EMBL spreads to Spain

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) has joined forces with Spain’s leading genomics research institute, the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), to launch a joint research unit in systems biology. The new unit, to be based alongside the CRG on the campus of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park will be funded by the Spanish Ministry for Education and Science with €12.7 million over the next nine years.

Luis Serrano, who currently coordinates EMBL’s Structural and Computational Biology Unit in Heidelberg, will be head of the new venture, which will bring together five multidisciplinary groups working with a variety of research techniques, including RNA interference, biochemical networks and mouse development.

“Systems biology is the future of biomedicine,” said Serrano, “In this new partnership we will combine theoretical and experimental approaches to better understand some of the key aspects of human health.”

“Merging EMBL’s expertise in computational biology with the CRG’s know how in specific areas of genomics and proteomics will allow us to tackle some of the most challenging questions of systems biology,” commented Iain Mattaj, EMBL’s Director General.

EMBL is accustomed to working with research organisations in its 19 member states, and has two similar partnerships to its new Catalunyan deal where it is spreading its expertise beyond the home base: the Partnership for Structural Biology in Grenoble, France and the Partnership with the SARS Centre in Bergen, Norway. It has a collaboration with DESY in Hamburg and the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit in Heidelberg, also.

“Joining forces with EMBL, Europe’s leading institute in molecular biology, we will create a new centre of excellence for systems biology in Barcelona,” said Miguel Beato, Director of the CRG.