Heidelberg, 15 July 2019 Does rearranging chromosomes affect their function? Molecular biologists long thought that domains in the genome’s 3D organisation control how genes are expressed. After studying highly rearranged chromosomes in fruit flies, EMBL researchers from the Furlong and Korbel groups now reveal that while this is the case for some genes, their results challenge the generality of this for many others. Their results, published in Nature Genetics on 15 July, reveal an uncoupling between the 3D genome organisation – also called chromatin topology – and gene expression. more

Heidelberg, 12 July 2019 In remembrance of Suzanne Eaton Suzanne was a staff scientist at EMBL from 1993–2001. She was one of the founding group leaders at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) in Dresden, and professor at the Biotechnology Center (BIOTEC) at TU Dresden. more

Heidelberg, Hamburg, 11 July 2019 A tRNA modifier at work Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), scientists in the Müller and Kosinski groups, and other collaborators, have determined the structure of a large protein complex called Elongator. more

Hinxton, Heidelberg, 10 July 2019 Programming: language “We have 35 million records; that’s about seven times the size of English Wikipedia,” says Maria Levchenko, community manager at Europe PMC. “We’re in a very good position to utilise text mining.” more

Heidelberg, Rome, 9 July 2019 Wielding the genetic scissors Three important qualities make Crispr-cas9 an invaluable tool for the life sciences: it is cheap, easy to use and very precise. From medical therapy to fundamental research, CRISPR has a large range of applications and is used by several research groups at EMBL to address important questions in biology, such as the Korbel group, the Steinmetz group, the Ephrussi group and the Hackett group. more

General, 8 July 2019 Twenty years of EMBLEM EMBLEM, EMBL's technology transfer partner, marks its twentieth anniversary in 2019. We reflect on the company's many successes to date. more

General, 5 July 2019 Fun with fern photography After several years in the Gene Ontology project at EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Jennifer Deegan left work to raise her son. However, she soon started to miss science and was happy when she could rejoin her previous research group as a volunteer. She went on to pursue a very different kind of scientific career, involving code, a second-hand electric motor and home-grown fern specimens. more

General, 5 July 2019 Decoding ageing EMBL alumnus Alexander Ori studies ageing in the naked mole-rat, to understand the fundamental mechanisms of ageing at the proteome level. more

Hinxton, 4 July 2019 Use your coding superpowers for good Hannah Currant is a PhD student at EMBL-EBI. She recently received the Early Career Public Engagement Prize on the Wellcome Genome Campus. The award recognised the work Hannah has done to set up the first CoderDojo in Cambridge, UK – a place where young people can gather to learn code and break stereotypes. more

General, 3 July 2019 Actin crosslinking plays key role in tissue morphogenesis Actin crosslinking plays a key role in tissue morphogenesis: scientists in the De Renzis and Sachse groups discover new insights into mechanisms behind embryonic development. more