchymal stem cell rescue efficacy Johan Bollen, David Crandall, Francesca Zalfa et al. Read the paper: Damion Junk et al. doi: 10.1038/emboj.2013.228 Tanveer Ahmad, Shravani Mukherjee, Read the paper: Bijay Pattnaik et al. Read the paper: doi: 10.1002/emmm.201302847 Read the paper: doi: 10.1002/embr.201338068 doi: 10.1002/embj.201386030

See more than you expect

EMBO Press is a new, editorially independent publishing platform for the development of EMBO scientific publications. EMBO Press represents the policies and practices of the four EMBO scientific publications that serve the global life science community.

embopress.org 16 winners of The EMBO Journal Cover Contest 2014 Submerged beauty ccording to Swiss photographer and scientist AMartin Oeggerli, many forms of life “spend their time quietly, just below the radar of the Discover more human eye.” The winning images of this year’s cover contest organized by The EMBO Journal are wonderful examples of this notion. Oeggerli’s own first-prize contribution, a hand-coloured scanning electron microscopy image, shows a clo- seup view of the mouth parts of a mosquito larva. The larva lives suspended just beneath the water surface, filtrating microscopic food particles with its intricately sculpted brush-like appendages. A similarly submerged creature, though larger © Martin Oeggerli | www.micronaut.ch and not quite as well concealed, is portrayed in the © | www.kahikaiimages.com Eric Röttinger other prize-winning image: a studio photograph Portuguese man-of-war by Eric Röttinger Feeding Hairs by Martin Oeggerli of a Portuguese man-of-war (Physalia physalis). First prize, Best Non-Scientific Cover Image 2014 First prize, Best Scientific Cover Image 2014 The photographer, Eric Röttinger, describes the animal as “made up of four types of polyps that Cancer and Aging in Nice as a team leader to of the many other beautiful images submitted form an entire colony.” One of them is a gas-filled study molecular mechanisms of embryogenesis, to the cover contest. Visit the contest website polyp that floats on the water surface and allows regeneration and aging in a sea anemone. at covercontest.embo.org to view the online gal- the colony to sail across the oceans, catching prey Both winning images will be featured on the lery and find out more about the contest and its with its long and venomous tentacles. Röttinger front covers of the next two issues of The EMBO winners. has recently joined the Institute for Research on Journal. The jury has also made a small selection covercontest.embo.org

the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center and the the challenges they are facing, and design or Multiscale Salk Institute for Biological Studies. reshape the computational research accordingly. The goal is to build computational technology “Coordinating our research with laboratories that modelling for to assist in identifying the molecular and cellular usually work independently is not exactly simple, mechanisms that control neurotransmission and but it is certainly worth the effort.” signalling events, which in turn could lead to the The centre will also foster collaborations brain studies development of novel treatments for central nerv- among modellers at different scales – from mol- ous system disorders. “We are not trying to iden- ecules through cells up to brain tissue. It compris- A new centre for Multiscale tify new genes or determine new structures. We es three Technology and Research Development Modeling of Biological Systems want to understand how they function, how neu- projects. One of them is the development of (MMBioS) in the United States robiological systems assemble and work together, molecular structure-based methods, including or what is the origin of their dysfunction,” says those based on elastic network models, to simu- aims at modelling and simulating EMBO Member Ivet Bahar, head of the MMBioS late the interactions of neurotransmitters, recep- neurotransmission and facilitating centre. tors and transporters at the chemical synapses – new collaborations between The centre is highly collaborative. It inte- led by Bahar’s laboratory. In the second project, grates and improves the efficiency of research led by Sejnowski and Faeder, scientists simulate experimental and computational in a broad group of laboratories, including those cell signalling and regulation events in the cen- See more than you expect scientists. of leaders in the field such as Terry Sejnowski at tral nervous system and immune system. Images Salk, Robert F. Murphy at Carnegie Mellon and from electron microscopy help to reconstruct the ultiscale models in neurobiology can James R. Faeder at the University of Pittsburgh. structure of the synapse in silico. The third pro- EMBO Press is a new, editorially independent publishing platform for the help scientists understand the molecu- Although purely computational, the centre close- ject led by Murphy focuses on image processing development of EMBO scientific publications. EMBO Press represents Mlar and cellular basis of brain function ly works together with many experimental labo- and analysis, with emphasis on understanding the policies and practices of the four EMBO scientific publications that and neurological disorders. But first biological, ratories. The data collected in those laboratories, the overall organization of cells, and the way they physical and computer scientists must start to along with the biomedical questions they pose, are networked in the cerebral cortex. serve the global life science community. work together to fill the gaps between studies essentially drive the computational research and The five-year grant is expected to trigger many conducted at different scales, from molecules to development at the MMBioS. new projects and this has already started to hap- tissues. “It has been a productive first year,” says the pen. Two investigators from the University of In November 2012, the United States National institute head, who is also Distinguished Professor Pittsburgh, Faeder and Zuckerman, who never Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a five-year 9.3 and Chair at the Department of Computational & collaborated before, have applied for a new NIH million US dollar grant to create a unique bio- Systems Biology at the University of Pittsburgh. grant to elaborate on projects beyond the scope medical technology research centre, the MMBioS. The major challenge has been to establish an of the new centre. MMBioS is a joint venture of four internationally efficient communication system. First steps ranked institutions: the University of Pittsburgh towards this goal were to reach out to research- www.mmbios.org embopress.org School of Medicine, Carnegie Mellon University, ers already doing experiments, learn more about ©2014 EMBO EMBOencounters | Winter 2013 | 2014 | communications@embo.org 17 events – research highlights – awards

Event Research highlight embo members QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute EMBO members David Hopwood and Julian Davies are co-organizing the fifth One of the research highlights in 2013 at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research John Innes/Rudjer Bošković Summer School in Applied Molecular Microbiology to be held Institute in Brisbane, Australia, was the demonstration of how the human immuno- at the Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Croatia from 13–21 September 2014. The deficiency virus could be modified to prevent further replication of the virus. The meeting is entitled Microbial Specialised Metabolites: Origins and Applications. expression of a mutant form of one of the regulatory proteins that controls viral A recent resurgence of interest in microbial metabolites has resulted from the transcription – the HIV-1 Tat protein – strongly inhibited the replication of the virus sequencing of small molecule-producing microorganisms coupled with the that causes AIDS in humans. development of bioinformatic and chemical analysis and the realization of the Apolloni et al. (2013) Human Gene Therapy 24: 270–282. importance of small molecules in microbial communities. For full information visit www.jic.ac.uk/scienceimolmicro/summerschool/. The QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, which is headed by EMBO Member Frank Gannon, focuses on the study of cancer, infectious diseases, mental health and Application deadline is 30 April 2014. a range of complex diseases. Further information is available at www.qimr.edu.au

Awards of excellence EMBO Members

Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine the appropriate target membranes. The Heinrich Wieland Prize 2013 CNRS Silver Medal The 2014 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine Leibniz Prize is Germany’s most prestigious Tony Kouzarides of the Gurdon Institute Anne Houdusse, research director at the research prize worth 2.5 million Euros. is awarded to the Italian biochemist in Cambridge, United Kingdom, won the National Center for Scientific Research Elena Conti of the Max-Planck Institute of Heinrich Wieland Prize for his research on 2013 AAAS Fellows (CNRS) and head of the Structural Motility Biochemistry in Munich, Germany, for her gene regulation and cancer. The 50,000 group at the Curie Institute, has been Geneviève Almouzni, Wim G.J. Hol, Stefan contributions to understanding the mecha- Euros award is given annually by the awarded the CNRS Silver Medal for 2013. Jentsch, Karen Heather Vousden, Richard nisms governing RNA quality, transport and Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation. The award recognizes her contribution to D. Wood, Bart de Strooper and Nobutaka degradation. She wins the prize together the decryption of mechanisms that allow Hirokawa have been elected Fellows of the with the French medical doctor Denis Le 2013 Institute of Medicine Members American Association for the Advancement complex molecules such as molecular Bihan. Each award is worth 700,000 Swiss EMBO Associate Member Ronald N. of Science (AAAS) for 2013. Michele motors, and more specifically myosin, to Francs. Germain of the National Institute of Allergy Garfinkel, Manager of the Science Policy transform chemical energy into motion or and Infectious Diseases, United States, has Programme at EMBO, has also been elected power in cells. 2014 Breakthrough Prize been elected to the Institute of Medicine AAAS Fellow in the category Societal impacts Michael N. Hall of the Biozentrum at the (IOM), a prestigious US-advisory body that Academic Excellence Prize of the of science and engineering. University of Basel is one of the winners provides recommendations on health issues Empeirikeion Foundation of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. and science policy. His research focuses on Academia Europaea Nektarios Tavernarakis was awarded this This award honours Hall for his discovery understanding how the immune system Annalisa Pastore has been invited to prize for his seminal research achievements of the target of rapamycin (TOR), a central operates and how pathogens affect their join the Academia Europaea Section of relevant to ageing, neurodegeneration, regulator of cell growth and metabolism. hosts. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology as one of learning and memory. He was also elected The Breakthrough Prize, which is worth 20 new members. The Academy was found- new Research Director at the Institute of three million US dollars, is sponsored, IBM Faculty Award ed twenty-five years ago to promote excel- Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, based among others, by internet entrepreneurs Yitzhak Pilpel of the Weizmann Institute lence in science and scholarship around in Heraklion, Crete. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, and Sergey of Science, Israel, was recently presented Europe. Professor Pastore recently relocated Brin of Google. with a 2013 IBM Faculty Award. The IBM her laboratory from the MRC National Faculty Award is a competitive worldwide Institute for Medical Research to the newly 2014 Wolf Prize in Agriculture programme that fosters collaboration built Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience EMBO Young Investigators Leif Andersson of the Department of Institute at King’s College London. between researchers at leading universities Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, and those in IBM research, development Hugo Theorell Prize Uppsala University, has been awarded a Carmen and Severo Ochoa Foundation and services organizations. The Hugo Theorell prize in biophysics for 2014 Wolf Prize in Agriculture “for providing Prize the year 2013 is awarded to Luca Jovine groundbreaking contributions to plant Honorary Medal Paloma Más Martinez from the Center from the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and animal sciences, respectively, by using The immunologist Klaus Rajewsky of for Research in Agricultural Genomics, for fundamental biological research that modern technologies of genomic research.” the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Barcelona, Spain, has been awarded the has provided unique structural insight He has been awarded the 100,000 US dollar Medicine in Berlin, Germany, has been prestigious Carmen and Severo Ochoa into the fertilization process in mammals. prize together with Jorge Dubcovsky of the research prize for molecular biology. She awarded the Honorary Medal 2013 of the The Swedish Society for Biochemistry, University of California, Davis, United States. receives the prize for her contribution to Signal Transduction Society (STS) and the Biophysics and Molecular Biology awards The Israel-based Wolf Foundation awards the study of Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal Cell Communication and Signaling the Hugo Theorell Prize to a young and these prizes to outstanding scientists and (CCS) for his pioneering work on the genetic artists in the fields of agriculture, chemistry, Hooke Medal analysis of signal transduction pathways in successful biophysicist working in Sweden. physics, mathematics, medicine and the mouse models. This year’s Hooke Medal winner is Anne Friedrich-Miescher-Award arts. Bertolotti from the MRC Laboratory of Hansen Family Award Sophie Martin of the University of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. Her labo- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2014 ratory focuses on fundamental cell biologi- Hans-Georg Rammensee of the University Lausanne, Switzerland, is the recipient of Irmgard Sinning of the University of cal processes and uncovers novel strategies of Tübingen is the recipient of the Hansen the 2014 Friedrich-Miescher-Award. She Heidelberg, Germany, is one of the recipi- to manipulate disease-relevant pathways. Family Award. The Bayer Science & received the award for her work on cell ents of the Leibniz Prize 2014. Sinning, a The British Society for Cell Biology awards Education Foundation awarded the polarization and cell cycle regulation. The structural biologist, received the prize this medal each year to an outstanding UK scientific prize of 75,000 Euros for his prize honours young biochemists and is for her work on protein complexes that cell biologist who has been working as an outstanding contributions to the field of donated by the Friedrich-Miescher-Institute transport different membrane proteins independent research scientist for less than cancer treatment and his work towards of the Novartis Research Foundation in to the correct cellular compartments in 10 years. personalized medicine. Basel.

Consolidator Grants and Synergy Grants | ERC Congratulations to EMBO Members, Young Investigators and Installation Grantees Next issue of EMBOencounters who received this year’s Consolidator Grants and Synergy Grants awarded by the The next EMBOencounters issue – Summer 2014 – will be dispatched European Research Council. The full list of names can be found at: http://erc.europa.eu/past_press_releases/2013 in July 2014. Please send your suggestions, contributions and news, to communications@embo.org by 12 May 2014.

Young Investigators 2013 Installation Grantees 2013 Ido Amit Kerstin Kaufmann Olivier Mathieu Edgar Gomes The mamalian gene regulatory network Molecular control of organ Silencing, environment and Nuclear positioning IL Weizmann Institute of Science, specification in plants transposons PT Institute of Molecular Medicine, Lisbon Rehovot DE University of Potsdam FR Clermont University Moving from: FR Pierre and Marie Curie University Pedro Carvalho Melike Lakadamyali Anna Sablina Homeostasis of the endoplasmic Imaging life’s processes Mechanisms of cell transformation Mustafa Köksal reticulum ES The Institute of Photonic Sciences, BE VIB & KU Leuven Biosynthetic enzymes ES Center for Genomic Regulation, Castelldefels TR Izmir Institute of Technology Simon Sprecher Barcelona Moving from: Darren Logan Development and function of US University of Pennsylvania Chunaram Choudhary Olfaction and behaviour sensory systems Post-translational modifications UK Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, CH University of Fribourg Raquel Oliveira DK University of Copenhagen Cambridge Chromosome dynamics Manuel Théry PT Gulbenkian Institute of Science, Oeiras Victoria Cowling Andrew Lovering Cell architecture and polarity Moving from: Regulation of methyl cap synthesis The bacterial predator Bdellovibrio FR Institute of Life Sciences Research UK University of Oxford UK MRC Protein Phosphorylation & bacteriovorus and Technologies, Grenoble Ubiquitylation Unit, Dundee UK University of Birmingham University Institute of Haemotology, Karel Riha Paris Blunt-ended telomeres in plants David Drew Brian Luke CZ Masaryk University, Brno Structure and mechanism of Telomere function and cellular Pavel Tolar Moving from: membrane proteins senescence Activation of immune receptors AT Gregor Mendel Institute, Vienna SE Stockholm University DE University of Heidelberg UK MRC Institute for Medical Research, London Özgür Şahin Florent Ginhoux Niels Mailand Systems biology Dendritic cells Proteome-wide analysis of Jan-Willem Veening TR Bilkent University, Ankara SI Singapore Immunology Network, ubiquitylation Cell division in the pathogen Moving from: A*STAR DK University of Copenhagen Streptococcus pneumoniae US MD Anderson Cancer Center, NL University of Groningen Petra Hajkova Tomas Marques-Bonet Houston, Texas Epigenetic reprogramming in vivo Primate genomic variation Julien Vermot Joanna Sułkowska UK MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, ES Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona Blood flow sensing and cardiovascular Knotted proteins Imperial College London morphogenesis Sascha Martens PL Warsaw University, PL FR Institute of Genetics and Molecular Kim Jensen Molecular mechanisms of Moving from: and Cellular Biology, Illkirch Regulatory mechanisms of autophagy US University of California, San Diego stem cell behaviour AT University of Vienna DK University of Copenhagen

A good read – Publications from the EMBO Community embo members, Young Investigators & Fellows Citrullination regulates Astrocytes mediate synapse Magnetic resonance imaging A holidic medium for Drosophila Crystal structure of the pluripotency and histone H1 elimination through the of tumor glycolysis using hyper- melanogaster 14-subunit RNA polymerase I 13 binding to chromatin MEGF10 and MERTK pathways polarized C-labeled glucose Linda Partridge (EMBO Member), María Moreno-Morcillo (EMBO John B. Gurdon, Tony Kouzarides Laura E. Clarke (EMBO Fellow) and Tiago B Rodrigues (EMBO Fellow) Ricardo Leitão-Gonçalves (EMBO Fellow), Umar J. Rashid (EMBO (EMBO Members), Gonçalo colleagues and colleagues Fellow) Fellow) and colleagues Castelo-Branco, Maria A. Nature | 19 December 2013 Nature Medicine | 8 December 2013 Nature Methods | 17 November 2013 Nature | 23 October 2013 Christophorou (EMBO Fellows) doi:10.1038/nature12776 doi: 10.1038/nm.3416 doi: 10.1038/nmeth.2731 doi: 10.1038/nature12636 and colleagues Structural basis of lentiviral The bacterial cell division Genome-wide association study A pH-regulated quality Nature | 26 January 2014 doi: 10.1038/nature12942 subversion of a cellular protein proteins FtsA and FtsZ self- using cellular traits identifies a control cycle for surveillance of degradation pathway organize into dynamic new regulator of root develop- secretory protein assembly The effects of genetic variation David Schwefel (EMBO Fellow) cytoskeletal patterns ment in Arabidopsis Roberto Sitia ( EMBO Member) on gene expression dynamics and colleagues Martin Loose (EMBO Fellow) and Takashi Tsuchimatsu and colleagues during development Nature | 15 December colleagues (EMBO Fellow) and colleagues Molecular Cell | 27 June 2013 Ben Lehner (EMBO Member) and doi: 10.1038/nature12815 Nature Cell Biology | 8 December 2013 Nature Genetics | 10 November 2013 doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2013.04.016 colleagues doi: 10.1038/ncb2885 doi: 10.1038/ng.2824 ELABELA: A hormone essential R-Loop stabilization represses Nature | 9 January 2014 doi: 10.1038/nature12772 for heart development signals Niche-independent high-purity A retrotransposon-driven dicer antisense transcription at the via the apelin receptor cultures of Lgr5+ intestinal stem isoform directs endogenous Arabidopsis FLC locus RecA bundles mediate homology Bruno Reversade cells and their progeny small interfering RNA Caroline Dean (EMBO Member) pairing between distant sisters (EMBO Young Investigator) and Hans Clevers (EMBO Member), production in mouse oocytes and colleagues during DNA break repair colleagues Henner F Farin (EMBO Fellow) Kristian Vlahovicek, Petr Svoboda Science | 3 May 2013 | doi: 10.1126/ David J. Sherratt (EMBO Member), Developmental Cell | 5 December 2013 and colleagues (EMBO Installation Grantees) and science.1234848 Christian Lesterlin (EMBO Fellow) doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2013.11.002 Nature Methods | 1 December 2013 colleagues Mouse urinary peptides provide and colleagues doi: 10.1038/nmeth.2737 Cell | 7 November 2013 Inactivating CUX1 mutations a molecular basis for genotype Nature | 22 December 2013 doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.10.001 doi: 10.1038/nature12868 promote tumorigenesis Structural basis of SUFU-GLI discrimination by nasal sensory Inigo Martincorena (EMBO Fellow) interaction in human Hedgehog Multisite phosphorylation neurons Host – cell sensors for and colleagues signalling regulation networks as signal processors Hans-Georg Rammensee (EMBO Plasmodium activate innate Nature Genetics | 8 December 2013 Luca Jovine (EMBO Young for Cdk1 Member) and colleagues immunity against liver-stage doi: 10.1038/ng.2846 Investigator) and colleagues Mart Loog (EMBO Installation Nature Communications | 19 March 2013 | infection Biological Crystallography Online Grantee) and colleagues doi:10.1038/ncomms2610 Vanessa Zuzarte-Luís (EMBO 19 November 2013 Nature Structural & Molecular Biology Fellow), Giulio Superti-Furga 3 November 2013 | doi: 10.1038/nsmb.2706 (EMBO Member) and colleagues Nature Medicine | 22 December 2013 doi: 10.1038/nm.3424

An anniversary conference Paris 2014 hosted by SFBBM

Keynote Speakers 30 August – 4 September Catherine Dulac Svante Pääbo Conference Chairs Susan M. Gasser Angela Nieto 30 Plenary Speakers concurrent sessions Michael Reth C covering the latest Ruedi Aebersold M Eric Westhof research in the David Baulcombe life sciences Y Hans Clevers CM

MY Max D. Cooper

CY Richard Durbin CMY Elaine Fuchs

K Maria Jasin Wolf Reik

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