17 EMBL October 2003 &cetera Newsletter of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory

The ALMF turns five...page 2 Tackling toxicity and pharmacology ...page 3 EMBL at ELSO...page 4

EM core facility opens at EMBL Heidelberg Research groups in EMBL’s Cell Biology and Biophysics Programme are moving Special insert for over to make space for new neighbours: the electron microscopy group. Led by Claude Antony, the group will function as a service while carrying out research. The group is based on the successful model of the Advanced Light Microscopy Newcomers Facility, which serves as a training center for visitors from across the member states, while at the same time performing cutting-edge research. on page 2 (and maybe some Oldcomers) HD Forum draws welcome support If only you had known when you first The Heidelberg Forum on the Biosciences and Society, a collaboration between arrived at the lab... EMBL, the German Cancer Research Centre, and the University of Heidelberg, A two-page insert in this issue gives was given a welcome boost as MLP founder Manfred Lautenschläger announced insider tips for setting up camp at the he will sponsor the initiative’s series of talks on science and society. main Laboratory, in Heidelberg, in on page 4 Germany, and maybe the universe as ALMF celebrates five years of looking at we know it. Predocs and other newcomers will get really, really, really, really, really small things the low-down on who’s who and what’s what. For example: do I really The Advanced Light Microscopy Facility goes into its sixth year with an influx of have to respect the double yellow lines new equipment from the world’s foremost microscope manufacturers. Totalling when parking my car out in the lot? more than 1 million Euros, the machines will light up the microscopic world in Answer: YES!!!!!! a much wider spectrum of color for EMBL scientists and visitors. on page 2 4 years old and already a classic: the EMBO/EMBL joint conference on Science & Society in this issue... The structure of DNA was solved, and as if the ultimate determinant of the course of all life on the planet had been revealed, Jim Watson famously pro- electron microscopy at EMBL 2 claimed, "We used to believe our destiny was in the stars; now we know it is in our genes." He was partially right, but to what extent? "Genetics, molecular medicine 3 Determinism and Human Freedom" takes the EMBL/EMBO joint conference alumni association news 3 on Science & Society into its fourth year on 14-15 November. A mixture of sci- entists, communicators, philosophers, ethicists, legal experts, and patient and science and society 4 consumer representatives will present and discuss, repeating the successful the EMBO corner 5 recipe that annually brings over 200 participants to the EMBL Operon. In four sessions (“technological revolutions,” “genes and disease,” “the use and abuse news & events 7 of genetic information,” and “fast forward into the future”), the conference will people@EMBL 8 analyse the social impact of the increasing accessibility of a person's genetic information to the probing of science, medicine and the information society. For more information, see www.embo.org/projects/scisoc/scisoc2003.html EMBL&cetera Issue 17 - October 2003

Establishing an Electron Microscopy Core Facility at EMBL Research groups in EMBL’s Cell Biology and of cells can be frozen in milliseconds. The the EM environment for cell biology through Biophysics Programme are moving over to procedure can be performed on big cells or training, courses and supporting many make space for new neighbours: the electron small embryos. It can even be performed on groups who use the techniques. microscopy group. Led by Claude Antony, Drosophila oocytes, opening this field to a The HPF machine will increase the range of the group will function as a service while level of imaging that has not been possible equipment devoted to the preparation of cell carrying out research. The unit is based on before." specimens, which includes several micro- the successful model of the Advanced Light Claude joined EMBL in June after having tomes and cryotomes for ultrathin sections Microscopy Facility, which serves as a train- worked in the lab of Nobel Prize-winner (in total 5 machines plus a freeze substitu- ing center for visitors from across the mem- Paul Nurse at Cancer Research UK in tion machine). Taken together, the high-reso- ber states, while at the same time performing London. There he developed EM studies to lution EM machine, generously given to cutting-edge research. analyze the precise organization of cytoplas- EMBL by the German Research Ministry on The need for the service arose from an mic microtubules of the fission yeast and the occasion of the Heidelberg Laboratory’s increasing demand by scientists for electron obtain a 3D reconstruction of this network, 25th anniversary, and the HPF will help microscopy for cell biology. Several EMBL which is essential in establishing and main- make EMBL one of the strongest EM centers groups are turning to EM techniques to get a taining cell polarity and tip growth. At in Europe. better look at cell structures and molecular EMBL, Claude and his team plan to use EM complexes. The facility will help prepare methods to study mitosis in budding yeast The Electron Microscopy group will also samples for simple morphological analysis and take a close look at the mitotic spindle help EMBL to fulfill one of its primary mis- or immunocytochemistry to label and local- organization in wild-type and mutant cells. sions – to provide training to visitors from ize antigens (cryosections, lowicryl, etc.). An They are currently looking to recruit a post- member states. If demand exceeds the facili- emphasis will be put on High Pressure doctoral fellow to help them. ty’s capacity, researchers will submit project Freezing (HPF) using a new machine dedi- The new electron microscopy facility finds proposals that will be evaluated by a com- cated to the cryofixation of samples from solid footing in a long history of expertise in mittee. Successful applicants will come for yeast cells to much larger objects. cryofixation procedures at EMBL. Jacques one to two weeks to use the equipment, after “High pressure freezing gives us a very Dubochet and Stephen Fuller, for example, which they will return to their home institu- powerful and efficient way to perform cryo- were pioneers in these techniques. Gareth tions with expertise and their cryofixed sam- fixation of cells," says Claude. "Whole pellets Griffiths and his group have also enriched ples in hand.

Advanced Light Microscopy Facility celebrates its fifth birthday

In October of this year, Rainer Pepperkok require the orchestration of several different and his colleagues in EMBL’s Advanced molecules. They can monitor the dynamics Light Microscopy Facility popped the corks of , membrane-bound organelles or on the champagne to toast their fifth parasites trafficking inside cells as well as anniversary. the movement of cells inside entire organ- "When we started the facility, we had two isms. Biochemical reactions can also be microscopes, a handful of visitors, and a lot investigated by modern light microscopy of ambition," says Rainer. "Today the ALMF methods, such as fluorescence recovery after has twelve microscopes and is one of the most advanced centers for microscopy in the photobleaching (FRAP) or fluorescence reso- world." The facility is a unique collaboration nance energy transfer (FRET). The new between research and basic industry, where equipment in the facility also permits the commercial collaborators provide cutting imaging of a wider range of colours, which edge equipment to the laboratory free of allows a greater number of molecules to be charge. Visiting and EMBL researchers work studied. together with facility staff to perform their own experiments and try out the latest in "Until recently we could only distinguish microscopy technology. three to four colours," says Rainer. "With the The candles on the cake are the recent acqui- new light sources and optics we can see a sition of more than one million Euros’ worth whole rainbow spectrum of colours – any- of new equipment from industrial sponsors, thing we have a reaction for. We have also including wide-field and confocal micro- developed software that helps us to interpret scopes from Olympus, Leica and Zeiss. "The and dissect the complex image information arrival of the new equipment is a tribute to we can obtain with the new systems, giving the success of the ALMF over the years," us a better understanding of the roles played says Rainer, "and also to the groups at EMBL by particular molecules during different cel- and beyond who have trained on them." lular processes." The new microscopes allow some of the

Photo by Maj Britt Hansen fastest and most detailed confocal imaging For more on the latest developments at the Jens Rietdorf and Timo Zimmermann at work on some possible. Researchers can now track ALMF, visit www.embl.de/ExternalInfo/ of the new ALMF microscopes. extremely complex cellular processes that almf/new.html 3

molecular medicine Tackling toxicity and pharmacology through "If the European Union (EU) gets its way, This marriage of toxicology and genomics toxicology will soon be booming in Europe," has created not only opportunities, but also stated a recent news article (Science 300, 404; new informatics challenges. The EBI’s 2003), referring to the EU’s proposal to make Microarray Informatics team is rising to the the European chemical industry responsible challenge: in 2002 they teamed up with the for performing toxicity tests on over 30,000 International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) chemicals that are already on the market. Health and Environmental Sciences When this policy is implemented, “toxicoge- Institute's (HESI) Genomics Committee to nomics” will be invaluable to gain insight establish a database for toxicogenomic gene into the molecular mechanisms of toxicity, expression data. The ILSI-HESI Genomics contributing to the assessments of the poten- Committee, which includes experts and tial effect of substance on human health. advisors from academia and government Toxicogenomics combines the conventional laboratories across the globe, has designed,

tools of toxicology (such as enzyme assays, conducted and analyzed numerous toxi- Graphic by Petra Riedinger clinical chemistry, pathology and histopath- cogenomics experiments to determine ology) with the new approaches of tran- whether known mechanisms and pathways (NIEHS-NCT). Together they are planning to scriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and of toxicity can be associated with character- establish a common, public infrastructure bioinformatics. It has the potential to reduce istic gene expression profiles. As part of this for toxicogenomic data on an international costs and to lower the number of animals collaborative undertaking, ArrayExpress – scale. This will provide a repository for data used in toxicity testing. the EBI’s infrastructure for microarray gene publication and sharing among laboratories, and a common resource for analysis, data In the USA and Japan, massive initiatives in expression information – has been extended mining, and discussion. Ultimately, it will this field have already been launched over so that it can include microarray data in con- also serve as a reference for regulatory the past two years, with the participation of junction with conventional toxicology (or organizations as they evaluate toxicogenom- regulatory agencies, academia, and industry. pharmacology) endpoints such as clinical ic data submitted as part of registrations. In particular, the US Food and Drug observations, histopathology evaluation and The Toxicogenomics Project at EBI: Administration Pharmacology and Toxicol- clinical pathology. ogy Subcommittee is considering the sub- The Microarray Informatics Team is now http://www.ebi.ac.uk/microarray/Projects mission of microarray-based gene expres- also collaborating with the US NIH National /ilsi/ sion data as part of the drug approval Institute of Environmental Health Sciences – Susanna Assunta Sansone process. National Center for Toxicogenomics and Cath Brooksbank

EMBL alumni association board lays plans for upcoming alumni events September 17th saw the arrival of some ple, alumni could visit institutes of other ‘EMBL yesterday, today and tomorrow.’ This familiar faces at the Heidelberg lab as the local ex-EMBL researchers to give lectures. is the ideal opportunity for all EMBL alumni newly elected board members of the EMBL They could also help inform departing to catch up with old friends, to make new Alumni Association met to discuss plans for EMBL staff about career opportunities and ones, and to meet researchers currently at upcoming alumni events and activities. On issues likely to affect them when they leave the lab (the alumni of tomorrow!). The meet- the agenda for the meeting were fundraising the lab. They could help develop webpages ing will include scientific talks from past and activities, the establishment of local EMBL for the exchange of practical information, present EMBL staff, poster sessions, practical alumni chapters and plans for the next gen- including job offers, and tips for arriving in discussions about how alumni can help each eral alumni reunion, to take place in 2004. a new city. Local chapters can also be partic- other, as well as a science and society ses- An important theme discussed was the ularly effective in organizing fundraising sion. As many alumni may be nostalgic for establishment of local EMBL alumni chap- initiatives. If you are interested in setting up EMBL’s traditional Burns’ night parties, ters. Many ex-EMBL researchers now work a local chapter in your area, contact us at we’ve also planned a Scottish Ceilidh, so in cities or regions populated by other alum- [email protected]. don’t forget to pack your pipes and kilts. ni from the lab, and this provides a perfect Mark your calendars now for the general setting to meet up with old friends and to alumni reunion to be held in Heidelberg on Check the alumni association website regu- organize activities and networks. For exam- November 26-28, 2004. The theme will be larly for updates at www.embl.de/alumni/

The EMBL Alumni Association e.V. announces a postdoctoral fellowship for a Swedish researcher at the EMBL. The fellowship is funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research for an initial period of two years. Applicants must have done their The Alumni Association board: Giovanna Bergamini, Daniel Louvard, Noreen Murray, PhD at a Swedish University. Konrad Muller, Angus Lamond, Lennart Applications must be received by Philipson, Colin Dingwall, Albert Stegmüller, December 15, 2003. Sarah Sherwood, Sabine Hentze. Not present: Annalisa Pastore, Juan Valcárcel, For more, see www/embl.de/alumni/ Renata Stripecke, Marino Zerial Photo by Marietta Schupp EMBL&cetera Issue 17 - October 2003 education@EMBL Physics on Stage 3

What do you get when you throw 150 of the is "Physics and Life," one step towards best science teachers in Europe together for a expanding the festival to encompass other week? One result is a truckload of great new sciences. Starting next year, the programme ideas about how to bring physics, biology, will be called "Science on Stage." and the other natural sciences into class- The festival is the result of a year's work on rooms; you also get new teaching materials, the part of teachers throughout Europe, who hot discussions about curricula, and the brought projects to national events; the best chance to watch creative performances were selected to come to Noordwijk. Their based on science. Not to mention ice cream efforts will be visible in a teaching fair that that is made, somehow, using liquid nitro- lasts the whole week. gen. Also on the programme are seminar/work- All of these things and more will happen at shops conducted by scientists. EMBL's con- Physics on Stage 3, to be held from tribution will come from the staff of the November 9 to 15 in Noordwijk, Holland. European Learning Laboratory for the Life to call a tailor!), drop in at the Opening POS is an international festival organized by Sciences. Last but certainly not least, EMBL's Ceremony; it's November 10 on the campus Europe's seven intergovernmental research Eric Karsenti, head of the Cell Biology and of the European Space Agency in organizations (the EIROforum) with support Biophysics Programme in Heidelberg, will Noordwijk. from the European Commission, under the be giving the keynote speech. So if you'd like More details are available at umbrella of Science Week. This year's theme to see him in a tuxedo (somebody remember www.physicsonstage.net

Science & Society Heidelberg Forum on the Biosciences and Society finds local sponsor

Manfred Lautenschläger, the founder of Centre for Molecular Biology (ZMBH) and MLP – a financial service provider and one the Medical Faculty. of the largest publicly traded companies in From the beginning, the HD Forum has ben- Germany – has pledged generous financial efited from strong support and encourage- support for the Heidelberg Forum on the ment on the part of Heidelberg Lady Mayor Biosciences and Society for 2004 and 2005. Beate Weber. Thanks to her intervention, The Forum was launched two years ago Manfred Lautenschläger – an active sup- when four leading research institutions in porter of many different types of initiatives – has generously offered to provide the neces- Heidelberg decided to join forces to promote sary sources of funding to cover the bulk of the public understanding of science. It con- the costs relevant to the Forum over the next sists of a series of public lectures organized two years. Previously, financial support of for the benefit of a variety of audiences in these unique science communication activi- Heidelberg. The supporting institutes Photo by Maj Britt Hansen ties in the region had been shared by the col- The Heidelberg Forum on the Biosciences and include EMBL, DKFZ (the German Cancer laborating research institutions, and by Society hosts a wide range of speakers. Rudolph Research Centre) as well as two partners important contributions from Boehringer Jaenisch spoke on cloning and embryonic stem cell research in October 2003. from the University of Heidelberg: the Ingelheim Foundation and Cellzome AG.

A forum for molecular biology’s grass roots: ELSO in Dresden, 2003 More than 2,000 life scientists gathered in “The life sciences are at the threshold of a Dresden, Germany, on September 20-24; the post genome era in which the borders occasion was the joint Year 2003 Convention between the disciplines will fade,” says of the European Life Scientist Organization EMBL alumnus Kai Simons, currently direc- (ELSO) and the German Society for tor of Dresden’s Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM). Cell Biology and Genetics, and president of ELSO. “We have to bring researchers and The event brought together scientists from a scientists from many different fields togeth- range of disciplines for an intensive week of er when we want to network and utilize scientific talks and discussions. their cumulative knowledge.” The ELSO/GBM conference is the only gath- Highlights of the meeting included a ering of its size for molecular biologists in keynote lecture by and a Europe. It provides an important opportuni- major poster exhibition which gave scien- Photo by Ingeborg Fatscher ty for researchers working on different tists and industry plenty of opportunity to aspects of life sciences to exchange informa- exchange ideas. Another key focus was An ELSO Conference attendee visits the EMBL stand tion and establish connections. careers in science. to find out the latest developments at the Laboratory. 5

educational systems, it is often difficult to tory whether to pursue the application or evaluate the quality of these candidates. not. Costs of the project will be covered by the That fact, combined with the great distances the laboratories that participate, at a rate of involved, may mean that we don't take a EUR 150 per candidate screened. close enough look at applicants who would Further details on the procedures can be be great assets to our work – and to found on www.embo.org/projects/world/. European science. There are many reasons why Europe needs EMBO hopes to address this problem for the case of China. If the head of a laboratory has to encourage more scientists from outside its corner found a potentially interesting candidate, he boundaries to come to work here. Science is or she can turn to the new service for help. a global activity and the diversity of skills, The researcher can ask the applicant to agree approaches and training which come from to participate in an evaluation procedure scientists from outside the European main- Seeing over the Great Wall that will be managed by EMBO. This will stream can only enrich our laboratories. We involve completing documentation, supply- have seen the impact of highly skilled scien- Some months ago EMBO announced that it ing references, etc. The materials will go to tists from all over the world (not least had entered into an agreement of co-opera- the Chinese Academy of Sciences for an Europe!) on science in America. The scaled tion with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. evaluation from their perspective. down version of an influx of external scien- Since then a number of exchanges have Simultaneously, EMBO members will con- tists would indeed be welcomed and timely taken place between Europe and China, sup- duct an evaluation. These two steps will pro- in Europe. This EMBO service is one step to ported by the EMBO World Programme. vide the basis for a decision on whether it is Now a new service has been announced by help this to happen. The closing date for worthwhile to pursue the application with researchers who are interested in using the EMBO that will address one of the most frus- an interview. EMBO will then organise an service this year is November 1, and you are trating problems faced by researchers in interviewing panel consisting of EMBO strongly encouraged to spread the word of search of skilled scientists for their laborato- Members who will visit China, where they this initiative amongst your colleagues who ries. will screen numerous applicants who have may be currently considering applicants Researchers frequently receive e-mails from applied to laboratories in the EMBC member scientists in China and other countries with states. Finally, a report on each applicant will from China. PhDs who express an interest in working in be provided to the supervisor in Europe; – Frank Gannon their laboratories. Because of differences in then, of course, it is the choice of the labora- Executive Director, EMBO

Discovering the scientific literature with E-BioSci

This article is approximately 580 words. You it and to give your comments and sugges- ly retrieved and related to each other in might take 3-5 minutes to read to the end tions for improvement. terms of the concepts they contain rather and in this time, 3-5 new articles will appear Is E-BioSci simply yet another bibliographic than the individual words they share and in the MEDLINE bibliographic database. Of service? And if not, what makes it different? this represents an important advance on course, not all of these may be relevant to The answers to these questions will take a searches based on simple keywords and your field of research, but then …. without little more of your time and will require Boolean logic. Fingerprints also allow recog- reading them, how can you be sure? And some appreciation of what it aims to be and nition and matching of gene symbols within how about the 1,400 or so that appeared yes- how it works. documents and cross-language querying. terday … or the day before? To be sure, E-BioSci’s literature and gene search tools Fingerprint generation is fast – about 250,000 despite the best of New Year resolutions and are based on the principle of “conceptual fin- pages of text per day. Document matching publisher’s alerting services, keeping up gerprinting” and they aim at semantic link- by fingerprint comparison is corresponding- with new literature is an increasingly diffi- age of literature with molecular and other ly fast: 500,000 can be compared in only 40 cult task, not to mention the problem of datasets. The generation of fingerprints msec. retrieving information from the 12 million starts with indexing a text. Words and phras- The current prototype release is still fairly published articles that form the core of the es so extracted are subsequently matched limited in document content. Fingerprints biomedical literature that has accumulated against one or more hierarchically-organized have so far been generated from Medline in MEDLINE since its inception in the mid- and numerically identified concepts con- abstracts for the period 1993-2002, but full 60’s. tained in a thesaurus. A weight factor that is text is still currently limited to a sample of determined by a combination of the frequen- For those of you who at this point decide to patents from the European Patent Office’s cy of occurrence of the terms and quality of stop reading and make a beeline for the database, together with articles from about the match, is assigned to each concept. The library, or (more likely) your desktop com- 130 journals. These are either open access puter, let me give the bottom line of this resulting numerical profiles for each docu- (e.g. BioMed Central), or provided by collab- piece now. EMBO’s E-BioSci project has, in ment form part of the fingerprint that is orating commercial publishers. collaboration with Collexis bv, a text analysis stored in a searchable database. Other fin- software company based in The gerprint data-fields contain bibliographic There are many other novel and useful fea- Netherlands, recently released one of the and other information required to identify tures built into the prototype. They are prob- prototype user interfaces to its literature dis- the original document and its location to the ably best sampled hands-on, so please do covery tools. This prototype is available user. give it a try and …. do let us have your feed- through the E-BioSci’s web-page at www.e- Search and comparison of fingerprints thus back. biosci.org. You are encouraged to try it, test allow documents to be rapidly and accurate- – Les Grivell, EMBO EMBL&cetera Issue 17 - October 2003

Welcoming the Waldpiraten camp to the neighbourhood facilities, a theater, as well as a medical facil- government, so fundraising is vital to the ity with specially trained staff. The kids project. EMBL efforts have included a spe- already held their first camp sessions in their cial Waldpiraten tombola held at the lab’s new home this summer. When the campers annual summer party, as well as participa- are not about, the facilities will be used for tion in the Heidelbergman Triathlon, where other activities, such as seminars and sup- EMBLEM and EMBL-Ventures have raised port groups for the kids, their parents, broth- thousands of Euros. EMBL’s diving club has ers and sisters, and other family members. also taken an active role and each year take The Waldpiraten camp is based on the the kids on a special diving course. It has

Photo by Maj Britt Hansen model of the Better Days Camps founded by turned out to be a huge success and an event Camp’s in session Paul Newman in the US. It is designed for that the campers really look forward to. children or teenagers who have or are recov- “As the camp’s neighbours, EMBL can con- After months of hammering, painting and ering from cancer (because of their illness, tribute in many ways,” says Ann Cooper, decorating, the construction up in the woods they are often excluded from the normal near EMBL’s main laboratory in Heidelberg EMBL alumna and active volunteer. “We can ‘kids’ activities). Here they have a place is finished, and the German Children’s offer practical advice, such as which local where they can be kids again. In fact, no par- Cancer Foundation’s Waldpiraten camp is baker to use or how to get a mobile phone to ents are allowed. open for business. work in the woods, or even help out with EMBL’s involvement in the project dates camp activities.” The camp has no resident The camp was officially opened on Saturday, back a few years when some members of the experts, so they need volunteers to organize September 27. On hand to welcome the lab aproached camp organizers to see sports activities and crafts, assist with com- camp to the neighbourhood were whether EMBL could help out. Gabriele puters or simply read a story to the younger Heidelberg Mayor, Dr. Bess, camp director kids at bedtime. “Most helpers are parents Gabriele Geib, as well as representatives accepted the offer with enthusiasm, and put who have either lost a child or who have a from EMBL. The 5.8 million Euro camp is us to the task of cleaning up the lot in prepa- funded solely by donations and occupies the ration for the construction. EMBL staff ral- sick child and they help out however they clearing in the woods behind the lied to the cause and spent the weekend lit- can,” says Ann. “EMBL staff can help them, Bierhelderhof. It houses special buildings erally doing a lot of ground work. too.” and services, such as sleeping quarters, an Since then a number of activities have taken Do you want to get involved? Send an email activity center, arts and crafts areas, sports place. The camp receives no money from the to [email protected] Science and Society talk on bioweapons at the Hamburg Outstation Dr. Jan van Aken of Hamburg University his inclusion on the roster of the United accessible basic biological research in visited EMBL-Hamburg on September 5th to Nations Monitoring, Verification and weapons development, without prior give a science and society lecture entitled Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC). knowledge by the authors and apparently "Biological Weapons in the 21st Century." Jan During his lecture, Jan described how recent with authors being unaware that their work has monitored biological weapons prolifera- rapid advances in biotechnology, genetics could be adapted for use in a weapons pro- tion and advances in weapon technology for and genomics have opened avenues for gramme. Jan cited a number of examples several years, through his association with development of more subtle, specific, dam- covering both themes and concluded that Hamburg University, Greenpeace, the aging, and even novel bioweapons. A second "smart" bioweapons are not science fiction Sunshine Project, and most recently through theme explored the use of published and but are becoming reality. – Will Stanley Mending bumps, bruises and broken bones: EMBL first-aid volunteers learn to help

techniques as part of the Safety Office’s first aid course, organized in conjuction with the Johanniter Unfallhilfe. EMBL first-aid volun- teers spent two days in August learning how to treat bumps, bruises, and broken bones. They also learned how to handle dangerous situations, such as chemical inhalation or Photo by Maj Britt Hansen heart attacks. These trusty first-aid volun- Get your Christmas shopping teers come from all over the Heidelberg lab- done early this year! oratory and can be identified by a plaque EMBL t-shirts, baseball caps, mouse outside their doors. So, the next time you pads and more are now available for need a band-aid, feel free to call upon them. purchase by EMBL staff members. For They are there to help you. price lists and instructions on how to

Photo by Marietta Schupp If you want to become a first-aid volunteer, order, see www.embl-heidelberg. Don’t worry – she’s fine! These EMBL contact Corinna Gorny at [email protected] for de/LocalInfo/EMBLabout/shop.html employees are just practicing life saving more information. 7

Proteins - DisEMBL yourselves now! news All multidomain proteins at EMBL are where secret content may be revealed. &events required to submit themselves for inspec- Problem proteins refusing to expose their tion by DisEMBL, GlobPlot and ELM. It is inner selves should be taken to floor V1 for What’s all that construction outside believed that research is being hampered by individual analysis by the BioInformatics the EMBO building? It’s a building hidden disorder and that certain polypep- groups installed there. Furthermore any to house a new electrical transformer. The tides are harbouring undetected functional known functional sites that are not yet cata- laboratory’s electricity consumption has increased over recent years, and a forti- sites. All proteins admitting to more than logued in ELM must be reported at once to fied electricity supply was high in one domain shall present their sequences in the authorities* in Room V101. demand. New lines were laid and the any order to http://dis.embl.de/, – Toby Gibson and the Sequence Analysis Team transformer was built to manage the sup- http://globplot.embl.de/, http://elm.eu.org/ *sorry, Francesca! ply to the Annex Building and Contain- ment. Gene Expression programme sci- entists certainly couldn’t go on unplug- That movie, your application, and wicked screensavers ging the washing machines every time they wanted to turn on their computers! You’ve got mail. Arghhhhhhh! This usually So what did the lab do? The email onslaught The new building will be finished in welcome message sent us screaming down has prompted the Computer and November, and will be discreetly hidden the halls during the month of August as the Networking Group to change their virus among the greenery between the EMBL laboratory was inundated with viruses protection policy and now they block and and EMBO buildings. called Lovsan, Nachi and Sobig-F. So, was quarantine incoming messages with specific from the Szilard Library... Back issues Sobig really that big? file extensions and MIME types. This helps of have been added to EMBL’s Yes, it was! E-mails citing “that movie,” to stop new viruses that haven’t yet been growing collection of e-journals. All sites “your application” and “wicked screen- identified by virus authorities, Network now have access going back to 1987. saver” clogged the arteries of the lab’s com- Associates and Sophos and incorporated With the motto “We sweat, you munication system, taking users to the into the lab’s scanning system. If you receive pay!” a team of intrepid sportsmen and verge of a coronary. Commenting on the an infected email, the CNG will let you incident, Toby Gibson quipped "These were women from EMBLEM and EMBL- quarantine it, but let you know, so that you exciting times. It was mesmerising watching Ventures swam, ran and biked their way can retrieve it if you need to. the emails pouring into Eudora. 1,800 in two through Heidelberg in the city’s annual days. It made me feel important - a happen- What should you do? The worst seems to be "HeidelbergMan" triathlon. With a time ing ‘my-inbox-is bigger-than-yours’ sort of over now, as email traffic has returned to of 2:48:56, they crossed the finish line in guy. Also it meant I didn't have to answer normal. To preserve lab sanity in future, try 67th place. In doing so, they raised the any emails I didn't want to. I couldn't find to avoid opening suspect files and use the impressive sum of 6,125 Euros for the them anyway." filters that come with your email software. Waldpiraten camp for kids with cancer (see page 6). October 13th marks a key event in EMBL volunteers organize development programmes the history of scientific publishing – the launch of PLoS Biology, the premier open- In the April issue of EMBL&cetera we told rules and regulations. If you have anything access journal from the Public Library of you about EMBL postdocs Emmanuel to donate (even old computers and school Science. In addition to all the usual attrib- Reynaud and Jez Simpson who traveled to books at home), please contact Emmanuel, utes of a top-tier journal – rigorous peer Africa to help set up a community health Jez or Richard Carmouche. review, cutting edge articles, high-quality center. In the weeks after their story was production – PLoS Biology is also free to PhD student Tetyana Klymenko is helping published, Emmanuel and Jez gave a ‘sci- anyone with an Internet connection. This to organize an upcoming EMBO teacher’s ence and society’ talk about their adven- first issue of PLoS Biology features 9 major workshop on biology in Slima, Ukraine. tures for EMBL staff. Apparently their research articles covering topics ranging efforts served as inspiration for others to get Schools in the Ukraine don’t often have from elephant conservation and bacterial involved in similar activities. Adequation, the basic lab equipment, so she approached genome evolution to malaria and cell sig- organization that Emmanuel works with Emmanuel for help. He managed to gather nalling. microscopes, centrifuges and other supplies has established a base in Germany with the Ever considered working in help of some EMBL volunteers. Here are from colleagues in France, and now the Scotland? www.talentscotland.com, a teachers will have everything they need. some new initiatives: website managed by Scottish Enterprise, EMBL Director-General Fotis C. Kafatos has Birgit Schramm and friends are working offers a wealth of news and job opportu- authorized the collection of unused equip- with universities in Eastern Europe to estab- nities for life scientists who would like to ment, scientific journals and books for the lish programmes that provide education work and live in the land of bagpipes and University of Elbasan in Albania. EMBL services to local communities about issues haggis. Aye, lads and lassies, check it out. research groups may donate items under such as AIDS and drug use. lost & found specific conditions: for example, they must Sophie Chabanis-Davidson is helping to not be expected to be used at the lab within develop Adequation’s website, which will the next three years, EMBL will not be able provide information on the organization’s to provide replacement equipment because development programmes across the world. Have you seen this? It disappeared of the collection, and donations must be from the canteen in mid-September. Want to help? To get involved, send an e- checked with EMBL’s finance department to If found, please return. Reward. make sure they satisfy the Laboratory’s mail to Emmanuel at [email protected]. EMBL&cetera Issue 17 - October 2003 people Who’s new? Ioannis Amarantos (Ansorge), Heidi Arling @ EMBL (Monterotondo), Angelika Bartmann (LAR/Transgenic Service), Gian-Carlo Lars Steinmetz is a new interdisciplinary Group Leader in Bellenchi (Witke), Aleksander Benjak EMBL's Gene Expression and Developmental Biology (Knop), Ambra Bianco (Ladurner), Melanie Programmes. Lars obtained his PhD in 2001 from Stanford Blumenfeld (Personnel), Valeria Carola University in California, where he continued as a postdoc at the (Gross), Monica Campillos Gonzalez (Bork), Emmanuel Caussinus (Vernos), Ana Stanford Genome Technology Center until coming to EMBL. As a Cuadrado Garcia (Nebreda), Alexandru graduate student he studied the genetic basis of complex, quanti- Denes (Arendt), Giuseppe Di Martino (Zhu), tative traits and during his postdoc developed high-throughput Emily Dimmer (Lehvaslaiho), Malgorzata methods for defining the components of the yeast mitochondria. Duszczyk (Sattler), George Easow (Izaurralde), Marcus Ennis (Apweiler), At EMBL he will continue both endeavours and further develop Andreia Feijao (Brunner), Margot Freund and integrate functional genomic approaches to better our understanding of how genes (Kinderhaus), Sylvain Gaudan (Rebholz- influence phenotype in health and disease. Schuhmann), Fabian Glaser (Thornton), Filip Glavan (Conti), Matyas Gorjanacz Faculty appointments: Manuela Lopez de la Paz has been promoted to staff scientist in (Mattaj), Marina Granovskaia (Steinmetz), EMBL’s Structural and Programme. Andreea Daniela Gruia (Rørth), Gabriele Jag (Kinderhaus), Eoghan Harrington (Bork), Oguz Kanca (Rørth), Janina Karres (Cohen), awards, honours Nicolas Le Novère (Group Leader), Erwan &cetera Lejeune (Ladurner), Ari Loytnoja EMBL alumnus Denis Duboule, group leader in EMBL’s Developmental Biology (Goldman), Cameron Mackereth (Sattler), Jeanne Moriniere (C. Müller), Norbert Programme from 1993 to 1998 and currently professor at the University of Geneva, has been Müller (ELLS), Maxim Nekrasov (J. Müller), awarded the Marcel Benoist Foundation’s prize for 2003. The 100,000 Swiss franc prize is one Marialuisa Pellegrini-Calace (Thornton), of Switzerland’s most presitigious awards and was given in recognition of Denis’ contribu- Fabiana Perocchi (Steinmetz), Matthieu tions to the understanding of molecular mechanisms of vertebrate development. For more Pichaud (Russell), Maria Polycarpou- Schwarz (Izaurralde), Stephen Rea (Akhtar), information, see www.marcel-benoist.org Stefan Reinelt (Scheffzek), Silvia Santos Giuseppe Testa, a predoc in Francis Stewart’s group from 1997 to 2001, has been awarded a (Ladurner), Eugene Schuster (Thornton), Anja Seybert (Wilmanns), Jochen Stadler Branco Weiss “Science and Society” fellowship from the ETH in Zurich. This new fellowship (Neumann), Evangelia Stamataki programme allows recipients to pursue novel issues at the interface of science and society. (Neumann), Marion Steinbuechel (Kafatos), Giuseppe, currently at the MPI for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, will Chris Taylor (Zhu), Rolf Thermann (Hentze), focus on how new technologies change our perception of the human body, the notion of bio- Flavio Zizzo (Monterotondo) logical fate and our image of what it means to be human. His project will examine the wider impact of stem cell and genome engineering technologies from an ethical, economic, legal and artistic perspective. events EMBL Alexander Picker and his team of scientists and software engineers has been awarded third @ prize in LION bioscience AG’s annual Klaus Sprockamp Award. The prize is in recognition 7-8 November 2003 of the bioinformatics software components that the group developed while Alexander was at EMBL Heidelberg LION. He left the company in April 2003 to take up his current position as an Education 6th EMBL Symposium on Molecular Medicine: Officer at EMBL's European Learning Laboratory for the Life Sciences (ELLS). Defects of secretion in cystic fibrosis and other diseases FAQs from the personnel section 20-22 November 2003 4th EMBL International PhD Student Reimbursement of expenses bursement claim as proof of payment. It Symposium: A life of encounters - Recognition WILL THE COSTS BE REIMBURSED WHEN I TRAVEL helps us to process the payment quickly if in biology TO MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES? you record on the form the reasons for using You need prior approval from the budget taxis and hotels above the limit. 12 December 2003 holder who will meet the costs of travel on CAN I OFFER HOSPITALITY WHEN VISITORS COME EMBL Heidelberg, Forum on Science & Society EMBL business. We reimburse the fares by TO THE LABORATORY? Abdulaziz Sachedina (Dept Religious Studies, the most economic means of transport tak- You can take visitors out for meals with the University of Virginia) ing into account time and cost. Overnight prior approval of the budget holder. We Islamic perspectives on cancer genetics and hotel accommodation is also reimbursed up reimburse the costs up to a maximum gene therapy amount per head. The Director General can to a maximum limit. The use of taxis is rea- For more events, see authorise higher amounts for special guests. sonable in some circumstances. For example www.embl.de/ExternalInfo/todayAtEmbl/ when public transport is not available or you Please obtain authority in advance other- arrive late at night in an unfamiliar place. wise you may have to pay the difference. Mark your calendars! Higher hotel charges are also payable on Please list all the guests on the reimburse- some occasions. Examples include the hotels ment claim and attach the receipts to the The date for the next annual where conferences are held or when no form as proof of payment. joint EMBL-Staff Association cheaper alternative is available. Please For questions about this or other topics, email summer party has been set for attach the tickets and receipts to the reim- Annabel at [email protected] Saturday, 3 July, 2004.

EMBL&cetera is published by EMBL’s Office of Information and Public Affairs, Meyerhofstrasse 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, e-mail: [email protected]. Online version available at www.embl.de/ExternalInfo/oipa. Editor: Sarah Sherwood; Assistant Editor: Trista Dawson; Editorial Advisor: Russ Hodge. Copy editing: Caroline Hadley. Photographic support: EMBL Photolab; Graphics: Petra Riedinger. Printed on recycled paper by ColorDruck, Leimen. A newcomer’s survival guide to EMBL Being a newcomer at EMBL Heidelberg can be a daunting thing. You have to navigate your way through a maze of buildings on a sign-in sheet treasure hunt, collecting lunch cards and passport photos along the way. You also have to deal with setting up camp in a new city in a new language, which can be a challenge. On the occasion of the arrival of the new class of predocs, we thought we’d survey some of the lab’s not-so-newcomers and pass on some helpful hints. We begin with some frequently asked questions...

skills and allows you to meet the people in In Heidelberg... your neighbourhood, in your neighbour- Do I have to register as a resident with the hood, in your neighbourhood... who’s who local authorities? What do I do if I lose my EMBL card? Germans do. Theoretically, non-Germans Get another one quick! That little piece of with a Sonderausweis (special residence Tiziana Novarini plastic is your lifeline at the lab. Without it permit for EMBL staff) don’t have to, but the Predoc Secretary you can’t eat, drink or get back in after 7 pm. City of Heidelberg might kick up some fuss and send you a letter. In principle, there is no Who can I play football/tennis/chess/music/ She’ll help you with disadvantage to registering, so you might parcheesi with? all your predoc worries. want to consider it. If you buy a car, or want EMBL’s Staff Association sponsors a whole Very helpful, a good a special parking permit, you’ll definitely slew of activities, including sports and listener... have to register both the car and yourself. special interest clubs. They also have equipment such as sewing machines and How do I open a bank account? boules sets available on loan. The Staff Go to one of the major banks (Commerz, Association serves as the tie between staff Raffaele Totaro Deutsche, Dresdner, Sparkasse, etc.). Take and administration on many important Switchboard along your passport (national ID card for EU issues, so get to know them. Ann Thüringer is citizens) as well as a copy of your your contact, and she can be found in room employment contract. Consider getting on- He and co-worker 330, across from Switchboard. line banking with your account: opening Heike deliver your hours vary from bank to bank, and they are What’s that mysterious elevator stop letters from home hard to reconcile with a normal working day. between the first and second floors above and sell you tokens for Remember that in Germany credit cards and the Operon? the washing machines. cheques aren’t accepted as often as in other Nobody knows. countries. An EC debit card or cold hard cash Who’s the guy in the office in the middle of is usually your best bet. Claus Himburg the lab? Chef Extraordinaire How do I find a place to live? That’s Fotis C. Kafatos. He’s your boss. And Upon your arrival, you’ll probably be housed your boss’s boss. He’s a nice guy. Greek. Say in one of EMBL’s handy dandy guesthouses. hello to him when you have a chance. He serves your (Read more about the ISG in the interview lunch, so be nice with Irina Dolchykova on the flip side.) Once Especially for predocs... to him. you’re ready to cut the cord and move out, Where do I find a mop and bucket to clean ask around. The best housing information is up the mess in the Operon Foyer after the usually word of mouth. You can also look for predoc party? signs around the lab posted by EMBL leavers Ask Frau Stenzel. offering their accommodation to newcomers. Jörg Graf EMBL has a housing service with good deals, Miscellaneous... Petty Cash so check the boards at the cafeteria and the What’s the cheapest way to call home? main entrance regularly, or the website He gives you your www.billiger-telefonieren.de has a list of www.embl.de/ExternalInfo/Housing EMBL card so you can service providers charging the lowest rates Service. The newspaper is always a good bet, have your lunch. Be and is updated daily. If you make personal and offers appear in the Wednesday and nice to him, too. Saturday issues of the Rhein-Neckar Zeitung. calls from EMBL, remember to dial your Make sure a German speaker is nearby to personnel number first. decipher abbreviations, such as “1ZKB möbl.” What’s the cheapest way to get home? Regina Herhoff Be prepared to call potential landlords early If you come from afar, Heidelberg is well Librarian and move fast. Good offers are gone in no connected for cheapy flights. Discount time flat. If you choose to go through an airlines such as Ryanair fly from Frankfurt agent, be prepared to pay as much as 2.5 Hahn or Karslruhe Baden airports and can She and her colleagues months’ rent in fees. offer great deals. Otherwise check with your will help you with your travel agent to get cheap deals other airlines literature searches and What are those little green boxes hidden in send friendly reminders the bushes on the side of the road that make are now offering. If the train is your preferred mode of transport, a bahncard is essential. For when your library pretty flashes? books are overdue. Speed traps. They’re diabolical machines, those who are attached to their cars, put up a and they’ll get you every time. Your note on the boards around the lab and see if anyone else is going your way. Chances are Sonderausweis won’t help you. You’ll have to you can carpool to share costs. Arno Ulrich pay the fine. So slow down... Night watchman Where can I find bucatini to make pasta At EMBL... all’amatriciana? He’ll let you back in to Do I really need to fill in the whole sign-in You can’t. Have your mother send them to your locked lab during sheet? you instead. the wee hours and Yes. The sign-in sheet helps departments Much of the information presented here can be periodically checks up gather information that they need to do their found in the “Predocs 2003 Survival Guide,” on you to make sure jobs. It’s also a good test of your navigation available at http://forums.predocs.org you’re still breathing. The top ten things newcomers should know when they start at EMBL

10 Make a point of going to the weekly pink seminars given by you should say the names of proteins really LOUD, to show that EMBL group leaders. It’s a great way to learn what other people you are capitalizing the first letter. You don't have to lean to one are doing in the lab. (Jochen Wittbrodt, Group Leader) side when talking about RNAs, to show that you are italicizing them, but most people do. (Russ Hodge, resident linguist) 9 Don’t forget to venture out beyond the safety of the Hauptstrasse in Heidelberg. Mannheim, for example, has some 3 Champagne bottles are opened when a paper gets accepted. lovely Turkish restaurants. (Aidan Budd, Gibson group) Whisky and harder stuff are the medicine of choice to deal with rejections. 8 Avoid the falafel in the canteen. (Anyone who ate it in August 2001) 2 What should I do if I find a Drosophila loose in the lab? Capture it very carefully without climbing on shelves or computer mon- 7 Remember that the day you get your pay slip is not necessarily the day your salary appears in your bank account. This will help itors. Try not to disturb the eyes, wings, or antennae; these fea- you avoid nasty surprises. (Erika Grzebisz, Wittbrodt group) tures help us sort it back into the right tube. If the little devil is too fast, try to attract it with a ripe banana, or the "Tropical Fruit" 6 Make sure you get a copy of the Rules and Regulations and screen saver on your Mac. Once you have it, pack it into an READ them! They are your roadmap for navigating the "laws" empty coffee cup and deliver it to the fly room. Return the cup that govern life at EMBL. (Ann Thüringer, Staff Association) to the cafeteria. If all else fails, call the fly SWAT team. 5 Don’t break a tooth for the first two years you are at EMBL. Not 1 How do I get my own column in EMBL&cetera? First you have all medical exthpentheth are covered by Intermedexth. Find out to find our e-mail address or the way to our office. We have very what ith and what ithn’t at www.intermedex.de. (Barbara Di stiff deadlines: articles are due five minutes after they are Ventura, Serrano group) assigned. You have to be able to write in something resembling 4 Remember that at EMBL you can speak any language you like, English. Don't use the "highlight corrections" feature while typ- providing every sentence has words from at least two languages ing articles. Once we forgot to turn them off during printing, and in it. When you speak to somebody who works on Drosophila, the newsletter was 312 pages long.

Not everyone who works at EMBL works in a lab...

It's not a commonly known fact that the folks who work at the my feet tired but also my head! But now I understand almost Guesthouses and the ISG hotel are also EMBL employees. Take Irina everything, even some dialect, and can work much faster. Dolchykova, for instance. The native of one of Heidelberg's sister cities, Simferopol in the Ukraine, works as a cook and service employee in the Have you had any amusing experiences with the guests? Bistro at the ISG. Three weeks ago I was working alone in the Bistro because my colleague was on holiday. A Japanese family came in and the How long have you been in Germany? father wanted to order something. But he I came to Germany in 1998 with my hus- couldn't speak German and I don't under- band, two sons, daughter-in-law and stand English! So I tried sign language, asking granddaughter. I've worked at the ISG for if he wanted this or that. Finally it occurred to four years. me that with two children he probably want- ed something to eat. So I asked "num, num, Did you speak German when you came? num?" while making eating motions, and he No. I learned German at the Pädagogium bowed. We had understood each other. But language school and then took a profes- now I'm trying to learn a little English! We sional course in cooking and service. Part of have many guests who don't speak German. that course was an internship at the ISG. Sabine Lehninger offered me a part time job Why did you come to Germany? when it was over. I turned it down because Irina enjoys a cup of tea as she takes a We wanted a normal life for our children. In I needed to work full time. My husband break at EMBL’s ISG hotel. the Ukraine even people like engineers only was unemployed at the time. At home I get a paycheck every two or three months. We said to my husband, "What have I done? I've made a terrible had no heat and had water only once a week. I would fill the mistake!" Here was a good job offer and I was determined to bathtub and every spare container with water. Here everything work, didn't want to take welfare. But a wonderful thing hap- is so clean and correct. When Germans complain that life is hard, pened. Mrs. Lehninger called me the next day and said I could I tell them "You don't know what a hard life is." This is a good work full time. The first year was very difficult. I didn't under- life here, one only needs work. My friends asked me if I'm satis- stand anything! I had been a cook in the Ukraine, but didn't fied here. I said yes, but it is as if I have had two souls, two lives. know any of the words in German. My supervisor would say, My first life was in the Ukraine and my second life is here. I can "Irina, go get a baguette." Baguette? What is a baguette? But my even imagine a third life in another country, maybe the U.S. colleagues were very patient. They would say, "It's bread, Irina, – interview by Ann Thüringer you know, the long bread." At the end of the day not only were

EMBL provides a number of housing services to short and longer-term visitors. The International Seminar and Guesthouse (ISG) is a fully functioning hotel with 51 rooms fitted with ensuite bathrooms, cable TV, radio, direct dial telephone and a private balcony. Other services include a sauna and fitness room, conference rooms, a bistro and beergarden. The Im Eichwald and Boxbergring guesthouses provide a home to longer-term visitors to the lab. Apartments range from 1 to 3 rooms, and each has a fully equipped kitchen and a private balcony. The guesthouses are located just a few minutes’ walk from the lab; those who can’t face the walk up the hill in the morning can hop on the shuttle bus which will ferry them to the lab and back home again in the evening. How’s that for convenience? For more information, see www.embl-heidelberg.de/ExternalInfo/guesthouse/