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EMBL – Beyond Molecular Biology Physics Computational Biology 1 Chemistry Modelling and Simulation Medicine Collaborations between EMBL research groups 2006-2009 EMBL Research Units Director’s Research Developmental Biology Unit Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit Structural and Computational Biology Unit Grenoble EMBL-EBI Hamburg Monterotondo Genome Biology Unit 2 EMBL Scientific Core Facilities • Advanced Light Microscopy • Chemical Biology • Electron Microscopy • Flow Cytometry • Protein Expression & Purification • Genomics • Proteomics • Monoclonal Antibodies • Transgenics 3 Research Directions Imaging • Bridging scales of biological organisation: combine low- and highresolution techniques • Biology in four dimensions: live imaging to study dynamic processes in space and time • Generate quantitative data Computational Biology • Analysing, integrating and exploiting quantitative data • Build predictive networks and models of biological processes Utilising Next Generation Sequencing • Inter-species variation: comparative sequence analysis to study evolution • Intra-species variation: link genetic variation to phenotype Disease Models and Mechanisms • Decipher the molecular basis of genetic and infectious diseases 4 4 06/06/11 with the help of animal and cellular models Human microbiome • Human body consists 1013 human cells (10 trillion) • It harbors 1014 microbial cells – human microbiome (100 trillion) • Role and influence in human health not fully understood • Recent focus: International studies to investigate their role in human development and health 5 Human intestinal tract - gut microbiome • Composition of gut microbiome varies from person to person • Roles of gut flora: help digestion, produce vitamins, break down toxins, protect from invadors • MetaHIT Consortium: metagenomics approach to study the gut microbiome • Metagenomics: sequence and analyse the genetic material of the entire gut microbiome 6 Humans can be classified into 3 types based on their gut microbes • Microbial genetic markers (abundant genes or functional modules, not species) are related to age, gender and body-mass index • Investigate applicability for diagnosis and prediction of outcomes for diseases like colo-rectal cancer • Information about a person’s gut type could help inform treatment or predict aspects of drug response Arumugam, M. et al. Enterotypes of the human gut microbiome. Nature 473 7 Technology Development • EMBL develops a broad spectrum of technology and instrumentation for life science research • Cross-fertilisation between research activities and technology development Imaging technology 8 Software development Synchrotron instrumentation EMBL Technology Transfer EMBL* Idea EMBLEM** Discovery Licensing Protect ETF*** * European Molecular Biology Laboratory (http://www.embl.org) ** EMBLEM Technology Transfer GmbH (http://www.embl-em.de) *** EMBL Technology Fund (http://www.embl-ventures.com) 9 Start Up Company