New heads of units for EMBL Heidelberg Council ... - EMBL Grenoble

EMBL&cetera • August 2007 • page 11Spending quality time in ViennaEMBL presented its research profile to theinternational gathering of scientists, policymakers, journalists and members of thepublic at the 32nd annual Federation ofEuropean Biochemical Societies (FEBS)congress, held in Vienna on 7-12 July.FEBS, which has more than 46,000 membersthroughout Europe, promotes biochemistry,molecular biology and biophysics.This year’s congress was centred on“Molecular Machines and their Dynamics inFundamental Cellular Functions”. In aninteractive exhibition and countless lecturesand workshops, more than 2,200 visitorslearned about the importance of molecularmachines in the coordination of cellularprocesses like cell division or movement, aswell as the development of diseases resultingfrom the impairment of these molecularmachines. EMBL’s DG Iain Mattaj, Head ofEMBL Hamburg Matthias Wilmanns andgroup leaders Rob Russell, Elena Conti,Darren Gilmour and Elisa Izaurralde contributedas speakers.Apart from scientific exchange, FEBS2007stressed the need for communicating scienceto the public. In collaboration with EMBO,dialoggentechnik and the APA-OTSbookreview“Won for All” reviewed by Mark GreenMichael Ashburner has provided insiderinsight into the history of the Drosophilagenome and how it was sequenced. I know hewas there, as I processed the more extreme ofhis travel bills; such are the joys of being aninstitutional bureaucrat.Why is this story important? Craig Venter,ex-Californian beach bum and Vietnam Vet, isgunning to sequence the human genome andmake a fortune by selling it. SequencingDrosophila will be his proof of concept thatthis can be done quickly, cheaply, privately.The sense of panic in the scientists engaged onthe publicly funded, and of economic necessitymuch more leisurely sequencing ofDrosophila, is palpable. The story Michael tellsis not just of heroes and anti-heroes, but of aclash of cultures. If this was science fiction, itwould be the Empire against theRebelAlliance. But this is science and the storyis more complex, fascinating and the stakes arefar higher. Michael leaves nothing out of thewarts-and-all view apart from sex (which, ifone imagines Drosophila biologists doing it insequence, on the fly or in base pairs, is anentirely commendable decision).We are accustomed to watching scientificpresentations that are thoroughly professional,Originaltext-Service GmbH, several Scienceand Society workshops and lectures encouragedresearchers to improve their communicationskills and gave the public an opportunityto discuss scientific hot topics and theirimpact on society. In addition, FEBS2007engaged school children in popular scientifictopics with the Kids Congress, a collaborationbetween KinderuniWien andKinderbüro, University of Vienna. Strategiesto facilitate careers for women were also aparticular focus, with a FEBS/EMBO workshop,“Women in Science”.Scientists from Europe, the US and Asiastopped by at the EMBL stand to find outmore about research, recruitment, scientifictraining possibilities, services and the visitorsprogramme. The FEBS congress was agreat opportunity to deepen the knowledgeof congress visitors about EMBL, to recruitnew scientists and to seek new collaborations.Ten days later, the EMBL standreturned to Vienna to exhibit with the EBI atanother conference, the joint 15th AnnualInternational Conference on IntelligentSystems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) and6th European Conference on ComputationalBiology (ECCB). – Sabrina Grasswell-ordered and given in a calm and methodicalmanner. However, we just know that it willhave been put together under pressure on theplane coming over, and that the final touchesto the slides will have been made in the taxifrom the airport. This book deals with prepresentation,with the effort, agony, turmoiland high energy that resulted in Drosophilabeing sequenced and kept in the publicdomain. It is very much the story of scientists,and of science on planes, in taxis, as much as inlabs themselves.What are the reasons for buying the book?It is short, funny, the prose breathless, thestory fast-paced, the use of footnotes bothextensive and imaginative.Michael writes withoutfear or favour – and wasfortunate to find an editorwho allowed full rein tohis recollections. It is thehistory of scientificendeavour as it is lived.“Won for All: How theDrosophila Genome WasSequenced”, Michael Ashburner,Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2006,107 pp. ISBN 0-87969-802-0.newsinbrief❏ A delegation headed by the vice-chancellorof research from Monash University,Australia, visited EMBL Heidelberg on 23-24July to look around and discuss Australia’snew associate membership status.❏ Strategy developers from top institutesJanelia Farm and The Pasteur Insititutehave both visited EMBL Heidelberg over thesummer to see how it runs and use it as abenchmark for their own organisations.❏ For the second year running, a group of 30North American undergraduate biologystudents visited EMBL Heidelberg as part ofthe RISE (Research Internship for Scienceand Engineering) programme funded bythe DAAD (German Academic ExchangeService), in which scientists-to-be get toknow some of the most interesting researchplaces in Europe.❏ Applications are open for EMBL’s newInterdisciplinary Postdoc (EIPOD) positions,aimed at promoting interdisciplinaryresearch, until 31 August. Visitwww.embl.org/training/eipod for details.❏ Free courses in the new EMBL Non-Scientific Training and Development programmefor the autumn includeInterviewing Skills, Minute Taking withConfidence, Presentation Skills, StrategicThinking, Project Management forResearch Group Leaders and a variety ofInformation Technology tutorials. Visit thewebsite at www.embl.org/staffonly/ personnel/training_dev/index.htmlfor more.❏ The winner of this year’s EMBO goldmedal is Jan Löwe of the Medical ResearchCouncil’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology(MRC-LMB) Cambridge, UK, who wasselected in recognition of his landmarkwork on the structure and function of proteinsinvolved in bacterial cell division.❏ Ludwig-Maximilian’s Universität (LMU)Munich has now joined as EMBL’s secondGerman partner university for joint PhDdegrees. The LMU was one of only 3German universities which won in the“Exzellenzinitiative” last year.❏ The Thalia EMBL Theatre Club performedtheir own adaptation of “The Three LittlePigs” for the Kindergarten kids on 24 July.This was a result of a suggestion by theKindergarten teachers that the club visitonce a week and, together with the olderkids, make the props for the play. It was a lotof fun for everyone, and the club hopes tomake it an annual event. For more detailsabout the theatre club and other things toget involved in, see www.emblheidelberg.de/~staff/clubs.htm.