Festive Lecture by George Church
How new genomic technologies will impact us all On 17 September 2015 a festive lecture held by geneticist George Church (Harvard Medical School) marked the beginning the GET Global Conference, hosted by CeMM in the context of Genom Austria. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Personal Genome Project, the conference brought together pioneers of personal genome sequencing and open science, discussing technological advances and associated…
Obituary William E. Paul
It is with great sadness that we learn of the decease of Prof. Dr. William E. Paul, Chief of the Laboratory of Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, USA. Bill Paul was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of CeMM from the very beginning and had a great influence on the development of our institute. We lose an extraordinary scientist and highly esteemed mentor. His advice, constructive criticism and…
Visit of H.E. Sergio Mattarella and H.E. Heinz Fischer at CeMM
On September 16, 2015 CeMM was honored by the visit of H.E. Sergio Mattarella, President of the Republic of Italy, and H.E. Heinz Fischer, President of the Republic of Austria. It was the first official visit of President Mattarella to Austria and we are very grateful for this unique opportunity to present CeMM and its research highlights to such an honorable audience. The visit started with a short introduction to CeMM’s art façade created by…
ChIPmentation: fast, robust, low-input ChIP-seq for histones and transcription factors
To understand how genes are regulated, researchers create genome-wide maps that connect regulatory proteins to their target sites on the DNA. This analysis is typically performed using “chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing” (ChIP-seq). With this method, the cell’s chromosomes are cut into small pieces, and an antibody is used to fish out those DNA fragments that are bound by the regulatory protein of interest. Unfortunately,…
An international group of laboratories, led by CeMM, publishes in Cell the scientific arguments for more systematic research on solute carriers proteins, the major class of drug transporters
Recent scientific insights and technical breakthroughs strongly argue for a global, efficient approach to map the gene products that manage the interface between biological systems and their environment. The proteins that transport nutrients and drugs across cellular membranes into cells and organisms have paradoxically not been studied in an orderly, efficient fashion, despite their clear importance. Recent work at CeMM on regulation of the…
www.ChemicalProbes.org, a new crowdsourcing initiative
The Superti-Furga laboratory at CeMM is part of a new crowdsourcing initiative, a wiki site called www.chemicalprobes.org that recommends appropriate chemical probes for biological targets, provides guidance on their use, and documents their limitations. Chemical probes are chemical tool compounds that enable scientists to study proteins in living cells without genetic modifications and which may be interesting drug targets to treat diseases like…
New epigenetic target and drug in leukemia
Through the investigation of specific interaction partners of the leukemia-associated, truncated variant of C/EBPa, the research group of Giulio Superti-Furga, Scientific Director at CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, has gained new mechanistic insights into the molecular details of oncogenic transformation by C/EBPa mutant proteins. Florian Grebien, postdoctoral fellow in Superti-Furga´s team and…
Scientists at CeMM discover a new fundamental feature in the organization of biological matter
An unexpected order in the molecular regulation of the constituents of the fat part of our cells is revealed in two simultaneous publications appearing from the laboratory of Prof. Giulio Superti-Furga in the renowned scientific journals Cell and Cell Reports. The two studies, from scientists at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences investigated the role of lipids in the immune response. Marielle…
Inherited DOCK2 deficiency in patients with early-onset invasive bacterial and viral infections
In an international study scientists from Kaan Boztug´s team at CeMM and the Medical University of Vienna, in close collaboration with the groups of Luigi Notarangelo at Boston Children’s Hospital, and Jean-Laurent Casanova at Rockefeller University, New York , have elucidated the molecular cause of a hitherto unrecognized inherited disorder of the immune system (primary immunodeficiency). Performing genetic and cellular immunological studies,…
Opening CeMM Kapsel/Time Capsule
On June 3rd, 2015 the CeMM Kapsel/Time Capsule a Science and Art project by Martin Walde and Giulio Superti-Furga was officially opened by Andreas Mailath-Pokorny, Vienna City Councillor for Cultural Affairs and Science. The concept of the Time Capsule is based on Martin Walde´s interaction with CeMM´s research and philosophy and with the wish to create a “docking place” for artists of all branches within a biomedical research institute. The idea…
CeMM Research Report 2014
On Monday, May 18, the new Research Report was presented to a selected audience. CeMM attempts to address a wider public of culturally interested people, provides interesting artistic insides and provokes new questions. A good example for this is the yearly CeMM Research Report, which is more than a summary of the ongoing projects and activities. The theme of this year’s report is inspired by the human genome, and by the Austrian National…
Prominent encouragement for the life sciences at the ceremonial session of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
On the occasion of the Feierliche Sitzung/Ceremonial Meeting of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, on May 8th, 2015, both Heinz Fischer, President of Austria and Reinhold Mitterlehner, Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Science, Research and Economy emphasized the pioneering achievements of CeMM and IMBA and their importance for Austria as a top location for science. Academy President Anton Zeilinger acknowledged the appeal and confirmed the…
Best of Biotech Competition: CeMM researchers among the best 10 teams
“Best of Biotech” is an international life science business plan competition organized by Life Science Austria (LISA), a program run by the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS) on behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy. On May 6, 2015 an international jury consisting of distinguished experts from the areas of science, industry and finance selected the winners of the competition. CeMM congratulates its researchers…
Open Statement in support of opposing the cuts in the EU budget earmarked for research
EU-LIFE strongly supports the position of the European Parliament against H2020 cuts and now urges the EU Commission to substantially amend the EFSI (European Fund for Strategic Investments) proposal to ensure full protection of the EU budget for research; and the support of Member States Governments to ensure this protection. In particular, we call for the following measures: 1. Stop deviating funds from research. Science must be protected…
Karl Landsteiner Lecture 2015
Stressed Out: A Novel Approach to Cancer ImmunotherapyOne target – two anti-cancer strategies! On April 27th Laurie H. Glimcher, Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College delivered this year’s CeMM Landsteiner Lecture with the topic “Stressed Out: A Novel Approach to Cancer Immunotherapy”. In her lively and fascinating talk, Laurie H. Glimcher presented a novel approach to cancer immunotherapy that looks promising to treat solid, very aggressive,…
