After a year of many exciting activities and projects, we are taking a short break. Meet us back here in January for more news about world-class research, training, and technology — see you in 2026! 💫

The microscopic world of proteins, DNA, and other biomolecules is constantly in motion. An EMBO computational structural biology workshop explored the trends, collaborative opportunities, and progress taking place in computational structural biology to better understand these dynamics.

Imagine you’re a scientist studying how plants respond to environmental stress. You want to see how long-term drought conditions affect certain cell membrane structures, but doing it manually would take months of work, and you lack the skills to build a computer algorithm that could do it for you.

Understanding how the human reproductive system forms is essential to addressing fertility challenges, congenital conditions, and more. A new single-cell atlas sheds light on the processes that shape our reproductive organs. www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/r... @sangerinstitute.bsky.social

👏 Congratulations Maame Ekua Acquah for receiving the 2025 L'Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Young Talent Award! A former EMBL-UNESCO fellow with the Kowalinski Group in Grenoble, her work focuses on host-viral dynamics of SARS-CoV-2, with an emphasis on communities in Ghana. tinyurl.com/ya9fbmbn

Congratulations, Julia Mahamid! Julia Mahamid receives the @dfg.de Leibniz Prize for her work on structural cell biology! #LeibnizPreis

🎉 Congrats to Isidro Cortés-Ciriano and Wojciech Galej on receiving ERC Consolidator Grants! 🧬 Cortés-Ciriano (EMBL-EBI) will receive €2M to study genomic rearrangements in cancer. 🧵 Galej (EMBL Grenoble) will receive €2M to explore RNA splicing. Learn more: www.embl.org/news/awards-...

“Behind every scientific breakthrough, there are good instruments.” EMBL alumnus and Lennart Philipson Awardee Florent Cipriani reflects on his 30 years at EMBL Grenoble and his multidisciplinary career building technologies that enable new discoveries. www.embl.org/news/people-...

We were pleased to host our partners from the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology last week. The visit initiated first interactions through EMERALD, a new Polish national initiative strengthening connections between EMBL and the Polish life science community. 🇵🇱

Researchers at EMBL Barcelona have launched LimbNET, a new online platform that integrates computer modeling, experimental data, and 2D live simulations for limb development. www.embl.org/news/science...

Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem across the planet. Now, researchers have released VIRE – a comprehensive viral genome database covering diverse ecosystems to advance understanding of viral evolution and ecosystem functions. Learn more: www.embl.org/news/science...

Congratulations, Sagar Bhogaraju, for receiving the prestigious Impulscience® grant! 🎉 The €2.3M award will advance research on ubiquitin signalling, MAGE proteins, and cancer biology – unlocking new therapeutic possibilities. www.embl.org/news/awards-...

Congratulations, Anna Erzberger! The EMBL Group Leader has been selected to be part of the prestigious EMBO Young Investigator Programme. She will join an international network of more than 800 life scientists in the early stages of their independent careers. www.embl.org/news/awards-...

AI holds huge promise for life science research. But unreliable answers currently limit its impact. @juliosaezrod.bsky.social, Head of Research at EMBL-EBI, discusses how Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers are helping to change this. www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/p... 🧬💻

We’re excited to welcome the TREC community to EMBL Heidelberg for a three-day Symposium. The event brings together researchers across disciplines to exchange insights, spark new ideas, and strengthen connections within the TREC network: www.embl.org/about/info/t...

Nobel laureate Svante Pääbo, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, will deliver the 2026 EMBL Kafatos lecture. The lecture will explore how traces of Neanderthal DNA might shape human biology and health today. www.embl.org/news/embl-an...

Did you know that the world’s first remote small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiment was conducted in 2009 at EMBL Hamburg? Learn about the fascinating technical challenges that the Svergun Group overcame to make this possible: www.embl.org/about/info/a...

📣 Applications for the #EIPOD-Linc Postdoctoral Fellowships Programme are open! Join us to work on self-designed interdisciplinary research on projects related to exploring life in context. ✍ Apply now: www.embl.org/about/info/p...

Anthony A. Hyman will become EMBL’s next Director General. He joins EMBL from @mpi-cbg.de in Dresden. He is also Professor of Molecular Biology @tudresden.bsky.social, and was a group leader at EMBL Heidelberg from 1993 to 1999. www.embl.org/news/people-...

EMBL Grenoble scientists filmed a self-splicing ribozyme folding into a functional machine – frame by frame. Using cryo-EM, SAXS & simulations, they revealed the choreography that keeps it from misfolding. This discovery could help train AI for RNA structure prediction. www.embl.org/news/science...

(1/3) Imagine reconstructing a history over a billion years in the making. New research from EMBL and @Stanford shows how centromeres retain their function despite their rapid rate of change, and the evolutionary constraints that govern this process. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

AI is transforming the way science is done and Europe is taking action. At #AIS25, EMBL contributed to Europe’s #AIinScience discussions, highlighting open data, collaboration, and training for the next generation of researchers. Find out more: www.embl.org/news/connect...

From a farm in the north of England to the frontiers of bioinformatics, our Group Leader Sandra Orchard reflects on a career building the data foundations of modern biology: “AI is showing how vital data curation really is.” www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/p... 🖥️🧬

Millions of people are affected by mental health conditions, yet progress in treatment has been slow. The Open Psychiatry Project aims to change that with a secure platform linking genetic and clinical mental health data. @cam.ac.uk @opentargets.org www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/a...

AI is reshaping how science is conducted, opening new possibilities for fundamental research. Great to see one of our member states recognising this and the importance of strong data foundations to drive AI development.

Congratulations @mariabernabeu.bsky.social and team! The EMBL Barcelona group leader has received the prestigious Spanish @caixaresearch.bsky.social Health grant to better understand cerebral malaria pathogenesis and identify treatments. 👉Learn more: www.embl.org/news/awards-...

Scientists discovered self-sustaining inflammatory circuits in the bone marrow stem cell niche that precede blood cancers. The insights suggest how inflammation rewires the bone marrow microenvironment long before leukaemias develop & offer potential new drug target.🧪 www.embl.org/news/science...

Antimicrobial resistance is putting public health under pressure. Find out how PopPIPE, a bioinformatics tool developed at EMBL-EBI, is helping Public Health Scotland track outbreaks, reveal transmission links, and respond faster. www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/r... #WAAW2025 #ActOnAMR 🧬💻

Sixteen leading life science and IT companies, all-new livestreamed presentations, and an informative career panel made for a successful EMBL Industry Day in its second year. www.embl.org/news/connect...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing health threat, making infections harder to treat and complicating routine medical care. EMBL-EBI’s new AMR portal brings together laboratory resistance data and bacterial genomes in one open platform. #WAAW2025 #ActOnAMR www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/t... 🧬💻

After many years abroad, Fabio Petroni has returned to Italy to establish an independent research group at EMBL Rome. Here, he will be developing AI systems to support life science research. Read more in his interview: www.embl.org/news/?p=7718...

Meet Jana Broecker 🇩🇪 who helps build bridges between EMBL-EBI and industry. As a Senior Scientific Officer in our Industry Partnerships team, Jana develops opportunities for knowledge sharing and technology transfer, focusing on bioinformatics and data sciences. www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/p...

📢 Are you interested in working on interdisciplinary research projects in the context of EMBL’s programme ‘Molecules to Ecosystems’? Join our webinar on 26 November at 14:00 CET to learn about the EIPOD-LinC postdoctoral programme! 👉 Register: embl-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Today, on World #ScienceDay for Peace and Development, we are joining our EIROforum partners in celebrating how science contributes to society 🌎 Thanks to you, we are able to develop new technologies and make discoveries that help address some of today’s most pressing challenges.

Ever used a microscope to break out of an escape room? The EMBL programme ‘Summer of Science’ offered children, families, and even scientists a unique way to experience science through a collection of creative activities. Learn more: www.embl.org/news/lab-mat...

Diatoms – microscopic algae found almost everywhere there’s water – make up ~25% of Earth’s annual oxygen production.🌎 EMBL researchers have now found a way to easily reveal their inner structures by combining cryo-fixation with ultrastructural expansion microscopy 🔬 www.cell.com/current-biol...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the millions of viral genomes coming in overwhelmed traditional methods for data analysis. Find out how SPRTA, a new tool, provides a fast, scalable way to measure confidence of phylogenetic trees, helping scientists track outbreaks. www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/t...

HT-PELSA, a new proteomics tool by EMBL researchers, processes samples 100x faster and works directly with complex crude cell, tissue, and bacterial lysates – developments which could accelerate drug discovery and basic biological research 💊 🔗 www.embl.org/news/science...

Thank you to everyone who joined the Life Science Thematic Workshop at the AI in Science Summit in Copenhagen. Led by EMBL’s Oliver Stegle and Anna Kreshuk, the workshop united researchers and AI experts to explore how advanced computational approaches are shaping the future of life sciences. #ai

(1/2) A new study from EMBL researchers and their collaborators provides unprecedented insights into the cellular architecture of over 200 species of plankton – tiny but ecologically critical marine organisms – using ultrastructure expansion microscopy. Learn more: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

In a new pilot study EMBL will explore microbial biodiversity along the Rhine, uncovering how environmental changes affect the smallest forms of life in Europe’s freshwater systems. The work connects studies in Rhineland-Palatinate to a wider European effort to understand and protect ecosystems.

My choice this week in @science.org www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Meet Rory Bufacchi🇮🇹🇬🇧🇳🇱, Senior Research Scientist at EMBL Rome. In this interview, Rory talks about the excitement of finding new understanding from existing data and developing computational models to describe living systems. www.embl.org/news/people-...

Can an AI tool help us better understand the origins of cancer? Researchers from EMBL's Korbel Group have developed a new AI method – MAGIC – which, through a game of molecular laser tag, is shedding light on how chromosomal abnormalities form in cells. www.embl.org/news/science...

EMBL scientists have new detailed info about Asgard archaea DNA structures offering important clues to more complex cell evolution. With #cryoEM, scientists found both open and closed chomatin structures with a possible role in regulating chromatin. doi.org/10.1016/j.mo...

EMBL Barcelona researchers develop a human placenta model to protect pregnant women and their babies. This in vitro model that mimics the maternal-foetal interface of the placenta, allowing for the study of molecule exchange and drug transport. www.embl.org/news/science...

Researchers at EMBL Barcelona highlight malaria-induced disruption of pericytes, bringing us a step closer to understanding how cerebral malaria damages the brain, and how these damages could be prevented or reversed. www.embl.org/news/science...

Growth charts guide child healthcare, but standard charts often don’t reflect the growth patterns of children with rare conditions. A new method, LMSz, creates condition-specific growth charts and is being integrated in @deciphergenomics.bsky.social www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/t... 🧬💻

After exploring Europe’s coastlines, EMBL’s TREC expedition is moving inland! 💧 The new Traversing Ecosystems phase focuses on freshwater habitats – studying how human activity and environmental change affect life at the molecular level. www.embl.org/news/science...

To celebrate EMBL Hamburg’s 50th anniversary, we reflect on some key moments in the site’s history. Read about the central role the Double Ring Storage Facility (DORIS) played in EMBL Hamburg’s early years, setting the stage for pioneering research and innovation. www.embl.org/about/info/a...