|
GENOMICS SPECIAL ISSUE: NETWORKS OF EXCELLENCE
The subject of this issue is Networks of Excellence in fundamental genomics, and the following pages include the progress to date of seven NoEs being funded under the Sixth Framework Programme. The main aims of this new funding instrument include tackling the fragmentation of research activities in Europe by encouraging and enabling collaboration between major EU research groups to achieve a critical mass of resources and expertise. Some of the networks described here – MYORES, MUGEN and EMBRACE – are very new, while others have been running for over a year already. Nevertheless, they all have the same aim – to make European science and research more structured, to place the emphasis on collaboration, and to build a research community that amounts to more than the sum of its parts. Common themes are emerging in the research and research-related issues these networks face – not least the pressing need to streamline the management of information, to train young scientists, and to speed up the transfer of knowledge from academia to industry. Armed with the best brains in Europe, and the will to succeed, the NoEs seem likely to meet them.
Bernard Mulligan
Acting Head of the Fundamental Genomics Unit
Directorate-General for Research and Technological Development (DG Research)
European Commission
|
|
Editorial
by Jacques Remacle
 |
Jacques Remacle |
The network of excellence (NoE) is a very useful instrument for supporting basic research in specific areas of fundamental genomics that demand a higher level of integration at the European level to catalyse research progress.
The NoE, with its flexible and dynamic structure, can gather together expertise in different fields around a common programme of activities with the goal to tackle challenging biological questions, to promote training, to exchange ideas and materials, to set up common quality standards, to share common facilities and to disseminate major research discoveries to a wider public audience. In contrast to the integrated projects, which are clearly oriented towards research deliverables, the main goal of the NoE is to structure the European research community in a given scientific area, thereby facilitating the achievement of ambitious research objectives (solving big questions), and to increase the visibility of a the research theme. 
|
|
| Tools to target cell migration research
MAIN: Network of Excellence targeting cell migration in chronic inflammation
Chronic inflammation occurs when the body mounts a prolonged inflammatory response that can last weeks, months or even indefinitely, depending on how long the stimulus for the inflammation persists in the tissue. Inevitably it results in tissue damage, and tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease are all examples of chronic inflammatory diseases. The drugs currently used to treat chronic inflammation are poorly selective and can even damage the immune system. But before improved alternatives can be designed, scientists need to understand the mechanisms of chronic inflammation.
|
 |
Taking a really close look at the living cell
3D-EM: three-dimensional cell visualisation using electron microscopy
It is already possible to obtain detailed information about cell components using techniques such as X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, but these techniques require that the cell first be dismantled.
|
|
Experts join forces to improve information procedures
BioSapiens: a European Virtual Institute for Genome Annotation
Molecular biologists are drowning in data, struggling to make sense of information flooding in from continuing genome-sequencing efforts, along with data from proteomics, microarray and structural genomics projects.
|
|
Joint effort to make biological databases compatible
EMBRACE: European Model for Bioinformatics Research and Community Education
EMBRACE is younger than BioSapiens, but it too is concerned with the need for a unified bioinformatics approach in Europe. Whereas BioSapiens’ focus is on data analysis, the goal of EMBRACE is to improve access to biological information for scientists both inside and beyond European borders.
|
|
Giving research efforts muscle power
MYORES: the First European Network of Excellence dedicated to studying normal and aberrant muscle development function and repair
Over 300 000 people are affected by muscular dystrophies in Europe, while muscular degeneration is a common problem in ageing, leading to loss of mobility and independence. European-funded research is directed towards a better understanding of muscle development, function and repair with a view to developing better therapies for muscle disease.
|
|
Virtual research centre with a global reach
MUGEN: shaping a world-class network of European S&T excellence in the field of ‘Murine models of human immunological diseases’
Reinforcing the European effort to understand and treat inflammatory disease, a brand new Network of Excellence, MUGEN, came into effect in early 2005. The aim is to build a world-class, Europe-wide network of research based on functional genomics in mouse models of human immunological disease.
|
|
Core research into cell mechanisms
Epigenome: a Network of Excellence to advance epigenetic research
DNA is not the only vehicle by which heritable traits are transmitted from generation to generation. In eurkaryotic cells, genomic DNA is packaged into a dynamic polymer called chromatin, whose structure and composition can be altered by the action of enzymes. So while an individual’s cells all share the same linear sequence of DNA nucleotides – the genome – the epigenome, or chromatin ‘flavour’, can vary between cell types. This epigenome defines the characteristic function of each cell type, and ensures that the memory of that function is maintained through cell division.
|
|
|
|
|
Research results
