Category: EMBL Australia

Head to tail: the molecules that tell you how to grow a backbone

Operations on 1 September, 2015

Growing the right number of vertebrae in the right places is an important job – and scientists have found the molecules that act like ‘theatre directors’ for vertebrae genes in mice: telling them how much or how little to express themselves.

The finding may give insight into how the body-shapes of different species of animals evolved, since the molecules under scrutiny are present in a wide range of animals – from fish to snakes to humans.

An international team led by Dr Edwina McGlinn of EMBL Australia [1] at Monash University found that de-activating a small group of microRNA (miRNA) molecules sent things awry for different parts of the backbone.

The EMBL model – 40 years young and still supporting early career researchers and students

Operations on 16 June, 2014

Posted on behalf of Nadia Rosenthal, Scientific Head, EMBL Australia

This month I’m visiting Heidelberg for the 40th anniversary celebrations for EMBL. It’s a time for celebration and excitement about things to come, but it’s also a time for reflecting on the values that have made EMBL a success, and the importance of those values for Australian science.

EMBL (the European Molecular Biology Laboratory) was created in 1974 to internationalise molecular biology. At its core was a vision to nurture and develop the talents of the best and brightest minds in Europe – students and young researchers, who remain the lifeblood of all the EMBL campuses today.

At EMBL Australia, we offer students the chance to connect back with EMBL through our travel grants program, which sends off Aussie researchers to spend time at EMBL labs, attend courses and conferences, or even undertake their PhD at EMBL. We’ve just awarded another round of travel grants, and applications are now open for Australian students to attend the EMBL PhD Symposium in Germany. Read More about The EMBL model – 40 years young and still supporting early career researchers and students

Understand my genome to understand yours; our take on the budget; and boosting bioinformatics

Operations on 14 May, 2014

Posted on behalf of Nadia Rosenthal, Scientific Head, EMBL Australia

There’s exciting news for medical research in the first Abbott budget, but mixed news for science as a whole.

I’m looking forward to seeing the details of the new Medical Research Future Fund, and the research destined to come out of it. It’s also great to see the support for science infrastructure – with $150 million for the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

There’s some good news for mid-career researchers too with 100 more Future Fellowships. But unfortunately, some of our collaborators did not fare so well.

Overall, I look forward to exploring the implications of this budget for the future of EMBL Australia.

One thing I am certain about is that genomics will continue to play an important role in medical research. Read More about Understand my genome to understand yours; our take on the budget; and boosting bioinformatics

Jobs at EMBL Australia, PhD training course, and new research

Tamzin on 10 April, 2014

Posted on behalf of Nadia Rosenthal, Scientific Head, EMBL Australia

It’s been a pretty exciting time for EMBL Australia lately, with international visitors, new group leaders, and even a Nature paper.

But the one thing which really stood out for me in the past year was our EMBL Australia PhD Course.

At last year’s course at WEHI in Melbourne, we spent two weeks with 60 passionate and enthusiastic PhD students.

Not only did the students learn the tools of the trade from top researchers, they also formed an invaluable network of peers, who will hold their own student-run symposium in Sydney later this year.

This year we’ll bring together another 60 PhD students at ANU in Canberra. Applications are open now – read on for more details.

Join the systems biology revolution; meet our new SA group leaders; travel grants

Operations on 4 March, 2014

In this month’s newsletter:

Posted on behalf of Nadia Rosenthal, Scientific Head, EMBL Australia
Read More about Join the systems biology revolution; meet our new SA group leaders; travel grants

Travel grants, prizes and conferences: a year of idea-sharing ahead

Operations on 30 January, 2014

In this month’s newsletter:

Australia’s membership of EMBL to be renewed, your first hug and other news

Toni on 12 December, 2013

In this month’s newsletter:

Upcoming events

About EMBL Australia

Posted on behalf of Nadia Rosenthal, Scientific Head, EMBL Australia

Your first hug: how the early embryo changes shape

Operations on 22 November, 2013

Captured on camera, published in Nature Cell Biology

For the first time, we have been able to watch as filopodia reach out and grab neighbouring cells, pulling them closer and elongating the cell membranes. Credit: EMBL Australia

When you were an embryo, just 8-cells large, your eight roundish cells did something they had never done before – something that would determine whether you survived or failed. They changed their shape.

The cells became elongated and compacted against each other, before returning to their rounded shape and dividing again and again.

It may seem simple enough, but this shaping process of cell elongation and compaction is essential for embryo success. When compaction does not occur, embryos tend not to survive. And the timing of compaction has been linked to success in IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatments.

Connecting Australian researchers to Europe and Japan: EMBL Australia in November

Operations on 4 November, 2013

In this month’s newsletter:

RIKEN and JSPS visits, sharing coral genomes, grants for Europe visits: EMBL Australia in October

Operations on 2 October, 2013

In this month’s newsletter: