Epigenesys: Epigenetics Meets Systems Biology

Home , Burkhard Rost, Chris Ponting, Denis Duboule, Denis Noble, EMBO Membership, Eugene Koonin

SUMMER 2012

ISSUE 21 encounters

The camera instead THE of test tubes EMBO PAGE 5 JOURNAL

PAGE 2 The EMBO Journal is 30

PAGE 7 A network of excellence EpiGeneSys: Epigenetics meets systems biology

4DCellFate A project funded by the European LECTURE Denis Noble, President of the Meeting of minds Are scientists and artists Commission Seventh Framework Programme International Union of Physiological driven by a similar kind of deeply rooted wants to investigate how protein complexes Sciences and Professor Emeritus of curiosity? Visual artists and researchers regulate differentiation in embryonic stem cells. Oxford University, was in Heidelberg on involved in the MitoSys project want to ﬁ nd out. 28 February to give a lecture on systems biology at the Print Media Academy.

PAGE 7 PAGE 9 PAGE 13

www.embo.org THE EMBO JOURNAL IS 30 The EMBO Journal is 30

A 30th anniversary invites reﬂ ection on change and progress. Here senior editors past and present look back on the early days of THE EMBO JOURNAL.1

John Tooze. “The EMBO Council of the day felt for worry about that a journal would help cement the EMBO manuscript fl ow membership, and, if successful, it would market changed from too few the name of EMBO to a worldwide audience and to too many, while the possibly generate income. quality issue remained. But would we get enough high-quality manu- I remember during a John Tooze scripts to produce a journal that would add lustre family holiday standing to EMBO’s name or would we drift into medioc- in a telephone box in a Rockefeller University rity and fi nancial inconsequentiality? rain storm on the Isle of Founding Editor In the earliest years, I was often very anxious Skye suggesting referees based on titles and 1982 –2003 about manuscript numbers and quality. I would authors of new manuscripts. There was no edito- phone leading EMBO members to plead with rial back up in the early years until Iain agreed to them for the papers they were sending to Cell, share responsibility. Nature, Science, or at least to give us fi rst refusal And then there were the very many phone But enough of 30 years ago when everything on those that Cell and Nature had declined. A calls from rejected authors. After the preliminar- was paper, post and courier. Today, with instanta- common reply was “John, we’d happily send you ies I would say “Nothing you are going to tell me neous electronic communication I don’t envy my our best but our grad students and postdocs insist will change the rejection decision but I’ll listen if successors facing those daily myriads of e-mails.” on shooting for the stars.” I suspect that remains you want me to.” Twenty minutes or so later the the situation now. With time, however, the basis caller in Europe or the USA would wind down.

Iain Mattaj reports and took decisions. This meant that when Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory authors phoned to complain about the decision we could have a science-based discussion on why Executive Editor the paper was rejected and that discussion satis- 1990 – 2004 fi ed all but the most obdurate of the callers. As the editorial offi ce got bigger over the next dozen them. The referee databases were in our heads. I years, and as other journals transformed their benefi tted enormously in that respect from being editorial offi ces more and more into postal relays a voracious journal reader and seminar attendee, between authors and referees, I tried to instill this and by being at The European Molecular Biology attitude to editorial work in the incoming editors. Laboratory, where seminars and meetings of all It is still a major principle of the current and laud- Iain Mattaj. “When I joined The EMBO Journal it sorts were frequent and generally excellent and I able EMBO Transparent Editorial Process intro- really was a different age. There were no targets, was very gratifi ed by the willingness of referees duced by Hermann Bujard and Pernille Rørth and although statistics on acceptance rates and to help both the authors and the journal. when they were Director of EMBO and Editor of impact factors were collected retrospectively there John Tooze and I were active editors, by The EMBO Journal, respectively. was minimal discussion of how we should act on which I mean we considered the papers and the

The EMBO Journal editorial team

δ David del Álamo (since 2011) ι Isabel Arnold (since 2005) σ Céline Carret (since 2011) κ Karin Dumstrei (since 2005) David received his PhD from the Auto- Isabel received her PhD from the University Céline completed her PhD at the University Karin received her PhD from the University nomous University of Madrid, studying of Munich for her work on mitochon- of Montpellier, France, on parasitic of California Los Angeles where she studied proximal-distal patterning in Drosophila drial protein sorting in the lab of Walter protozoa of the genus Babesia. After a DE-cadherin mediated cell adhesion in with Fernando Díaz-Benjumea. As a post- Neupert. As a postdoctoral researcher, she postdoc on lymphocyte signalling at the Drosophila in the lab of Volker Hartenstein. doc, he continued working with Drosophila worked in the lab of Fiona Watt at the Babraham Institute in the lab of Denis She then went to the Max Planck Institute in Marek Mlodzik’s lab (Mount Sinai School Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London Alexander (Cambridge), she worked on for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen of Medicine, New York) on the mechanisms on keratinocyte differentiation, and in the functional genomics and molecular para- where she worked on primordial germ cell of epithelial planar cell polarity generation, lab of Thomas Langer at the University of sitology of malaria at the Sanger Institute migration in zebraﬁ sh with Erez Raz. and with François Schweisguth (Institut Cologne on mitochondrial proteases and (Cambridge) and subsequently at the Focus areas Pasteur, Paris) on the modulation of Notch peptide transport. Instituto de Medicina Molecular in Gunnar signalling in lateral inhibition. Mair’s lab (Lisbon). Immunology Focus areas Neuroscience Focus areas Membranes and transport Focus areas Plant biology Developmental biology Cell death Genomic and computational biology ears Cell and tissue architecture Cellular metabolism Host – pathogen interactions 30yearsy Microbiology Protein synthesis and folding PUBLISHEDEDS SSINCEINCE 1982

Pernille Rørth. “Toward the end of 2004, it was there are other correlations best left Pernille Rørth getting clear that even Iain was perhaps a mere unspecifi ed. mortal – not fi nding the time to run The EMBO Research Director at the What was the most gratify- Journal along with everything else at EMBL. Institute of Molecular and ing aspect of the work? Clearly the EMBO Director Frank Gannon asked me if I Cell Biology, A*STAR, good science; also working with the Singapore would be willing to take over based on one neces- thoughtful and dedicated editors. As sary characteristic – a general and broad interest Executive Editor a publishing author and a reviewer, it in the areas of science touched by molecular biol- 2005 – 2009 was not hard to empathize with all the ogy. It was to be a steep learning curve and fi ve points of view – but resolving all this very, very interesting years. to a satisfactory decision – well, that The editorial offi ce had four full-time editors One role was to help editors was the job. Getting the 3rd perspec- to deal with about 3000 manuscripts every year. in confl icts with authors and tive – that of the editor – helps. The editorial board, populated with experts that reviewers. Growing up as a Although The EMBO Journal is really cared about the journal and its quality, and younger sister, I learned how ‘all grown up’ now at 30, it contin- a deep referee database were already in place. to manage bullies. I was once ues to have a leading role in the The role of the executive editor was “simply” to asked whether being a bully or world of science publishing. I wish step in when needed. I chose to be very involved not related to the number of X the next generation of authors, with the editors – working with them, the senior chromosomes. The evidence reviewers and editors of The EMBO advisors and the board on a daily basis. does not support this – but Journal a most impactful future.”

Bernd Pulverer. “My research career started process. However, we aim to play a leading role We aim to do justice to EMBO’s vision for at a time when molecular biology was rapidly in embracing online technologies and publica- the journal to publish papers of exceptional expanding beyond the nucleus to encompass tion policies that will transform the paper from signifi cance that are based on rigorous data and fi elds such as signal transduction and the cell a static document of research achievement to a thoughtful analysis. I hope The EMBO Journal cycle. From the start, The EMBO Journal was very research tool containing data that can be read- continues to look as fresh and attractive as ever present in the life of a fl edging PhD student as a ily accessed, reproduced and reused. We will in its 30s.” beacon of quality – a must-read journal. As the continue to evolve an optimized editorial process journal matured through its teens, John Tooze by extending the EMBO Transparent Editorial Bernd Pulverer π and later Iain Mattaj presided over the selection Process principles launched by Pernille. The feed- Head of Scientifi c Publications, EMBO process with their encyclopedic knowledge. I back and advice of the EMBO Membership is well remember their formidable presence in the crucial in continuously improving the publishing Chief Editor 2010 – present research community alongside the likes of Ben process. Lewin at Cell and John Maddox at Nature. As a young adult the journal experienced a growth burst, leading to a more diversifi ed editorial offi ce. The exceptional dedication and care of the editorial staff at The EMBO Journal and their proximity to the scientifi c community cultivated under Pernille Rørth stands out to me as a defi n- ing characteristic of the adult journal. Looking to the next 30 years, molecular biology will continue to spread to every part of biology, biotechnology and medicine. The journal will refl ect this in its broadening scope and an emphasis on physiological relevance, as well as ι κ δ global reach. The exchange of validated scien- æ tifi c information via the traditional research θ χ paper will remain at the heart of the scientifi c σ2 π The EMBO Journal editorial team α

æ Anne Færch Nielsen (since 2012) θ Thomas Schwarz-Romond α Anke Sparmann (since 2011) χ Hartmut Vodermaier (since 2006) Anne received her PhD from Aarhus (since 2006) Anke obtained her PhD on the role of Hartmut obtained his PhD in the group University in 2008. She then joined Javier Thomas received his PhD in 2003 for the Ras-induced interleukin-8 expression of Jan-Michael Peters at the Institute of Martinez at the Institute of Molecular discovery and functional characteriza- in tumor growth and angiogenesis in Molecular Pathology in Vienna where he Biotechnology in Vienna as a postdoctoral tion of a new Wnt-signaling component the laboratory of Dafna Bar-Sagi (State investigated the ubiquitin ligase APC/C and researcher working on miRNA processing in the lab of Walter Birchmeier. Moving University of New York at Stony Brook). cell cycle control. He continued to study and RNA metabolism. into cell-biological and structural studies As a postdoctoral researcher, she analyzed cell division as a postdoctoral fellow with of this pathway, Thomas joined the lab dynamic changes of Polycomb-complex Andrea Musacchio at the Istituto Europeo Focus areas of Mariann Bienz at the MRC-LMB in composition during neural stem cell di Oncologia in Milan, focusing on kineto- RNA and translation Cambridge, as a postdoctoral researcher. differentiation in the group of Maarten van chores and chromosome segregation. Lohuizen (Netherlands Cancer Institute, Focus areas Focus areas Amsterdam). Transduction Cell cycle Molecular biology of disease Focus areas Ubiquitination and proteolysis, Stem cells Chromatin and transcription DNA replication, repair and Development recombination

1 Adapted from a forthcoming editorial that will be published in The EMBO Journal to mark its 30th anniversary.

EMBO Members who joined the 55 life scientists elected to EMBO membership ranks of the Royal Society in the Fifty-ﬁ ve life scientists from Europe and around the world were recognised by EMBO for their excellence in UK and the US National Academy research in 2012. Forty-eight of the researchers are from Europe and neighbouring countries while seven of Sciences this year: scientists from Argentina, Australia, South Korea and the United States join as Associate Members. In total, EMBO membership now comprises almost 1,550 life scientists in the international scientiﬁ c community. New Royal Society Fellows and Foreign Members EMBO MEMBERS

➔ Shankar Balasubramanian Ronen Alon Urs Greber Béla Novák IL Weizmann Institute of Science, CH University of Zurich UK University of Oxford ➔ Gordon Dougan Rehovot William A. Harris Nancy Papalopulu ➔ Tony Kouzarides Rolf Apweiler UK University of Cambridge UK University of Manchester ➔ Andrew Millar UK European Bioinformatics Urs Jenal Chris Ponting ➔ Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge Margaret Scott Robinson CH Biozentrum, UK University of Oxford, ➔ Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan Manuela Baccarini University of Basel MRC AT Max F Perutz Laboratories, ➔ Gabriel Waksman Torben Heick Jensen Thomas Preat University of Vienna FR ESPCI ParisTech, Paris ➔ Denis Duboule DK Aarhus University Foreign Member Shankar Balasubramanian Michael Sattler Ludger Johannes UK University of Cambridge DE Technical University of Munich, FR Institut Curie, Paris Garching and Helmholtz Zentrum Cosima T. Baldari München, Neuherberg New Foreign Associates of the IT University of Siena Kai Johnsson National Academy of Sciences CH Swiss Federal Institute of François Schweisguth Lucia Banci Technology, Lausanne ➔ FR Institut Pasteur, Paris Leif Andersson IT University of Florence, Jos M.M. Jonkers ➔ Mariano Barbacid Sesto Fiorentino Luca Scorrano NL Netherlands Cancer CH University of Geneva ➔ Denis Duboule Axel Behrens Institute, Amsterdam Maria Sibilia ➔ Ottoline Leyser UK Cancer Research UK, London Research Institute Stefan H.E. Kaufmann AT Institute of Cancer Research, ➔ Philippe Sansonetti DE Max Planck Institute for Medical University of Vienna Monsef Benkirane Infection Biology, Berlin ➔ Mitsuhiro Yanagida FR CNRS Institute of Human Thomas Surrey Genetics, Montpellier Michel Labouesse UK Cancer Research UK, FR Institute of Genetics and London Research Institute Ewan Birney Molecular and Cellular Biology, Sarah A. Teichmann UK European Bioinformatics Illkirch UK MRC Laboratory of Molecular Upcoming Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge Andreas Ladurner Biology, Cambridge Cédric Blanpain DE Ludwig Maximilians University, deadlines Antoine Triller BE Free University of Brussels Munich FR Institute of Biology of the ENS, EMBO Plenary Lectures Jannie Borst Nils-Göran Larsson Paris 1 September NL Netherlands Cancer DE Max Planck Institute for Sabine Werner EMBO Courses & Workshops Institute, Amsterdam Biology of Ageing, Cologne CH Institute of Molecular 1 August Paola Bovolenta Nicolao Andreas Lüthi Health Sciences, Zurich Late abstract submission for ES Centre for Molecular Biology CH Friedrich Miescher Institute, The EMBO Meeting 2012 “Severo Ochoa” , Madrid Basel EMBO ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 3 August 2012 Jens C. Brüning Laura Machesky Vishva Dixit Deadline for nominations 2013 DE University of Cologne UK Beatson Institute for US Genentech, South San Francisco Women in Science Award Cancer Research, Glasgow V. Narry Kim 15 October 2012 Francesco Cecconi IT University “Tor Vergata” and Paul Martin KR Seoul National University IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, UK University of Bristol Alberto R. Kornblihtt Rome William Martin AR University of Buenos Aires Jane Clarke DE Heinrich Heine University, Eric S. Lander UK University of Cambridge Düsseldorf US Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Next issue Fabrizio d’Adda di Fagagna Raúl Méndez Cambridge EMBOencounters IT IFOM Foundation – ES Institute for Research in Ruth Lehmann FIRC Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Barcelona US New York University The next EMBOencounters issue – Oncology Foundation, Milan School of Medicine, HHMI Eric Miska Autumn 2012 – will be dispatched Ulrike Gaul UK Gurdon Institute, Ronald D. Vale in October 2012. DE Ludwig Maximilians University, University of Cambridge US University of California Munich San Francisco Please send your suggestions, May-Britt Moser contributions and news, to Pascal Genschik NO Kavli Institute for David L. Vaux [email protected] FR CNRS IBMP, Systems Neuroscience, AU Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, by 17 September 2012. University of Strasbourg Trondheim Parkville

Camera instead of test tubes – this is the trade that BENNY SHILO took on in September 2011, when he left active research to concentrate on photography as a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in the United States.

hilo, a molecular genetics professor at the

Weizmann Institute and a long-serving ©Benny Shilo Smember of EMBO, aims to reach out to a general audience by using photographs of every- day life as metaphors for complex biological The concept of stem cells homeostasis can be processes. He displayed his work, which includes illustrated by showing how starter yeast dough dozens of pictures, at a show at Radcliffe and at in a bakery is used. In both cases, the source a show at the Harvard Allston education portal, is maintained while employed in parallel to before returning to his lab in June this year. In generate the fi nal product. Pictures by Benny Shilo (top) and C. Cerveny & S. Wilson (left) an interview with EMBOencounters, he explains why he thinks that understanding developmental biology is essential even for non-scientists. between cells based only on guidelines from Professor Shilo, what is the idea behind your the genome, or the evolution of pattern diversi- project? ty while maintaining these conserved elements. Biological research, especially when deal- Once properly and didactically presented, these ing with whole organisms, produces images of concepts are intuitive and although surprising at astounding beauty. Because of their aesthetic fails, can be illustrated as a beach with sunshades fi rst, can be easily grasped. value, such images are extensively shown to the that are placed right next to each other. public. However, the biological principles they Why is it important for the general audience represent are seldom the basis for their selection Do you take a picture and then decide to understand fundamental research in and presentation. how to use it or do you have a certain developmental biology? I am presenting an approach that builds on choreographed sequence on your mind when We are closer than we might think to the day the viewers’ sensual experience, placing the you set off with your camera? when people will have their individual genome viewer in the same position as the cells making Since the purpose of the project is to convey sequenced, with the ability to predict genetic the developmental decisions. In other words, the the principles of developmental biology to the predispositions and possible diseases, as well as viewers will understand the way cells “think” at broad public in a way that will be effective, and implementing “personalised medicine” where different junctions in the “micro world,” based yet as accurate as possible, I usually start from treatments are adjusted to their genomic hall- on their own experience in parallel situations. the scientifi c principle I want to present. Then I marks. The extended use of stem cells or dedif- think of paradigms from the human world. With ferentiated cells derived from one’s own body to Can you give a few examples? the analogies in mind, I go out and photograph replace defective cells and organs is also antici- One example is stem cell homeostasis. I went them. In the past year, I was continuously looking pated. People will be faced with medical choices to a bakery, where the starter yeast dough is at the world with an eye for the analogies I had and decisions, which should hopefully be based continuously maintained, and used as a perma- in mind, and found them in unexpected places. on their partial knowledge and appreciation of nent supply for making the bread. The concept the subject matter. of maintaining a source while using it in parallel How did you become interested in public to generate the fi nal product is conveyed by this outreach efforts? Did the time-out at Radcliffe change your metaphor, and presented in an image showing From my numerous encounters with the lay attitude as an active scientist? the starter dough, and the making of the bread. public, including high-school students, teachers, I think that the experience of this year will This metaphor was used to help explain how adults attending evening courses and Weizmann have a long-term impact. The need to explain the stem cells provide a continuous source of differ- Institute donors, I realised that there is a deep essence of development by the metaphors forced entiated cells in the body. lack of knowledge and understanding about me to think critically about the underlying scien- Another set of images refers to the lateral recent biological breakthroughs. Some of it is tifi c concepts. It also allowed me to take a more inhibition that occurs between cells and which is rooted in lack of knowledge of basic biological global “bird’s eye” view of developmental biology, mediated by the Notch pathway. The Notch path- principles. in contrast to normal scientifi c research, where way is a highly conserved cell signalling pathway For example, the concept of deep similarities we focus on one system in great detail. Finally, that is present in most multicellular organisms. between fl ies and humans is totally underappreci- the challenge of presenting the concepts to the The Notch mutant phenotype, where an excess of ated. The same is true for the notion of generating public will be an ongoing effort, with future exhi- nerve cells is generated when “lateral inhibition” a complex body plan by successive interactions bitions, and possibly a book and a web site.

The US-based Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has selected 28 scientists for the 2012 International Early Career Scientist award. Four of the awardees are EMBO Young Investigators. Luísa M. Figueiredo, Óscar Fernández–Capetillo, Fyodor A. Kondrashov and Marcin Nowotny have received as much as 650,000 US dollars for ﬁ ve years. EMBOencounters spoke to ÓSCAR FERNÁNDEZ– CAPETILLO about his plans to use the funding and about what it takes to become a HHMI grantee.

Oscar Fernández-Capetillo, head of the Genomic Instability Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) in Madrid, Spain.

Óscar, you are one of 28 scientists who received the prestigious Any clue as to why you have been selected? International Early Career Scientist award. How does it compare to I don’t know. The panel of applicants was really diverse and included other prizes you have received? people who work in systems biology, cancer, ageing and bioinformatics, to Each award has a big impact. The status of an EMBO Young Investigator name just a few. The main thing that interested the selection committee is a great asset within the European community. You gain visibility with was having your own approach and being creative. The fi eld was irrelevant. your European partners at a very critical step of your career, namely when you are starting your own lab. HHMI gives you worldwide visibility – partic- Could you describe the focus of your current research? ularly in the United States. A key aspect of the HHMI award is the fl exibility We have invested a lot of effort over the last few years to fi nd out what of the funds. Awardees receive more than 600,000 US dollars that can be replication stress is and how this type of stress impacts cancer and ageing. used at the discretion of the researcher for any purpose that is related to This stress happens every time that a cell replicates its DNA, but is also science. induced by oncogenes. We try to exploit this type of knowledge to attack cancer cells. How different was the application process? The process is kept very simple with only a few general questions in the How are you going to use the money? initial phase followed by a fi nal interview at HHMI headquarters. The differ- I will use it to do things that are not covered by my other grants, includ- ence is that the HHMI selection process is a person-based approach whereas ing the development of new techniques or paying for expensive methodolo- EU grants are project based and require a description of all milestones. I gies such as high-throughput sequencing. Thanks to the fl exibility of these personally favour the HHMI system because it is impossible to foresee what funds, I will also be able to pay members of my lab that need some extra you are going to do in the next fi ve years. If you work on the frontiers of months to fi nish their research. The current situation in Spain is dramatic, the life sciences then you have to enter exploratory routes every now and even more so for people at the postdoctoral stage trying to continue their then. If you already know what you will be doing fi ve years from now, then careers in Spain. it cannot be considered cutting-edge science.

EMBO Young Investigator Meeting 2012 in Lisbon Lisbon was the place to be for young group leaders keen on learning more about each other’s projects. 64 of them came to the three-day EMBO Young Investigators meeting held at the Gulbenkian Institute of Science. A highlight of the meeting was a visit to The Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, a recently opened multidisciplinary centre for translational research situated in a beautiful location on the waterfront of Lisbon. The EMBO Journal editor Hartmut Vodermaier also attended this year’s meeting to give a talk about the challenges of the scientiﬁ c reviewing and publishing process for both authors and referees as well as for editors and publishers. His presentation was followed by a lively discussion on the various initiatives recently started by The EMBO Journal and other EMBO Scientiﬁ c Publications aimed at improving the reviewing process. ©Mónica Bettencourt-Dias

The EpiGeneSys Network of Excellence expects to have more than 100 member laboratories by autumn of 2012. EpiGeneSys (www.epigenesys.eu) brings together epigenetic and systems biology researchers looking for new ways to advance the understanding of human disease and improve human health. The scientiﬁ c objective of the network of researchers is to use a systems biology approach to deﬁ ne epigenetic mechanisms quantitatively in space and time.

Two rounds of competitive community; the ﬁ rst course took place on 3 – 6 recruitment for 18 new scien- June 2012 at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. tiﬁ c members with less than 3 EpiGeneSys has a mission to communicate

©Alexandre Lescure, Curie Institut years of independent research science to the public in an interesting and accessi- experience have just ended; ble fashion and to awaken the interest of students unded by the European Commission from the most recent additions to the network will in research. The web site (www.epigenesys.eu) 2010 to 2015, the EpiGeneSys Seventh be announced later this summer. New recruits is therefore structured to cater for the public and FFramework Programme (FP7) project receive 150,000 Euros of funding for a 3-year scientists. currently unites researchers working in 68 labo- period. Two open calls for participants have also EMBO Member Geneviève Almouzni (Centre ratories in 14 countries across the globe. The added associate members who collaborate with national de la recherche scientiﬁ que, Institut four main areas of research include the study of the network but do not receive direct funds. Curie) is the Scientiﬁ c Coordinator of EpiGeneSys, the dynamics of epigenetic regulators, investiga- Training and education play important roles and Asifa Akhtar (Max Planck Institute of tion of the relationship between the genotype in EpiGeneSys. Five annual meetings and at least Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg), Wolf and epigenotype, the study of how cell signal- 17 workshops are planned as part of the project. Reik (Babraham Institute, Cambridge), and Eran ing impacts the epigenome, and development of In addition, two courses on systems biology will Segal (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) are a computational framework for epigenetics and bolster the knowledgebase in the epigenetics Deputy Coordinators. systems biology.

in training future scientists in multidisciplinary in cancer, specifi cally during the onset, develop- science, both within and outside the consortium, ment or progression of leukaemia,” said Luciano The fate of stem and will recruit and involve additional young Di Croce, Research Professor at the Centre for investigators. Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, and Scientifi c cells in four Although it has been known for over a decade Coordinator of the 4DCellFate project. Ernest that these complexes play a fundamental role in Laue, Professor at the University of Cambridge, dimensions determining stem cell fate, how these complexes remarked: “We believe that elucidating the work remains very unclear. Recent studies have details of how the PRC and NuRD complexes An ambitious new project, shown that the NuRD and PRC complexes are not regulate stem cell differentiation will have signifi - static entities, but rather that their compositions cant potential for studying disease progression, 4DCellFate (www.4dcellfate.eu), will and structures are dynamic. A key goal will be to and for the development of drugs for personal- study the roles of the Nucleosome understand this complexity and determine how ised molecular therapies.” Remodeling and Deacetylase their activity is modulated at a system-wide level. Initially, the project will elucidate the composi- HDAC1 Mi-2a GATAD2a HDAC2 Mi-2b GATAD2b (NuRD) and Polycomb Repressive tion, genome-wide localization, and structures of (PRC) complexes in regulating these complexes. The next step is to understand differentiation in embryonic stem how the activities of the complexes are regulated. The project will use high-throughput genomics, HDACs Mi-2 GATAD2 cells. epigenomics, and quantitative mass spectrom- etry, and will develop novel methods for studying he goal of 4DCellFate is to create a “four- the localization of proteins at a single-molecule dimensional map” across space (the level. The aim is to integrate the data into a multi- MTA MBD Rbbp4/7 Tgenome and cell) and time (during differ- scale model of gene regulation by the NuRD and entiation) of the regulatory functions of these PRC complexes during self-renewal and stem cell MTA1 MBD3a complexes. The project is funded by a European differentiation. MTA2 MBD3b Commission Seventh Framework Programme “A major goal of the project is to translate the MTA3 MBD2 NuRD (FP7) grant of almost 12 million Euros and brings understanding of the roles of these complexes together scientists from eight academic institutes, in stem cells into future molecular therapies. Nucleosome Remodeling and Deacetylase (NuRD) three biotech companies, and a large pharmaceu- In particular, the project will look at the epige- complex, one of the proteins involved in regulating tical company. The project will play a key role netic processes that deregulate gene expression differentiation in embryonic stem cells

EMBO Members FIONA WATT and DETLEF WEIGEL together with EMBO Associate Member RANDY SCHEKMAN are leading the editorial team of the new scientiﬁ c journal eLife. eLife, which is ﬁ nancially backed by the Wellcome Trust, the Max Planck Society and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, will launch an open access journal for the life and biomedical sciences later this year.

The editorial team of eLife will invite and unnecessary length restrictions. We will take full 2003, in recognition of his discoveries of how consider the best contributions from all advantage of the online format to smoothly inte- fl owering time and fl oral patterning are regulated. “sources in the life sciences and biomedical grate material that is often relegated to supple- In recent years, Weigel has focused on causes and community,” said Watt. “We will ensure fair, fast mentary PDF fi les. We will also aim to streamline consequences of naturally occurring genetic and and high-quality editorial decisions for all manu- the review process, by reducing revision cycles epigenetic variation. scripts through an evaluation process that will be and by having reviewers and editors consult to Randy Schekman, Professor at UC Berkeley carried out by active researchers representing the provide a consolidated view of their comments and HHMI Investigator, was elected an EMBO breadth of the scientifi c community.” in the decision letter. In these matters, we will Associate Member in 2000 and is widely known Watt, Director of the Centre for Stem Cells and build on several of the practices that have been for his work on the molecular mechanism of Regenerative Medicine at King’s College London, pioneered by the EMBO family of publications.” vesicular traffi c in the secretory pathway. has been an EMBO Member since 1999. She is Developments in digital media offer consid- eLife is scheduled to make its debut online widely recognized by the scientifi c community erable opportunities for the presentation of in late 2012. Further information is available at for elucidating mechanisms that control epider- research results. eLife intends to use the latest www.elifesciences.org mal stem cell renewal, differentiation and tissue digital media to increase the utility of data for assembly, and discovering how these processes further research and to broaden participation to are deregulated in disease. the widest possible audience. Expanding on the publishing process for Detlef Weigel, Director at the Max Planck the journal, Detlef Weigel said: “Because eLife Institute for Developmental Biology in is an online-only publication, there will be no Tübingen, was elected an EMBO Member in

Google map for genomes

Mining seven million scientiﬁ c research papers for DNA sequences to make useful connections, EMBO Fellow MAX HAEUSSLER created a new tool to facilitate the work of scientists.

Cruz, developed an online tool that integrates amounting to seven million articles for referenc- text data into the Human Genome Browser of es to DNA sequences. “For legal and technical the University of California. The search engine reasons it’s impossible to include all references identifi es bits of text that look like letters of a to genomic resources from all published research DNA sequence and links together all papers that articles in our search engine,” he says. “But we he scale of information in modern sciences mention that particular sequence. If, for example, aim to cover 60 – 80 percent.” is growing in a breathtaking way. Every someone writes about a gene and doesn’t use the The tool allows a researcher who is not an Tday more than two thousand research arti- correct name of this gene, only few people would expert on a particular gene to view all relevant cles are published and the volume of published fi nd it. But if the article includes any piece of the literature quickly and easily. “It’s similar to a data doubles every three years. Text-mining saves gene sequence, the search engine would identify Google map with various data sources that can researchers time by identifying papers that are it. The text-mining browser, which includes data be overlaid onto the genome with a mouse click,” the most relevant to their research area. from PubMed Central and Elsevier, went live in explains Haeussler. The genocoding project is a EMBO Fellow Max Haeussler has made an mid-May (http://text.soe.ucsc.edu). continuation of a previous plan that he initiated important contribution towards making better in 2006 as a biology graduate student together use of scientifi c data. Haeussler, a postdoctoral An ambitious plan. The young researcher wants with his colleague Casey Bergman. researcher at the University of California in Santa to scan all existing post-2000 scientifi c literature

MISSION IMPERATIVE © Denis Noble

DENIS NOBLE is President of the International Union of heart that generate cardiac rhythm. The model integrated channels, carriers, Physiological Sciences and Professor Emeritus at Oxford receptors, substrates, and other key components of cells. The breakthrough University. Noble was one of the fi rst researchers to was that it successfully reproduced the oscillation of the cardiac pacemaker. In his talk, Noble emphasized that cardiac rhythm is a property of the use computers to look at physiology and his work led system and there is no genetic program that directly makes it perform its to a working mathematical model of key molecular function. “Sometimes we drink too much from the reductionist agenda. It components in the heart that generate cardiac rhythm. is not correct to ask which gene leads to cardiac rhythm. It is a property of the higher-level components that make up the system,” commented Noble. He shared some of his thoughts on systems biology Noble’s lifelong research interests have progressed into the Physiome on a recent visit to Heidelberg to give a lecture at the project, a worldwide, public domain effort to provide a computational frame- Print Media Academy entitled The music of life: work for understanding physiology in humans and other organisms. The task is to develop integrative models at all levels of biological organisation, the principles of systems biology. from genes to the whole organism via gene regulatory networks, protein pathways, integrative cell function, and tissue and the relations between iologists need a heavy dose of humility. This was one of Denis Noble’s structure and function in whole organs. “This is incredibly ambitious,” said messages delivered towards the end of a talk given at the Print Media Noble “but we can see systems biology fi nding its feet. It is possible to unite BAcademy in Heidelberg, Germany, on 28 February. Noble was talk- theoretical approaches like computer modeling with practical research in ing about systems biology but the reference was to the human genome ways that have outcomes. Our work with computer modeling is proving project. “The problem with sequencing the human genome was that we useful in drug development.” Discoveries are emerging and applications are overpromised. There is no question that we had to do it but the hyperbole attracting the interest of pharmaceutical companies. went a bit far. Systems biologists should take note.” Noble’s research in systems biology has helped with the study of two According to Noble, we need a holistic approach to study the complex drugs for the treatment of angina. “For Ivabradine, we identifi ed the drug systems that make up life. Systems biology has many defi nitions but the target and showed that the drug could be a safe health intervention to goal is to map, understand, and model the whole network of interactions slow the beating of the heart,” remarked Noble. “For Ranolazine, we have that shape biology, all the way from molecules up to cells and the whole revealed valuable information on the safety of the drug that would have organism. “Such a project is enormous. It’s almost mission impossible but I been missed by looking at two specifi c effects in isolation.” would call it mission imperative.” Noble has been heavily involved in the activities of the International Noble put the scale of the adventure into perspective. “The human Union of Physiological Sciences, and he is currently in his second term as genome project was about fi nding the parts and we found around 25000 of President. When asked about the value of physiology in the era of personal- them. But the number of ways of putting those parts or genes together is ized medicine and individual diagnostics he remarked: “It is totally neces- vastly greater than the total number of fundamental particles in the universe, sary if we defi ne physiology as the study of function.” His advice to early- so it will take a long time to work it all out.” It turns out there are 1070000 stage researchers: “Take some risks.” ways of putting the parts together but a mere 1080 atoms in the universe. The talk, which was open to the general public, was organized by the Noble’s own work, which goes back many years, has focused on build- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, ing a reliable computer model for the human heart. He was one of the fi rst Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, and the UniversitätsKlinikum researchers to use computers to look at physiology and his research led Heidelberg. The Manfred Lautenschläger Stiftung provided fi nancial support to a working mathematical model of some of the key components in the for the lecture.

Practical Courses Workshops Conferences ESF | EMBO Symposia Computational biology: Cell biology of early mouse Chemical biology 2012 Molecular biology and innovative From genomes to cells and systems development DE-Heidelberg, therapies in sarcomas of childhood ES-L’Escala (Girona), UK-Cambridge, 26–29 September 2012 and adolescence 14–20 October 2012 9–12 September 2012 PL-Pułtusk, Telomeres and the DNA damage 29 September–4 October 2012 High-throughput microscopy for Structure-specifi c nucleases in DNA response systems biology replication and repair FR-L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, DE-Heidelberg, FR-Hyères, 2–6 October 2012 15–21 October 2012 16–20 September 2012 EMBO | EMBL Symposia The physiology of the Deadline for proposals Solution scattering from biological EMBO Molecular Medicine Workshop: endoplasmic reticulum (ER): macromolecules Molecular medicine of sphingolipids Function and dysfunction for EMBO | EMBL Symposia DE-Hamburg, IL-Ramot, ES-Caldes de Malavella, 2014 17–24 October 2012 16–21 October 2012 15–19 October 2012 Deadline Analysis of high-throughput Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Macrophages Experimental approaches to New! sequencing data in infl ammation and immunity evolution and ecology using yeast 1 August 2012 UK-Hinxton, FR-Marseille, DE-Heidelberg, 29 October–3 November 2012 17–19 January 2013 17–21 October 2012 EMBO | EMBL Symposia Metabolomics bioinformatics for life The Planctomycetes- From functional genomics to systems scientists Verrucomicrobia-Chlamydiae biology Diabetes and obesity UK-Hinxton, superphylum: Exceptions to the DE-Heidelberg, DE-Heidelberg, 25 February–1 March 2013 bacterial defi nition? 17–20 November 2012 13–16 September 2012 DE-Heidelberg, Quality control: High-throughput RNAi and data 28 February–2 March 2013 Critical assessment for protein analysis structure prediction (CASP10) From molecules to organelles DE-Heidelberg, Physical biology of cancer IT-Gaeta, DE-Heidelberg, 3–8 March 2013 IT-Candiolo, 9–12 December 2012 19–22 September 2012 7–9 March 2013 Postgenomic phylogenetics Protein transport systems: The complex life of mRNA IT-Erice, Chromosome segregation and From structure to function of DE-Heidelberg, 10–17 March 2013 aneuploidy translocation machines 7–10 October 2012 NL-Breukelen, HR-Dubrovnik, Germline: Imaging infection and immunity 22–26 June 2013 13–17 April 2013 ZA-Pretoria, Immortality through totipotency 2–13 April 2013 The molecular life of diatoms Eukaryotic RNA turnover: DE-Heidelberg, FR-Paris, From structural insights to diseases 13–16 October 2012 Metagenomics: 24–28 June 2013 FR-Illkirch, Evolution and ecology of model From the bench to data analysis 21–24 April 2013 DE-Heidelberg, organisms DE-Heidelberg, 14–20 April 2013 Global Exchange Spatial 2013: From spatial signalling to 1–4 May 2013 Super-resolution and advanced Lecture Courses sensing spatiality microscopies in living cells Cardiac biology: Innate immunity: Evolution and IL-Dead Sea, From development to FR-Montpellier, 24–28 April 2013 15–18 May 2013 advances in clinical medicine regenerative medicine ZA-Johannesburg, Chromatin and epigenetics DE-Heidelberg, High-throughput protein production 2–5 September 2012 DE-Heidelberg, 7–9 June 2013 and crystallization 8–12 May 2013 UK-Harwell, Bioinformatics for microbial 15–23 May 2013 genomics and metagenomics Allosteric interactions and biological MA-Rabat, regulation Exploiting anomalous scattering 4–10 November 2012 FR-Paris, in macromolecular structure 14–17 May 2013 determination Structural and biophysical methods for biological macromolecules in FR-Grenoble, The biology of molecular chaperones: For an up-to-date list of 3–7 June 2013 solution From molecules, organelles and cells IN-Hyderabad, to misfolding diseases EMBO events please go to Developmental neurobiology: 29 November–6 December 2012 IT-Santa Margherita di Pula, From worms to mammals 17–22 May 2013 events.embo.org UK-London, 30 June–13 July 2013 EMBO | FEBS Lecture Courses Other EMBO events Biomembranes: Molecular The EMBO Practical Course on architecture, dynamics and function Computational molecular The EMBO Meeting 2012 FR-Cargèse, evolution FR-Nice, 10–20 June 2013 that took place in Heraklion from 22–25 September 2012 29 April to 10 May 2012 was featured on Greek TV. EMBO Members’ Meeting DE-Heidelberg, Watch the video on www.youtube.com/ 24–26 October 2012 watch?v=v7d2VnRmnek 13th EMBL | EMBO Funding for Science and Society Conference plenary lectures Biodiversity in the balance: EMBO supports plenary lectures Causes and consequences given by EMBO Members at major DE-Heidelberg, international scientifi c meetings 9–10 November 2012 EMBO Plenary Lectures deadlines 1 March, 1 June, 1 September, 1 December Organizers Apply now for 2013 funding For further information, please go to EMBO Courses & Workshops Bi-annual deadlines www.embo.org/programmes/ 1 March, 1 August courses-workshops/

THE EMBO EMBO JOURNAL Molecular Medicine

RESEARCH ARTICLE SCIENTIFIC REPORT EDITORIAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Naturally occurring protein Antibiotic treatment increases Towards an Telomerase gene therapy has a role in chronic pain the severity of asthma in young “Oceans Systems Biology” slows ageing, improves health mice in mice Researchers in France and Sweden The two-and-a-half-year TARA have discovered how one of the OCEANS expedition fi nished on Gene therapy allows older mice to body’s own proteins is involved in 31 March when the ship and crew live longer, healthier lives. Mice generating chronic pain in rats. The reached Lorient, France. The arrival that received a single gene-therapy fi ndings also suggest therapeutic completed a journey of 60 000 treatment to deliver telomerase to interventions to alleviate long-last- miles across all the major oceans of different cells in the body showed ing pain. Chronic pain is persistent the world to sample and investi- drastic improvements in health, and often diffi cult to treat. It is gate microorganisms in the largest fi tness and longevity. due, at least in part, to changes in ecosystem on the planet. molecular signalling events that “Life and evolution started in the take place in neurons, alterations oceans, yet we know very little that can ultimately disrupt the about the distribution of marine transmission of nerve signals from biodiversity,” said Eric Karsenti, the spinal cord to the brain. senior scientist at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, and ©2012 EMBO reports | Krahl/Finlay/Russell Co-Director of the TARA OCEANS Treatment with the antibiotic project. “If it were not for these vancomycin increases the sever- microorganisms we would not ity of allergic asthma in young exist. First, we are their evolution-

mice, researchers in Canada have ary descendants and second they © 2012 CNIO revealed. The results are consistent generate the atmosphere of the with the hygiene hypothesis that Earth.” “Gene therapy is typically thought links the loss of beneﬁ cial bacteria of as a way to deliver genes into in the community of microorgan- cells to correct genetic defects or isms in the gut, collectively known diseases. However, if we consider as the microbiota, to the onset of that ageing is, at least in part, the asthma. consequence of defective gene

©2012 The EMBO Journal “We administered antibiotics to mice function, gene therapy is also a of different ages to determine if valid strategy to delay ageing or “We are fortunate to have a wide there was a link between the make- to increase lifespan,” said Maria range of technologies that allow us up of the microbial community in Blasco, one of the lead authors to look more precisely at the molec- the gut and the extent of experi- of the study and Director of the ©F.Aurat / Tara ©F.Aurat / Tara Expéditions ular events that lead to the onset of mentally induced allergic asthma,” Spanish National Cancer Research chronic pain in animals,” said Marc said Brett Finlay, Professor at the The next phase of the project, Centre. “Our results show that Landry, lead author of the study Michael Smith Laboratories at the which involves analysing the scien- telomerase gene therapy is not only and Professor at the University of University of British Columbia, tifi c data and building predictive a viable anti-ageing intervention Bordeaux. “Our results show that Canada. “Treatment of young mice computational models, has already but it also has remarkably benefi - the levels of the naturally occur- with the antibiotic vancomycin begun. TARA Oceans is recruiting cial effects on health and fi tness ring protein 14-3-3 zeta are higher reduced the diversity of microbes about 20 postdoctoral researchers without increasing the incidence of in the spinal cord of rats that have in the gut, signifi cantly altered at multiple locations to support the cancer.” chronic pain. Moreover, we have the composition of the bacte- data analysis, interpretation and been able to demonstrate how rial population, and increased the model building. Further details Telomerase gene therapy in adult and 14-3-3 zeta triggers changes in the susceptibility of young animals to are available at www.embl.org/ old mice delays ageing and increases signalling pathway that leads to the experimentally induced asthma.” tara_oceans longevity without increasing cancer Bruno Bernardes de Jesus, Elsa Vera, symptoms of chronic pain.” Kerstin Schneeberger, Agueda M Tejera, Early life antibiotic-driven changes in Towards an “Oceans Systems Biology” Eduard Ayuso, Fatima Bosch, Maria A. microbiota enhance susceptibility to Karsenti E. Blasco Impairment of GABAB receptor dimer by endogenous 14-3-3 zeta in chronic pain allergic asthma Molecular Systems Biology EMBO Molecular Medicine conditions Shannon L. Russell, Matthew J. Gold, Read the paper: Sophie Laffray, Rabia Bouali-Benazzouz, Martin Hartmann, Benjamin P Willing, Read the editorial: Lisa Thorson, Marta Wlodarska, Navkiran Marie-Amélie Papon, Alexandre Favereaux, www.nature.com/msb/journal/v8/n1/full/ http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com Gill, Marie-Renée Blanchet, William Mohn, Yang Jiang, Tina Holm, Corentin Spriet, msb20128.html doi/10.1002/emmm.201200245/full Kelly McNagny, Brett Finlay doi: 10.1002/emmm.201200245 Pascal Desbarats, Pascal Fossat, doi:10.1038/msb.2012.8 Yves Le feuvre, Marion Decossas, EMBO Reports Laurent Héliot, Ulo Langel, Frédéric Nagy, Marc Landry Read the paper: The EMBO Journal www.nature.com/embor/journal/v13/n5/abs/ embor201232a.html Read the paper: doi:10.1038/embor.2012.32 doi: 10.1038/emboj.2012.161

Fourth edition of the “bible” of molecular cloning

Even classics deserve an update. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual has served as an indispensable source of technical expertise in laboratories around the world for 30 years. In June 2012, the fourth edition of this inﬂ uential work will be published after several years of careful nurturing by founding author JOE SAMBROOK of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, Melbourne, Australia, and new co-author MICHAEL R. GREEN from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States.

olecular Cloning was introduced in 1982 closely with the many researchers from the on bioinformatics describes the use of analyti- Mas a collection of essential molecular biol- molecular biology community who have both cal tools for comparing the sequences of genes ogy protocols that would serve the life science helped to defi ne the content and made outstand- and proteins and identifying shared expression community. The collection was based on the ing contributions to this practical resource.” patterns among sets of genes. The new edition, protocols used during the 1980 Cold Spring Ten years have passed since the last edition which extends to almost 2000 pages and is spread Harbor Laboratory Course on the Molecular and molecular biology continues to develop at over three volumes, also includes an up-to-date Cloning of Eukaryotic Genes. While it was not the a bewildering pace. Core chapters from previ- collection of reagents, vectors, media, detection fi rst manual to be published, it is fair to say that ous editions have been revised to feature the systems, and commonly used techniques. it is the book that put the techniques of molecular current best practice strategies for cloning of “It is always a signifi cant challenge to keep up cloning within easy reach of almost all laboratory nucleic acids, gene transfer, and gene expression to date with the latest protocols in molecular biol- practitioners in the life sciences. analysis. 12 new chapters have been added to ogy. I think this book continues to serve a real “We believe that the latest edition of Molecular cover those research areas that have emerged or need for researchers and I hope the fourth edition Cloning: A Laboratory Manual carries on the signifi cantly changed in the past decade, includ- encourages scientists to explore new techniques tradition of accuracy, clarity and attention to ing epigenetic analyses, RNA interference, and that will lead to breakthrough discoveries,” said detail that have come to be expected from this genome sequencing. Recognizing that much of Joe Sambrook. publication,” remarked EMBO Associate Member the recent research in genomics has been linked Michael Green. “It has been a pleasure to work to a deluge of computational data, a new chapter

The Spark of Life

EMBO Member FRANCES ASHCROFT has published a new popular science book entitled The Spark of Life: Electricity in the human body. In this book, Ashcroft explains how ion channels give rise to the electrical events in our brain, heart and muscle cells, and how they underlie many other physiological processes.

ays Ashcroft: “Ion channels are found in a series of real-life stories. These tales are inter- every cell on Earth and they govern every weaved with descriptions of some of the many Saspect of our lives, from consciousness to engaging personalities who have studied them sexual attraction, from ﬁ ghting infection to the over the years.” beating of our hearts and our ability to see and Ashcroft is a Royal Society Research Professor hear.” She adds: “What I have tried to do is to at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Trinity explain how ion channels work, how they are College, Oxford. the targets for many drugs and toxins and how The book is published by Allen Lane (Penguin their malfunction can cause disease, through Books) and is available from 28 June 2012.

Does the creative process follow the same principles in scientists and artists? Are scientists and artists driven by a similar kind of deeply rooted curiosity? These are questions not often asked by molecular biologists. Indeed, the laboratory and the art studio are two microcosms that rarely overlap.

an-Michael Peters, Senior Scientist and Deputy Director at the Research genome and characterized the assembly of these mitosis genes into “molec- Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna, is a biologist and an art ular machines.” MitoSys, which started in June 2010, is a large European Jlover. He is also the coordinator of MitoSys (systems biology of mito- Union project that integrates the work of leading mathematicians, biochem- sis), a 10 million Euro, fi ve-year scientifi c research project funded by the ists, biophysicists, biologists, and artists. European Commission Seventh Framework (FP7) Programme. The aim of Artakt of the University of the Arts in London recently joined the consor- MitoSys is to generate a comprehensive mathematical understanding of tium of twelve participating research institutions and companies. Artakt mitotic cell division. It is a follow-up project of MitoCheck, which identifi ed Director Marina Wallace devises and curates the ambitious art project 600 human genes involved in mitosis out of the 22,000 genes in the human Meeting of Minds — the main outreach activity of MitoSys. The project involves artists from diverse disciplines – dance, ceramics, sculpture and fi ne arts – who work with researchers and complement their scientifi c advances. The participants have been paired to form four couples, each involving a scientist who specializes in a particular aspect of mitosis and an artist as partner. The pairs meet regularly to gain insight into the disci- pline and expertise of each partner. Four short videos of the interactions that elucidate the science and document the communication process will be incorporated into the docu- mentary Meeting of Minds. The screening of the fi lm is part of an exhibition that will tour several European cities.

The pairings promise to deliver unique and diverse pieces of art. Geneticist Kim Nasmyth will be accompanied by experimental choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh. Cell biologist Tony Hyman is joined by artists Ackroyd & Harvey whose work includes sculpture, photography and architecture. Meiosis expert Melina Schuh will team up with Rob Kesseler, Visual Artist and Professor at the Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design. Visual artists Lucy and Jorge Orta will interpret the work of cell-cycle expert Jan-Michael Peters. “I am curious and thrilled about the outcome of the art project,” says coordinator Jan-Michael Peters. “Even though artists and scientists have completely different means of approaching their subjects, I have a feeling that we might all be driven by the same fundamental questions about the mechanisms of life.”

Florid Rob Kesseler 2011 Porcelain and glass panel

Installation view of exhibition Florid at Roundhouse Design London for the London Design Festival. Porcelain vase with printed decal of stem section of Chrysanthemum coronarium (crown daisy) stained with Safranin. Glass panel with printed image of a stained stem section of Gennaria diphylla (two leaved gennaria). ©Rob Kesseler

The INSTITUTO DE MEDICINA MOLECULAR (IMM; imm.fm.ul.pt), in Lisbon, Portugal, is seeing the benefi ts of a focused strategy for research and innovation in the biomedical sciences. In 2011, the institute witnessed further increases in scientifi c productivity and funding, which were also refl ected by increased international recognition for the work of its researchers.

IMM at a glance

➔ Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM), Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa ➔ Founded: 2001 ➔ Total number of researchers: 435 ➔ Research units: 28 ➔ Start-up companies: 3 ➔ Total expenditure 2011: 11 million Euros ➔ Competitive funding: 5 million Euros

Recent International Awards:

➔ Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Early Career Scientist award 2011 Luísa Figueiredo ➔ Early Career Bayer Hemophilia Award 2011 Vanessa Oliveira Boosting dendritic cell function to facilitate tolerance induction to recombinant clotting factor ➔ Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Explorations Programme 2011 João Gonçalves Nanotechnology against viral latency: Sensor strategies to eliminate HIV-1 infected cells We have never lost sight of what is the most important objective for ➔ ERC Starting Grant 2010 the institute: excellent science refl ecting best practice in patient care Bruno Silva-Santos and disease control. This is our goal and we pursue it by recruiting “ Differentiation of pro-infl ammatory T cell subsets in vivo outstanding young group leaders and creating a network of relevant part- ➔ ners,” says Maria Carmo-Fonseca, EMBO Member and Executive Director of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the IMM. Grand Challenges Explorations Programme 2010 The IMM recently created the Lisbon Academic Medical Centre joint- Miguel Prudêncio ly with the Santa Maria Hospital and the Lisbon Medical School at the A new whole-organism vaccine against malaria University of Lisbon. A whole campus of facilities in Lisbon is now dedicated to the development of the academic dimension of clinical practice, which provides renewed support for the concept of a teaching hospital. This strategy already impacted the scientifi c productivity of the institute. In 2011, IMM attracted record funding and published a higher number of papers in high impact factor journals. Competitive funding was 5 million Euros in 2011 and total research expenditure reached 11 million Euros. In 2011, researchers at the institute published 287 papers in peer-reviewed scientifi c journals; 23 of these publications were in journals with an impact factor of 10 or higher. Many of the published papers arose from close collab- oration between IMM research groups and hospital teams. The recruitment of outstanding interdisciplinary researchers from around the world is also an important component of the IMM strategy. Luísa Figueiredo, for example, was awarded an EMBO Installation Grant in 2010 to establish a research group at IMM and has now been appointed a Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Early Career Scientist. At the age of 38, Figueiredo leads a team devoted to unraveling antigenic variation in Trypanosoma brucei, the protozoan parasite that causes sleep- ing sickness (African trypanosomiasis). “The research community has a responsibility to society not only to deliver high quality scientifi c research and training but also to support economic development,” says Carmo-Fonseca.

A global initiative Towards an HIV Cure was launched under the auspices of the International AIDS Society. The fi rst objective of a working group of internationally recognized scientists that has been brought together to guide this initiative is to defi ne the scientifi c priorities that research needs to address to tackle HIV persistence in patients on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART). EMBO Member FRANÇOISE BARRÉ- SINOUSSI from the Institut Pasteur, France, is co-chairing the working ©Institut France Pasteur group and advisory board.

here are currently two distinct defi nitions targeting the residual replication of the virus in The scientifi c strategy Towards an HIV Cure of a cure for HIV. One is called a steriliz- patients on HAART; blocking the proliferation of will be offi cially launched at a scientifi c sympo- Ting cure — the eradication of HIV from latently infected cells and eliminating infected sium in advance of the AIDS 2012 conference in the body. The other, a functional cure, would not cells by immune intervention strategies; targeting Washington DC, USA, from 22 – 27 July. eliminate the virus but allow a person to remain abnormal immune activation and infl ammation healthy without antiretroviral medicine. This in patients on HAART. More information can also be found at: global scientifi c initiative will provide a scien- “We do not know which strategy will prove www.iasociety.org/Default.aspx?pageId=349 tifi c road map towards both of these approaches. successful, but most probably a combined Several strategies are being explored according approach will be necessary to achieve a cure,” to the current basic knowledge on HIV replica- says Françoise Barré-Sinoussi who received the tion and persistence: purging the reservoirs by 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for reactivating the virus in latently infected cells; co- discovering HIV.

Expansion for the Pasteur Institute, Rome

Construction work is almost complete. The ISTITUTO PASTEUR – FONDAZIONE CENCI BOLOGNETTI (www.istitutopasteur.it), the Italian member of the Institut Pasteur International Network, will have new laboratories. The newly built facilities are located in premises at Sapienza University in Rome close to other facilities and researchers.

he Institute, which was established A call for applicants will be announced short- according to the legacy of Beatrice Cenci ly. “The expansion represents an opportunity for The Istituto Pasteur – TBolognetti, has a thirty-year history of scientists from all over the globe to contribute Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti funding research projects at Sapienza University. to the research mission of the Pasteur Institute,” ➔ Non-profi t foundation It directly interacts with the Institut Pasteur in says President Paolo Amati. “The selected candi- Paris and encourages the study of mechanisms dates will be chosen by an international scientifi c ➔ Part of the Institut Pasteur that regulate the fundamental processes of life committee and awarded fi ve-year positions that International Network since 1970 and disease. The Institut Pasteur International are renewable depending upon performance,” ➔ Research activities supported by Network – or Réseau – includes 32 members adds Amati. training programs and initiatives to worldwide. promote science in society Over the past 30 years, the Institute has supported research projects in microbiology, ➔ Tradition of excellence in virology, molecular genetics, cellular and molecu- the life sciences lar immunology, as well as the biology of malaria and other vector borne diseases. Recently, the institute has also promoted the study of stem cell biology.

Joining forces for better vaccines Buchmann Immunization is one of the most important health advances in history. It is a proven tool for controlling and even eliminating infectious diseases Institute for like measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio and many others. Despite the huge progress, new immunization technologies are needed that Molecular Life can lead to the development of safe and more effective vaccines. Sciences new high-impact project called ADITEC of immunization, immunization schedules, as (Advanced Immunization Technologies) well as the impact of host factors such as age, A has been founded to accelerate the devel- gender, genetics and pathologies. A systems biol- opment of immunization technologies for human ogy approach will be used to study licensed and vaccines. ADITEC is a 30 million Euro, ﬁ ve-year experimental vaccines in patient characterization project funded by the European Commission studies and clinical trials. Pre-clinical models Seventh Framework (FP7) Programme. It brings will complement human studies to select novel together some of the most competitive European immunization technologies to be advanced to the research groups from public institutions and clinic. biotechnology companies and top US groups working on systems biology and adjuvants. More information can be found on EMBO Member Rino Rappuoli from Novartis www.aditecproject.eu or in the April issue of

© 2011 | Angelina Mitschke Vaccines for Global Health and Sclavo Vaccines Science Translational Medicine. Association is the project coordinator. Studies will investigate the effect of adjuvants, The Frankfurt Institute for vectors, formulations, delivery devices, routes Molecular Life Sciences is now the Buchmann Institute for Prac O EMB tic Molecular Life Sciences. The EMBO| FEBS Coursea Evolution in the Global ExchangeThehe programmeurs for this event change in name coincides with Le B was reviewedprogog and approved by the revievi graramrammamm ctureO CourseLectuLecture Seriesviewewed mmm e EEMEMBEMBO Courseed Committee.efefoe fo MBO anand rrth th a signiﬁ cant donation from he The programmeprogr for this event Course Committeth time of genomics programme for this event reviewview app isses e e eCo was rreviewed and approved by vent vi EMEMBEMBOB rove nt ewed and approved by the thethe EMBOCommittee.Co Global Exchange d by t Frankfurt businessman JOSEF ou the rse Committee and theur e. Advanced Coursesthis event om oved by t se BUCHMANN to the activities mittee. he EMBO Workshop Evolution in the time and the he of Goethe University. The EMBO|s EMBL of genomics took place in Venice, Italy, in B May 2012. The availability of full genome institute was founded in 2009 SSy O T ymposiummpm sequences has provided new possibilities for the hhe | e programmep for this eventE EMBO r MBLM investigation of evolution. In many cases, bioin- as a multidisciplinary center eviewed and approvedoss by EMB iiu O|EMBL Symposiaor th u formatics tools can be used to investigate evolu- Committee. m of excellence for the study of his e pp sevev rovedveenent mpo veded nt Workshop tionary changes in more detail with even greater d sia byby biological macromolecules. The programme for this event precision. The workshop included talks from EMBOE was reviewed and approved by the Further information on the e EMBO Course Committee. international scientists interested in using the erenncec latest genomics approaches to look at evolution. activities of the Buchmann onferenceonfonf t C Topics for discussion ranged from the inheritance TheT programme for this event O Institute for Molecular Life was reviewed and approved by the of acquired characteristics, mobile elements and EMBO Course Committee. EMB a Sciences are available in the Exch genome evolution, and mitochondrial evolution al to gene expression and genome variation, as well winter 2011/2012 issue of ob Cou EMBO Globalu Exch as approaches for directing evolution. A full meet- EMBOencounters (page 13). ct h ing report by Eugene Koonin will be published in Lecture Cop Workshop e pr x TheThhhe programmeewed and foral ap t E the August issue of EMBO Reports. rerevi Glob

aspects of chromatin and epigenetics amounts and regeneration, and novel ways to modify the Barcelona to almost one hundred. So it does not come chromatin building block. According to Marcus Chromatin as a surprise that Spanish life scientists have Buschbeck, EMBO Fellow and BCC coordina- now founded the Barcelona Chromatin Club tor, the symposia offer a unique opportunity Club (BCC). The club launched its activities by for local and international groups to discuss organizing a series of six-monthly symposia, a hot topic during a one-day symposium. founded co-sponsored by the Institute for Predictive and PhD students and postdoctoral researchers Personalized Medicine of Cancer (IMPPC). The are an important target group: for them, the oday, Barcelona is considered a desirable kick-off symposium that took place in mid-June BCC provides awards for short talks at each Taddress for researchers working on chroma- discussed DNA methylation in cancer – chal- of the symposia and also covers the costs of tin and epigenetics (see also EMBOencounters lenges and opportunities. Topics planned for hotel accommodation. To ﬁ nd out more about Summer 2011). The number of Barcelona-based later sessions include chromatin in pluripoten- upcoming BCC events go to www.imppc.org. research groups with interests in at least some cy, epigenetic regulation of tissue development

The winners of The EMBO Journal Cover Contest 2012 are MARTIN OEGGERLI for best scientiﬁ c image and ERIC RÖTTINGER for best non-scientiﬁ c image. © Martin Oeggerli

Winner Best Scientiﬁ c Image by Winner Best Non-Scientiﬁ c Image Martin Oeggerli: Water-repellent by Eric Röttinger: A representative network on the surface of a of the Lima genus: bivalve molluscs mosquito egg (from Culex pipiens). that swim by clapping their shells together. ©Credit Eric Röttinger

n image showing a water-repellent network on the surface of a possible to better present the fi ligree tentacles of the Lima species, whose mosquito egg (from Culex pipiens) won the scientifi c category. natural living environment is a sandy terrain. A“Mosquito eggs are as much revolutionary as they are evolutionary Eric is also the co-founder of the non-profi t organization Kahi Kai (‘one – they are so fascinating, you think you must be dreaming,” says science ocean’ in native Hawai’ian) and has a profound interest in protecting the photographer Oeggerli. fascinating and highly endangered marine world. Visit www.kahikaiimages. The highest scores in the non-scientifi c category were for an image of a com if you would like to see more amazing portraits of sea creatures. bivalve mollusc that swims by clapping its shells together. This year, more than 1500 images were submitted to this annual contest. “Our goal is to highlight the beauty, elegance and fragility of the marine The winning images were published on the front cover of both April issues organisms,” says Röttinger who works on marine invertebrates at the of The EMBO Journal. Kewalo Marine Laboratory in Hawai’i, USA. For his photo shootings he normally uses a miniature studio with a black or white background and To view the winning images and a gallery of the shortlisted pictures visit: combines it with an aquarium. In this case, the black background made it http://covercontest.embo.org/Winners_2012.html

Editorial Next issue

Managing Editor Barry Whyte Editor Yvonne Kaul The next EMBOencounters issue – Autumn 2012 – will be Proofreading Meryl Schneider dispatched in October 2012. Please send your suggestions, Print layout Uta Mackensen contributions and news, to [email protected] Web version Aditya Kusuma Jati by 17 September 2012. E-newsletter Sandra Krahl, Katja Linssen

Diabetes and Obesity ORGANIZERS KEYNOTE SPEAKERS Jens Brüning Richard DiMarchi 13–16 September 2012 Matthias Tschöp Jeffrey M. Friedman Markus Stoffel

DEADLINES ABSTRACT SUBMISSION 5 JULY 2012 | REGISTRATION 2 AUGUST 2012

Quality Control ORGANIZERS KEYNOTE SPEAKERS From Molecules to Organelles Bernd Bukau Elisa Izaurralde John Diffley Stefan Jentsch 19–22 September 2012 Matthias Hentze Jonathan Weissman

DEADLINES ABSTRACT SUBMISSION 9 AUGUST 2012 | REGISTRATION 30 AUGUST 2012

The Complex Life of ORGANIZERS KEYNOTE SPEAKERS mRNA Anne Ephrussi Elena Conti Nahum Sonenberg Steven L. McKnight 7–10 October 2012 Joan A. Steitz Nikolaus Rajewsky David Tollervey

DEADLINES ABSTRACT SUBMISSION 2 AUGUST 2012 | REGISTRATION 23 AUGUST 2012

Germline ORGANIZERS KEYNOTE SPEAKERS Immortality through Totipotency Edith Heard Angelika Amon Ruth Lehmann John Gurdon 13–16 October 2012 Janet Rossant Azim Surani

DEADLINES ABSTRACT SUBMISSION 9 AUGUST 2012 | REGISTRATION 30 AUGUST 2012

www.embo-embl-symposia.org

18 EMBOencounters | Summer 2012 | [email protected] ©2012 EMBO AWARDS – A GOOD READ – APPOINTMENTS Events Awards of excellence EMBO MEMBERS EMBO MEMBERS EMBO Member Sydney Brenner of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, US, is one of the Cozzarelli Prize InBev-Baillet Latour Health Prize speakers at the Conference on Systems Biology of Mammalian Cells 2012 from 9 – 11 July 2012 at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, Germany. US National Academy of Sciences Artois-Baillet Latour Foundation More information at: www.conventus.de/sbmc2012 Roland Kanaar and colleagues have Gero Miesenböck from the University of been awarded the 2011 Cozzarelli Prize Oxford, UK, was awarded this prize for his for the paper Mild hyperthermia inhibits work in neurosciences. He has pioneered homologous recombination, induces BRCA2 the fi eld of optogenetics, which uses A good read – degradation, and sensitizes cancer cells to genetic strategies for imaging nerve cell poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 inhibition. activity and for controlling with light the Publications from the EMBO Community In total, the Proceedings of the National function of brain cells and animal behavior. Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Editorial Board Worth 250,000 Euros, this is one of the most Changes in exon – intron structure during ESCRT-III governs the Aurora B-mediated has selected six papers published by PNAS important science prizes in Belgium. vertebrate evolution affect the splicing abscission checkpoint through CHMP4C in 2011 to receive the Cozzarelli Prize. pattern of exons Teva Prize Juan Martin-Serrano Royal Medal Gil Ast (EMBO Member) et al. (EMBO Young Investigator) et al. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Founders Royal Society of London Genome Research | January 2012 Science | 13 April 2012 Karen B. Avraham of the Tel Aviv University, doi:10.1101/gr.119834.110 doi: 10.1126/science.1217180 Robin Holliday has been awarded a Royal Israel, was awarded the 2011 Teva Prize for Medal for his infl uential discoveries of the groundbreaking research in the fi eld of rare Unsupervised modeling of cell morphol- The GATA2 transcriptional network is ‘Holliday junction’ molecular structure and diseases. The jury recognized her as “one ogy dynamics for time-lapse microscopy requisite for Ras oncogene-driven non- the function of DNA methylation. The Royal of the leading researchers in the world in Daniel W. Gerlich small cell lung cancer Medal is awarded for important contribu- inherited hearing loss.” (EMBO Young Investigator), Axel Behrens (EMBO Member), Madhu S. tions in the physical, biological and applied Juan P Fededa (EMBO Fellow) et al. Kumar (EMBO Fellow) et al. sciences. E.C. Stakman Award Nature Methods | 27 May 2012 Cell | 27 April 2012 University of Minnesota doi: 10.1038/nmeth.2046 doi:10.1016/j.cell.2012.02.059 German Cancer Aid Award Jonathan Jones of the Sainsbury German Cancer Aid Site-specifi c DICER and DROSHA RNA Mutations in ISPD cause Walker-Warburg Laboratory at the Norwich Research Park, products control the DNA-damage syndrome and defective glycosylation of Peter Krammer of the German UK, has received the 2012 E.C. Stakman response α-dystroglycan Cancer Research (Deutsches Award for his outstanding achievements in Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) is awarded the fi eld of plant pathology. Fabrizio d’Adda di Fagagna Karen Buysse (EMBO Fellow) et al. (EMBO Member) et al. the 2011 German Cancer Aid Award Nature Genetics | 22 April 2012 (Deutscher Krebshilfe Preis) jointly with Nature | 23 May 2012 doi: 10.1038/ng.2253 doi: 10.1038/nature11179 Professor Dr. Klaus-Michael Debatin of SUMOylation and phosphorylation of Ulm University Hospitals. The award is Rab5 is necessary for the biogenesis of GluK2 regulate kainate receptor traffi ck- given to the two scientists in recognition of their pioneering research into signaling the endolysosomal system in vivo ing and synaptic plasticity pathways that lead to cell death and can Jerome Gilleron (EMBO Fellow) et al. Inmaculada M González-González slow down cancer growth. Nature | 24 May 2012 (EMBO Fellow) et al. doi: 10.1038/nature11133 YOUNG INVESTIGATORS Nature Neuroscience | 22 April 2012 Ernst Jung Prize Peroxiredoxins are conserved markers of doi: 10.1038/nn.3089 Ernst Jung Foundation for Science and Friedrich Miescher Award circadian rhythms Research DBIR complex integrates alternative Swiss Society for Biochemistry Akhilesh B. Reddy mRNA splicing with RNA polymerase II The 2012 Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine Richard Benton of the University of (EMBO Young Investigator) et al. transcript elongation is shared by Elisa Izaurralde of the Max Lausanne, Switzerland, received this prize Nature | 16 May 2012 Planck Institute for Developmental Biology Pierre Close (EMBO Fellow) et al. considered Switzerland’s highest honour doi: 10.1038/nature11088 in Tübingen, Germany, and Peter Walter Nature | 19 April 2012 for upcoming researchers in the fi eld of from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Atomic model of the type III secretion doi: 10.1038/nature10925 biochemistry. Benton also received the in San Francisco, US. Elisa Izaurralde is system needle Young Investigator Award for Research Telomeric DNA damage is irreparable and recognized for her contributions to the fi eld in Olfaction from the Association for Antoine Loquet (EMBO Fellow) et al. causes persistent DNA-damage-response of RNA-mediated gene regulation. Walter Chemoreception Sciences this year. Nature | 20 May 2012 activation receives the prize for his work on the doi:10.1038/nature11079 mechanisms of production and quality Göran Gustafsson Prize for Chemistry Maria Pia Longhese, Fabrizio d’Adda di control of secretory proteins. Both winners Functional metabolic screen identifi es Göran Gustafsson Foundation Fagagna (EMBO Members) et al. share the 300,000 Euros prize money. 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose- Nature Cell Biology | 18 March 2012 Luca Jovine of the Karolinska Institute, 2,6-biphosphatase 4 as an important doi: 10.1038/ncb2466 Senior Scientist Award Sweden, is awarded this prize for his regulator of prostate cancer cell survival crystallographic studies of fertilization. The Synchronization of secretory protein traf- International Society For Computational Almut Schulze award is considered the most important fi c in populations of cells Biology (ISCB) (EMBO Young Investigator) et al. prize for young researchers in Sweden. Valentina Mercanti (EMBO Fellow) et al. Gunnar von Heijne, director of the Cancer Discovery | April 2012 Wellcome Trust doi:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-11-0234 Nature Methods | 11 March 2012 Stockholm Center for Biomembrane doi: 10.1038/nmeth.1928 Research in Sweden, has been recognized Senior Research Fellowship Spatial partitioning of the regulatory with the Accomplishment By a Senior Rob Klose of the University of Oxford has landscape of the X-inactivation center Tonic signaling from O2 sensors sets Scientist Award for his contribution to the been selected as a Wellcome Trust Senior neural circuit activity and behavioral fi eld of computational biology. “He is one of Nils Blüthgen (EMBO Fellow) et al. Research Fellow this year. This highly state the few who completely changed the fi eld Nature | 17 May 2012 competitive fellowship lasts fi ve years and using computational methods and also had doi: 10.1038/nature11049 Karl Emanuel Busch (EMBO Fellow) et al. provides core support for postdoctoral an experimental lab running,” commented Nature Neuroscience | 4 March 2012 scientists based in academic institutions in Insights into hominid evolution from the doi: 10.1038/nn.3061 Burkhard Rost, president of the ISCB. the UK and Republic of Ireland. gorilla genome sequence Richard Durbin (EMBO Member), Long-term, effi cient inhibition of micro- Duncan T. Odom RNA function in mice using rAAV vectors (EMBO Young Investigator) et al. Stefan L. Ameres (EMBO Fellow) et al. Nature | 8 March 2012 Nature Methods | 4 March 2012 doi:10.1038/nature10842 10.1038/nmeth.1903 Appointments EMBO MEMBER EMBO FELLOW Grants EMBO Member Hans Clevers, director of EMBO Fellow Jan Tuckermann started a the Hubrecht Institute for Developmental full professorship at the University of Ulm, European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grants Biology and Stem Cell Research (Utrecht, Germany, to lead the Institute of General the Netherlands), succeeded Robbert Zoology and Endocrinology in April. The Forty-two EMBO Members and Young Investigators were awarded European Research Dijkgraaf as President of the Royal institute deals with mechanisms of the Council (ERC) Advanced Grants in 2012. The list of the latest awardees is downloadable at: Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences hormonal control of developmental and http://erc.europa.eu/erc-funded-projects (KNAW) on 1 June 2012. ageing processes.

Nice, the city of great sea views at the heart of the French Riviera, is the venue of The EMBO Meeting 2012, which will take place 22 – 25 September. To help participants fi ll their free time For a short exercise, walk up to the chateau in-between or after the scientifi c sessions, EMBOencounters asked and enjoy a breathtaking view of the sea and the local scientifi c community for their favourite spots in town. the old town. A tea at the hotel La Perouse

is another opportunity to admire the blue ©OTC générale du port de Nice | Vue Nice Médias – Kelagopian waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

EMBO Member Minoo Rassoulzadegan from the University of Nice recommends to visit the old town early in the morning and to take a walk along the promenade from the harbour to the ﬂ ower market cours Saleya. “A coffee outside the nearby baroque church La Misericorde with a view of the chateau is just a perfect experience,” she says.

“Walk in the narrow street of old town and stop by at Chez René off Rue Pairolière to get socca (a crèpe made with chick pea ﬂ our), and A view of Place Massena Cours Saleya Corsica beer à la chataigne. The restaurant la market in the morning Merenda in the Rue Miralheti is my favorite place to have beignets de ﬂ eurs de courges (fried zucchini blossoms) or sardines farçies (stuffed sardines) and other local delicacies. It is a small and charming restaurant with no phone or credit card service. For a late-night experience, the pubs Akathor and Shapko offer a relaxed atmosphere and live music.”

“For a peaceful moment, visit the Art Asiatique museum on the sea border or move up the hill to the Matisse Museum. Do not forget the Monastère de Cimiez, a convent showing ﬁ fteen- century paintings by the locally prominent Bréa brothers. From the magniﬁ cent gardens, you’ll have an impressive view of the Baie des Anges. Matisse is buried in the convent’s cemetery.“

Minoo Rassoulzadegan cours tram stop in the Saleya market Valrose Université Modern art at the There is still time 4th to register. EMBO Fellow Ruby Shalom-Feuerstein suggests a drive along the famous Cote d’Azur On-line registration closes Corniches – some of the most spectacular roads in the world, running between Nice 4 September. and Monaco. The highest of them, the Grande Corniche, is famous for its ﬁ lm appear- ances, including Grace Kelly and Cary Grant driving along it in To Catch A Thief. See www.the-embo-meeting.org 22 – 25 SEPTEMBER 2012 for the full programme. 20 EMBOencounters | Summer 2012 | [email protected] ©2012 EMBO