View source for Organization:European Molecular Biology Laboratory

{{Short description|Molecular biology research institution}}

{{Infobox organization
| name                    = European Molecular Biology Laboratory
| full_name               = 
| native_name             = 
| native_name_lang        = 
| logo                    = EMBL logo.svg
| logo_size               = 200px
| logo_caption            = EMBL logo
| image                   = 
| image_size              = 
| caption                 = 
| map                     = <!-- map image -->
| map_size                = <!-- defaults to 250px -->
| map_alt                 = 
| map_caption             = 
| abbreviation            = EMBL
| nickname                = 
| predecessor             = 
| formation               = {{start date and age|1974}}
| founder                 = <!-- or |founders = -->
| founding_location       = 
| dissolved               = 
| type                    = [[Engineering:Research institute|Research institute]]
| status                  = 
| purpose                 = [[Basic research]]
| headquarters            = Heidelberg, Germany
| addnl_location          = {{ubl|[[Place:Barcelona|Barcelona]], Spain|Grenoble, France|[[Place:Hamburg|Hamburg]], Germany|Heidelberg, Germany|Hinxton, United Kingdom|[[Place:Rome|Rome]], Italy}}
| coordinates             = 
| fields                  = [[Biology:Molecular biology|Molecular biology]]
| membership              = {{Collapsible list
| title = Full members (29):
| {{flag|Austria}}
| {{flag|Belgium}}
| {{flag|Croatia}}
| {{flag|Czech Republic}}
| {{flag|Denmark}}
| {{flag|Estonia}}
| {{flag|Finland}}
| {{flag|France}}
| {{flag|Germany}}
| {{flag|Greece}}
| {{flag|Hungary}}
| {{flag|Iceland}}
| {{flag|Ireland}}
| {{flag|Israel}}
| {{flag|Italy}}
| {{flag|Latvia}}
| {{flag|Lithuania}}
| {{flag|Luxembourg}}
| {{flag|Malta}}
| {{flag|Montenegro}}
| {{flag|Netherlands}}
| {{flag|Norway}}
| {{flag|Poland}}
| {{flag|Portugal}}
| {{flag|Slovakia}}
| {{flag|Spain}}
| {{flag|Sweden}}
| {{flag|Switzerland}}
| {{flag|United Kingdom}}
}}{{Collapsible list
| title = Prospect member (1):
| {{flag|Serbia}}
}}{{Collapsible list
| title = Associate member (1):
| {{flag|Australia}}
}}
| membership_year         = <!-- year to which membership numbers/data apply -->
| language                = <!-- or |languages = --><!-- any official language or languages used -->
| sec_gen                 = <!-- or |gen_sec for General Secretary -->
| leader_title            = Director General
| leader_name             = Edith Heard<ref name="Noyes">{{Cite news|url=https://news.embl.de/lab-matters/embl-next-director-general/|title=EMBL Council selects next Director General|last=Noyes|first=Dan|date=2017-06-28|work=EMBL etc.}}</ref>
| board_of_directors      = 
| key_people              = 
| main_organ              = <!-- or |publication = --><!-- organization's principal body (assembly, committee, board, etc.) or publication -->
| parent_organization     = 
| subsidiaries            = 
| secessions              = 
| affiliations            = 
| ror_id                  = <!-- unique ID in the Research Organization Registry -->
| budget                  = 
| budget_year             = 
| revenue                 = 
| revenue_year            = 
| disbursements           = 
| expenses                = 
| expenses_year           = 
| endowment               = 
| endowment_year          = 
| funding                 = <!-- source of funding e.g. for "think tanks" -->
| staff                   = ~1800
| staff_year              = 
| awards                  = 
| website                 = {{URL|https://www.embl.org}}
}}

The '''European Molecular Biology Laboratory''' ('''EMBL''') is an [[Social:Intergovernmental organization|intergovernmental organization]] dedicated to [[Biology:Molecular biology|molecular biology]] research and is supported by 29 member states, one prospect member state, and one associate member state.<ref name=memberstates/> EMBL was created in 1974 and is funded by public research money from its member states.<ref>{{Cite book|last=|url=https://cds.cern.ch/record/764877|title=Signing of the agreement to set up a European molecular biology research laboratory|date=10 May 1973|publisher=CERN}}</ref> Research at EMBL is conducted by more than 110 independent research groups and service teams covering the spectrum of molecular biology.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.embl.org/about/ |title=About EMBL |access-date=28 January 2024 |publisher=European Molecular Biology Laboratory }}</ref>

The Laboratory operates from six sites: the main laboratory in Heidelberg (Germany), and sites in [[Place:Barcelona|Barcelona]] (Spain), Grenoble (France), [[Place:Hamburg|Hamburg]] (Germany), Hinxton (the [[Organization:European Bioinformatics Institute|European Bioinformatics Institute]] (EBI), in England), and [[Place:Rome|Rome]] (Italy). EMBL groups and laboratories perform basic research in molecular biology and molecular medicine as well as train scientists, students, and visitors. The organization aids in the development of services, new instruments and methods, and technology in its member states. [[Place:Israel|Israel]] is the only full member state located outside Europe.

== History ==
EMBL was the idea of Leó Szilárd,<ref>{{Cite journal
| pmid = 15238510
| pmc = 1470899
| year = 2004
| last1 = Maas
| first1 = W
| title = Leo Szilard: A personal remembrance
| journal = Genetics
| volume = 167
| issue = 2
| pages = 555–8
| last2 = Crow
| first2 = J. F.
| doi = 10.1534/genetics.104.030320
}}</ref> [[Biography:James Watson|James Watson]] and [[Biography:John Kendrew|John Kendrew]].<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Holmes | first1 = K. C. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.2001.0018 | title = Sir John Cowdery Kendrew. 24 March 1917 - 23 August 1997: Elected F.R.S. 1960 | journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | volume = 47 | pages = 311–332 | year = 2001 | pmid =  15124647| doi-access = free }}</ref> Their goal was to create an international research centre, similar to [[Organization:CERN|CERN]], to rival the strongly American-dominated field of molecular biology.<ref name=web>{{cite web |url=http://www.embl.de/aboutus/general_information/history/ |title=EMBL History |date=2015 |archive-date=2014-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413125139/http://www.embl.de/aboutus/general_information/history/}}</ref> Kendrew served as the first [[Social:Director general|Director general]] of EMBL until 1982 and was succeeded by [[Biography:Lennart Philipson|Lennart Philipson]].<ref>{{Cite journal
 | pmid = 22106290
| pmc = 3223467
| year = 2011
| last1 = Pettersson
| first1 = U
| title = Lennart Philipson: A fighter is gone
| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
| volume = 108
| issue = 47
| pages = 18875
| doi = 10.1073/pnas.1116859108
| bibcode = 2011PNAS..10818875P
| doi-access = free
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Simons | first1 = K. 
| last2 = Mattaj | first2 = I. W. 
| doi = 10.1126/science.1210990 
| title = Lennart Philipson (1929-2011) 
| journal = Science 
| volume = 333 
| issue = 6043 
| pages = 711 
| year = 2011 
| pmid = 21817041 
| bibcode = 2011Sci...333..711S 
| s2cid = 10083044 
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001153| title = Lennart Philipson (1929–2011): A Warrior Has Passed| journal = PLOS Biology| volume = 9| issue = 9| pages = e1001153| year = 2011| last1 = Baltimore | first1 = D. | pmc = 3176751| doi-access = free}}</ref> From 1993 to 2005, Fotis Kafatos,<ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Gilbert | first1 = N. 
| title = The labours of Fotis Kafatos 
| doi = 10.1038/464020a 
| journal = Nature 
| volume = 464 
| issue = 7285 
| pages = 20 
| year = 2010 
| pmid =  20203577
| doi-access = free 
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Kafatos | first1 = F. 
| title = Straight talk with...Fotis Kafatos 
| doi = 10.1038/nm0908-902 
| journal = Nature Medicine 
| volume = 14 
| issue = 9 
| pages = 902–903 
| year = 2008 
| pmid = 18776875 
| s2cid = 21218047 
}}</ref> served as director and was succeeded by Iain Mattaj, EMBL's fourth director, from 2005 to 2018.<ref name=mattajswho>{{Who's Who | title=MATTAJ, Iain William | id = U26987 | volume = 2015 | edition = online [[Organization:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> In January 2019, Edith Heard became the fifth director of EMBL and the first woman to hold this position.<ref name="Noyes">{{Cite news|url=https://news.embl.de/lab-matters/embl-next-director-general/|title=EMBL Council selects next Director General|last=Noyes|first=Dan|date=2017-06-28|work=EMBL etc.}}</ref>

[[File:European Conference on Molecular Biology held at CERN in January 1968.jpg|thumb|In 1968 the European Molecular Biology Conference was founded at CERN, associating 14 governments with EMBO, providing the organisation with stable funding and scientific independence. This led to the formal establishment of The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in 1974.]]

Heard announced the organisation's five-year scientific programme Molecules to Ecosystems on 19 January 2022.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.embl.org/about/programme/ |title=EMBL Programme 2022–26: Molecules to Ecosystems |access-date=28 January 2024 |publisher=European Molecular Biology Laboratory }}</ref>

== Research ==
[[File:EMBL Heidelberg Main Entrance.jpg|thumb|EMBL main entrance in Heidelberg]]

Each EMBL site has a specific research field. The [[Organization:European Bioinformatics Institute|EMBL-EBI]] is a hub for [[Biology:Bioinformatics|bioinformatics]] research and services, developing and maintaining a large number of scientific databases that are free of charge. At Grenoble and Hamburg, research is focused on [[Biology:Structural biology|structural biology]].

[[File:EMBL Rome Building.jpg|left|thumb|EMBL Rome]]

The EMBL Rome site is dedicated to the study of [[Biology:Epigenetics|epigenetics]] and neurobiology. Scientists at EMBL Barcelona are exploring how tissues and organs function and develop, in health and disease.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.embl.es/aboutus/general_information/about-embl-barcelona/index.html |title=EMBL Barcelona |publisher=European Molecular Biology Laboratory}}</ref> At the headquarters in Heidelberg, there are units in cell biology and [[Physics:Biophysics|biophysics]], [[Biology:Developmental biology|developmental biology]], [[Biology:Genomics|genome biology]], and structural and computational biology, as well as service groups complementing the aforementioned research fields.

Many scientific breakthroughs have been made at EMBL. The first systematic genetic analysis of embryonic development in the fruit fly was conducted at EMBL by [[Biography:Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard|Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard]] and Eric Wieschaus,<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1038/287795a0| title = Mutations affecting segment number and polarity in Drosophila| journal = Nature| volume = 287| issue = 5785| pages = 795–801| year = 1980| last1 = Nüsslein-Volhard | first1 = C. | last2 = Wieschaus | first2 = E. | pmid=6776413| bibcode = 1980Natur.287..795N| s2cid = 4337658}}</ref> for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995. In the early 1980s, [[Biography:Jacques Dubochet|Jacques Dubochet]] and his team at EMBL developed [[Engineering:Cryogenic electron microscopy|cryogenic electron microscopy]] for biological structures. They were rewarded with the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

[[File:EMBL Grenoble.JPG|thumb|EMBL Grenoble]]

== Scientific Services ==
EMBL has identified as a core mission the provision of [https://www.embl.org/services-facilities/ advanced experimental and data services] to external researchers, including structural biology, imaging and sequencing facilities at its five European sites. In 2021, EMBL completed a new centre for high-resolution light and electron microscopy at its Heidelberg Headquarters – the [https://www.embl.org/about/info/imaging-centre/ EMBL Imaging Centre]. The centre is open to visiting scientists worldwide and provides a unique service facility for the life sciences by combining the latest imaging technologies with expert advice and industry-led developments not yet otherwise available.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.embl.de/lab-matters/funding-agreed-imaging-technology-centre/ |title = Funding agreed for imaging technology centre at EMBL Heidelberg| date=31 August 2017 }}</ref>

== Training ==
[[File:EMBL campus Heidelberg.jpg|400px|thumb|The EMBL Heidelberg buildings, including the new Advanced Training Centre]]

Advanced training is one of EMBL's five core missions.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.embl.de/aboutus/general_information/mission/ |title = Missions {{!}} EMBL.org}}</ref> Over the years, the Laboratory has established a number of training activities, of which the EMBL International PhD Programme (EIPP) is the flagship – it has a student body of about 200, and since 1997 has had the right to award its own degree, although currently students receive their degrees from partner universities. Other activities include the postdoctoral programme, including the EMBL Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral programme (EIPOD) and the Visitor Programme.<ref>[https://www.embl.de/training/index.php Training at EMBL], EMBL website</ref>

== EMBL Advanced Training Centre ==
In March 2010, the EMBL Advanced Training Centre (ATC) was inaugurated on the main campus in Heidelberg. Shaped in the form of a double helix,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/press/news/news06/press433_e.html |title=University of Heidelberg – Press Releases<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2014-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195327/http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/press/news/news06/press433_e.html |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> it hosts scientific conferences, seminars and training courses, and provides access to training laboratories and lecture halls.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020|title=Conferences and Courses|url=https://www.embl.de/training/events/index.php|access-date=June 7, 2020|website=EMBL}}</ref>

The ATC also hosts EMBL's European Learning Lab for the Life Sciences [https://www.embl.org/ells/ (ELLS)] which provides training for secondary school teachers on the latest developments in molecular biology, and runs a student outreach program.

== Science and society ==
EMBL also runs an active Science and Society Programme which offers activities and events on current questions in life science research for the general public and the scientific community.<ref>[http://www.embl.de/aboutus/science_society/index.html Science and Society Programme], EMBL website</ref>

== Membership ==
{{Multiple image
 | width             = 400
 | direction         = vertical
 | image1            = EMBL Member States 2020.svg
 | image2            = EMBL-Membership-Status.svg
 | caption2          = {{legend|#008040|Member states}}
{{legend|#00cc99|Associate member states}} {{legend|#80ffaa|Prospect member states}}}}

EMBL is currently supported by 29 member states, one associate member state, and one prospect member state.

{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! style="width:14em;" | Member states<ref name=memberstates>{{cite web |url=https://www.embl.org/about/member-states/ |title=EMBL member states |access-date=28 January 2024 |publisher=European Molecular Biology Laboratory }}</ref>
! style="width:8em;" | Year of joining
|-
|{{flag|Austria}}
| align="center" | 1974
|-
|{{flag|Belgium}}
| align="center" | 1990
|-
|{{flag|Croatia}}
| align="center" | 2006
|-
|{{flag|Czech Republic}}
| align="center" | 2014
|-
|{{flag|Denmark}}
| align="center" | 1974
|-
|{{flag|Estonia}}
| align="center" | 2023
|-
|{{flag|Finland}}
| align="center" | 1984
|-
|{{flag|France}}
| align="center" | 1974
|-
|{{flag|Germany}}
| align="center" | 1974
|-
|{{flag|Greece}}
| align="center" | 1984
|-
|{{flag|Hungary}}
| align="center" | 2017
|-
|{{flag|Iceland}}
| align="center" | 2005
|-
|{{flag|Ireland}}
| align="center" | 2003
|-
|{{flag|Israel}}
| align="center" | 1974
|-
|{{flag|Italy}}
| align="center" | 1974
|-
|{{flag|Latvia}}
| align="center" | 2024
|-
|{{flag|Lithuania}}
| align="center" | 2019
|-
|{{flag|Luxembourg}}
| align="center" | 2007
|-
|{{flag|Malta}}
| align="center" | 2016
|-
|{{flag|Montenegro}}
| align="center" | 2018
|-
|{{flag|Netherlands}}
| align="center" | 1974
|-
|{{flag|Norway}}
| align="center" | 1985
|-
|{{flag|Poland}}
| align="center" | 2019
|-
|{{flag|Portugal}}
| align="center" | 1998
|-
|{{flag|Slovakia}}
| align="center" | 2018
|-
|{{flag|Spain}}
| align="center" | 1986
|-
|{{flag|Sweden}}
| align="center" | 1974
|-
|{{flag|Switzerland}}
| align="center" | 1974
|-
|{{flag|United Kingdom}}
| align="center" | 1974
|-
! style="width:12em;" | Prospect member state
!
|-
|{{flag|Serbia}}
| align="center" | 2023
|-
! style="width:12em;" | Associate member state
!
|-
|{{flag|Australia}}
| align="center" | 2008
|-
! style="width:12em;" | Former associate member state
!
|-
|{{flag|Argentina}}
| align="center" | 2014–2020
|}

== See also ==
* European Molecular Biology Organization
* [[European Genome-phenome Archive]]

== Notes and references ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==


{{coord|49|23|4.64|N|8|42|36.51|E|type:landmark_region:DE_dim:400|display=title}}


[[Category:International research institutes]]
[[Category:Molecular biology institutes]]

{{Sourceattribution|European Molecular Biology Laboratory}}