After nearly 20 hours of traveling, I have arrived at the stately house Wiston in the English countryside county of West Sussex, England. Before even getting out of the car, I find it easy to shrug off the jet lag and fatigue; perhaps it has something to do with the serene landscape of green hills dotted with grazing sheep. Or, perhaps the Wiston House itself, which apparently dates back to 1573. I’m not exactly how to come to grips with that – I’m American after all; we think anything over 100 years old is historical.  Regardless, I’m quickly jolted back by the corporal reality of my own stench. I simply feel gross from my travels, so quickly, I head off to my room – a comfy little spot in an adjoining cottage next to a gothic styled church. I am relieved to discover that my room has all the modern amenities, but most importantly a shower.

Soon after returning, Nicky Le Blond announces that there will be an absolutely critical amendment to the meeting schedule. That instead of the allotted 1 hour, at 15 past 8 for a poster session, everyone is welcome to adjourn to the library for the European Cup match quarter final match between Italy and England.  After all, one must have their priorities. However, being American I can’t really say that is where my heart lays.

2 pm arrives quickly, bells ring and everyone quickly reconvenes in the converted Ballroom; the Epigenetics Meeting has begun.

Sir John Gurdon kicks off the meeting asking everyone, that in the spirit of this meeting/workshop to keep two themes in mind, both of which are centered on the concept of stability of the epigenetic mark. He suggests that after heritable marks are initiated one can consider two mechanisms that allow for their persistence or memory of these marks: one, a constant repeated reprogramming where the mark is constantly maintained and therefore readily perturbable, and/or, two, a stable mark that once initiated requires no maintenance. It’s unclear to me whether the two are mutually exclusive. Lastly, before handing over the microphone to Helen Blau, co-organizer of the meeting and first chair of the first session, he asks everyone to consider the cell cycle and memories that are cell cycle dependent.

After the first session, I am not only impressed with the lively discussion, and at time heated debates, amongst the participants, but the diverse representation from the participants — from the wide eyed graduate students to the seasoned meeting veterans and iconic figures.

Complete with a cast of provocateurs, amoungst the backdrop of the absolutely gorgeous setting of the Wiston House, I am certain that this meeting with make lasting memories that will persist throughout my scientific career, not however, requiring constant maintenance. However, jury is still out on issue of cell cycle dependency.

(4 votes)

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Applications are invited to join a research group  investigating the developmental mechanisms, genetics and cell biology underlying neural tube closure and neural tube defects (NTDs). Recent research has identified key roles for Grainyhead-like transcription factors in regulating neural tube closure. The purpose of the current project is to further define the role of Grhl genes and their targets in neural tube closure. This project will complement ongoing studies that address the cell and developmental biology of neurulation, analysis of metabolic factors and testing of novel therapies.

This is an MRC-funded position in Nick Greene and Andy Copp’s lab and is available immediately (with some flexibility in start date). Applicants should have, or shortly expect to obtain, a PhD in developmental biology and/or molecular biology, preferably with some experience in mammalian systems.  Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Nick Greene (n.greene@ucl.ac.uk). Please apply at  http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs/ Ref:1258912 (closing date 12th July).

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EuroStemCell is an EU-funded project focussed on public engagement with stem cell and regenerative medicine research. For the latest news on what we’re doing and major issues affecting the field, check out our June newsletter.

You’ve probably seen our posts on The Node before, so we thought you might like to have your say in what we do next. In April, just after our second birthday, we brought partners, funders and advisory board members together to take stock of the project. We explored 3 questions:

1. what have we achieved so far?
2. what have we learned?
3. what should our priorities be for the next two years, and beyond?

Discussion was lively and productive. We left the meeting abuzz with new ideas, excited about opportunities for collaboration and enthused about our re-established priorities. We’re busy translating that into a workable plan for the next two years, which we hope to share with you soon.

We’d love to get your thoughts to help us make the right decisions about what we do next. Visit eurostemcell.org to share your views on what we’ve done so far, and your ideas for improvements or new materials. Below are some things we’d especially like your input on.

Clinical trials and clinical research information

At our meeting, we identified clinical trials as an area where we’d like to provide more information and resources – both on what trials are happening, but also to help explain how clinical research really works. We’ve done a few things in this area so far:

• Published two updates on clinical trials and stem cell treatments, in collaboration with our partner ECRIN
• Published the online version of Hope Beyond Hype, a graphic story by our partner OptiStem. Look out for interactive and multilingual versions coming soon.
• Updated our FAQ on clinical trials and stem cell treatments
• Collated links to patient organizations and patient information websites throughout Europe
• Collated all content on our site that relates to clinical trials and stem cell treatments in a one-stop topic page.

What else would YOU find useful? Use our Contact form at www.eurostemcell.org/contact to tell us.

How are we doing so far?

Here are some of visual reminders of EuroStemCell highlights that you might also like to comment on.

First, a summary of our first periodic report to the European Commission, our funders – a 10 page publication, with lots of pictures! View non-flash version

And a presentation of highlights from the first two years of the EuroStemCell project – also with lots of pictures!

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The Young Embryologist Network (or YEN for short) held its fourth annual meeting this year on the 1^st June. The conference began as a small afternoon gathering in a lecture room at UCL, but over the years it has now become a fully catered day-long event, this year filling a huge lecture theatre at the Institute for Child Health. Since the start, the ultimate aim of the meeting has been to promote interaction and collaborations between early career researchers working in developmental biology. The organisers themselves are also early career scientists, this year coming from UCL, the Institute of Child Health, NIMR and Kings College London.

Professor Liz Robertson was invited to present the keynote lecture this year, and she kicked off the day with a superb talk on cell fate decisions in the early embryo. She particularly focused on recent work from her laboratory relating to the many roles of Blimp1 in the development of the limbs, heart, gut and placenta. Liz stayed for the rest of the meeting to help judge the talks and posters, and was also the lucky winner of the YEM raffle!

The first session of the day covered the theme of early development. Yusuke Miyanari presented some interesting work on how the tight regulation of Nanog dose at the chromosome level is necessary for pluripotency during development. Wenchao Gu then addressed the role of Ldb2a as a novel regulator of the Nodal and MBP pathways in zebrafish embryos. Next, Daniel Grimes, presented work on the establishment of left-right symmetry in the early embryo. In a talk that stimulated lots of interesting questions, he demonstrated the requirement for Pkd1l1 in coupling the physical force of fluid flow at the node to the asymmetrical expression of downstream molecular targets. Jorge Beira closed the first session with a talk on apoptosis during tissue homeostasis. He suggested that specific cell death stimuli may activate distinct pro-apoptotic pathways, despite having the same outcome.

After the lunch break and poster session, a Q&A panel discussion was held on the theme of science publishing. Katherine Brown, the Executive Editor of Development, was joined by Katie Ridd, the Senior Editor of Nature Communications, and David Wilkinson, the Editor in Chief of Mechanisms of Development. Questions covered a wide range of topics including how a decision is made on whether a paper is sent out to reviewers, whether publishing reviewers comments is a good or bad idea, and how important impact factors really are. It was generally agreed that keeping authors anonymous for reviews doesn’t really work in practice, and that open access to journals will become more and more widespread in the future.

The second session of talks was focused on the theme of development and disease. Alex Palmer presented research using the Splotch mutant mouse to gain insights into how neural tube defects arise, and how folic acid supplementation is able to rescue these defects. Lara Brock then discussed how a cleft palate can form, and showed 3D modeling work to investigate the cellular mechanisms responsible for the directional growth of the palatal shelves. To conclude the second session, Iain Dykes spoke about the different mechanisms by which Hic2 acts in both pre- and post- transcriptional gene regulation during cardiac development.

The final session of the day was on the theme of migration and neural guidance, and Laura Ward started out by showing some amazing movies of the zebrafish neural tube to accompany her talk on tissue polarization during neural tube development. Antonio Schepis then discussed the role of alphaE-catenin in the regulation of cell-cell adhesion and membrane blebbing during epiboly. Fani Memi addressed GnRH neurons and their migration from the nasal placode to the hypothalamus. She demonstrated an important role for SDF-1 and its receptors in guiding this migration. Finally Christopher Clark gave the final talk of the meeting, presenting some elegant fate mapping work on the crucial role of alpha2 chimaerin in wiring the ocular motor system.

The day concluded with a word of thanks to the kind sponsors of the YEM 2012. We rely upon sponsorship to keep our meetings ad membership free of charge so a big thanks to The Company of Biologists, Development, NIMR, UCL Faculty of Life Sciences, UCL Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, UCL Basic Life Sciences Domain, BSDB, Eurogentec, New England Biolabs, Eppendorf and Insight for contributing to this years meeting. Special thanks also go out to the whole YEM organizing committee, but particularly to Cynthia Andoniadou and Rachel Moore who helped the day run so smoothly!

The ever-popular wine reception after the meeting provided a great chance for everyone to network and continue the days discussions, as well as learning more about the Young Embryologist Network. Thanks to everyone who participated in YEM:2012. It was a great day! Congratulations to Christopher Clark and Daniel Grimes, who were awarded first and second prizes for talks, and to Scott Curran and Chiara Ragni, who won the first and second poster prizes.

(7 votes)

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“The strangest discoveries can end up saving lives… like the discovery that skin could be grown in a dish”; so starts an inventive 16 page graphic story that tells a story of stem cells from lab bench discoveries to working therapy.  The graphic story, Hope Beyond Hype, grew from the desire of OptiStem, a large European consortium of stem cell researchers, to go beyond just explaining the science of stem cells.  They wanted to depict the process they undertake as they try to move stem cell research on towards clinical trials and therapies. 

An innovative resource produced by OptiStem

OptiStem (www.optistem.org) is a pan-European stem cell research project funded by the European Commission under FP7. It brings together scientists, companies and clinicians from 18 institutions across six countries.  During the course of the five year Optistem project members will carry out four different clinical trials concerning muscular dystrophy, severe corneal injury in the eye and severe damage to the oral mucosa (inside of mouth).   The OptiStem consortium wanted to develop this resource because they view it as very important that scientists engage with the public and patients about the process of developing new therapies, and that scientists and regulators also engage.

Science fact not fiction

Hope Beyond Hype starts with the true life story of two badly burned boys being treated with stem cell generated skin grafts in 1983. We then follow the successes and setbacks of a group of researchers working together to use stem cells to cure blindness, whilst being introduced to knotty issues that are part of the process, including stem cell regulation and the controversial ethical issues surrounding the subject. Whilst some of the story lines sound like science fiction they are in fact all true, despite the fact the script was written by the well-known Scottish Science Fiction writer, Ken Macleod.  Comic book artist Edward Ross illustrated the script with his clear, friendly and attractive artwork, whilst stem cell researchers from OptiStem provided the real-life examples of their research and experiences.

“As a science fiction writer I’m naturally interested in science, and I see engaging with real science as important to science fiction. I’m proud to have been able to contribute to this graphic story, which explains a vital new field of medicine and introduces complex issues of science policy in a clear, straightforward, and entertaining way.”

Ken Macleod, Writer

An interactive, multilingual comic

Intrigued? Hope Beyond Hype was launched online at www.eurostemcell.org/hopebeyondhype on International Clinical Trials Day, 18^th May 2012 and since then over 100,000 people have viewed the graphic story online! Readers will also be able to explore the scientific process portrayed in the comic in more depth using the soon to be launched interactive version of the graphic story. To reach the European community represented by OptiStem the resource will soon be available in French, German, Italian and Spanish.

“Not a day goes by without news of the promise the science of stem cells brings. In reality, the process of developing early research promise into actual therapy is a very long and complex one.  At OptiStem, we wanted to help people engage with the real-life process in a scientifically accurate way. Our aspiration is that Hope beyond Hype will be read and discussed by a broad range of people including patients, carers, teachers, patient advocacy groups, regulators and policy-makers.”

Professor Clare Blackburn, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine and OptiStem

Notes:

• OptiStem is a pan-European stem cell research project funded by the European Commission under FP7. For further information visit www.optistem.org.
• Hope Beyond Hype can be found at www.eurostemcell.org/hopebeyondhype.
• EuroStemCell is European Commission-funded initiative which aims to disseminate reliable and good quality information and resources on stem cells. OptiStem and EuroStemCell work together closely to engage the public with the research of the OptiStem consortium. www.eurostemcell.org.
• The MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine is a world leading research centre based at The University of Edinburgh. Scientists and clinicians study stem cells, disease and tissue repair to advance human health. The centre’s research is aimed at developing new treatments for major diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, degenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, and liver failure. See also www.crm.ed.ac.uk.
• Edward Ross is a comic book artist based in Scotland. www.edwardross.co.uk.
• Ken Macleod is an acclaimed and award-winning Scottish science fiction writer based in Scotland. http://kenmacleod.blogspot.co.uk.

(1 votes)

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Friday at the ISSCR began with a session on the epigenetics of stem cells chaired by a familiar face; Sir Ian Wilmut, of Dolly the sheep fame. These talks focused on how our understanding of epigenetics has developed and also looked in depth at some of the underlying mechanisms that are potentially responsible for their establishment and maintenance. We were also treated to a talk from this years Outstanding Young Investigator Award winner, Belgian Cedric Blanpain. His postdoctoral work in Elaine Fuchs’ lab led to greater understanding of skin homeostasis, and he explained how he has now progressed to investigating how this information may be applied to understanding cancer stem cells.

Following on from the morning’s discussions, Epigenetics of Stem Cells was my concurrent session of choice for the afternoon. Here the talks focused on how researchers used different model organisms and cell lines to investigate the molecular mechanism of this histone modification-mediated form of gene expression control. Fly germline, mouse embryonic and female human iPS cells were examined in these different studies-a sharp reminder that evolutionarily we’re only a few mutations away from pot plants! However for me, the standout talks of this session were those by Sheng Zhong and Naoki Hattori both of whom described novel technological approaches to this field of research, describing comparative epigenomics (a bioinformatics based technique) and Proximity Ligation Assay (using fluorescent probes for methylation detection) respectively.

Finally, the undisputed highlight of the day, and the whole conference, was the appearance of his Imperial Majesty the Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan at the closing ceremony of the conference. Neither spoke during the speeches of those on stage, but it was a great honour to have them attend. The speeches in question came from both ISSCR committee members and Japanese politicians. It was revealed that after last years devastating earthquake in Japan, there had been calls to reconsider the location for this 10th anniversary meeting, but the ISSCR board had never waivered in their decision to visit Yokohama. This faith in Japan was warmly acknowledged by both the Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture and the Mayor of Yokohama who both outlined their attempts to establish this part of the country as a “Life Innovation Zone” focusing on regenerative medicine.

The world will almost certainly be looking towards Japan for future innovation in the area of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. And with the incoming ISSCR president being Shinya Yamanaka, I’m sure we’ll be back in this beautiful country sooner than we think!

James

(2 votes)

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Less than two weeks to go until the deadline for our essay competition! How is it going? Have you finished your first draft? If you haven’t started yet, you still have time to finish an essay about the future of developmental biology before the July 2nd deadline. Good luck!

Here’s all the information from the original announcement, once more:

If you’d like to share your thoughts about the future of the field, the Node and Development invite you to participate in our essay competition “Developments in development”. Your essay can describe the direction of a particular area of research, the emergence of new techniques or model organisms, career prospects, ethics, publishing, policies or other topics that will shape the future of developmental biology research.

A panel of judges will select the top entries, after which a public vote on the Node will determine the final winner. The winning essay will appear in Development later this year. All finalists posted on the Node will receive an Amazon gift certificate worth £50.

Judges:
Olivier Pourquié – Editor-in-Chief of Development
Claire Ainsworth – science writer

This competition is open to anyone who is involved in developmental biology research, or related fields (such as stem cell science or genetics), or has been within the past three years. PhD students, postdocs, and lab heads all qualify! (N.B. Final year undergraduates and MSc students with at least a year or so of lab experience under their belt may also submit. As long as you know something about developmental biology.)

Please note that the final essays as selected by the judges will not be copy-edited before they appear on the Node. If you’re not confident about your English grammar and spelling, we recommend that you have a (near-)native speaker read over your essay before submitting it. The final winning entry will be copy-edited before publication in Development.

Deadline for submission is July 2nd, 2012 (noon GMT).
Maximum length: 2000 words
Please submit your essay, with a title and your name, as a Word attachment to thenode@biologists.com, and include a brief biography in your email (not in the essay).

More information can be found in the full competition rules, and in our terms and conditions for competitions.

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The winner of the last round of cover image voting is this widefield image of a pilidium larvae of the Nemertean ribbon worm, Cerebratulus lacteus. The image was taken by Joseph Campanale, Aracely Lutes, and Stephanie Majkut of the Woods Hole Embryology class of 2011. Congratulations!

Runners-up: Slipper limpet by Juliette Petersen and Rachel K. Miller; Five squid by Juliana Roscito; single squid by Lynn Kee.

We’ll have a next round of images up soon. In the mean time, you can follow along with the current Woods Hole Embryology course, which started a few weeks ago. Andrew Mathewson has posted his impressions of the first days of the course.

(1 votes)

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Registration for the Seventh International Chick meeting, ‘Chick 7: Avian Model Systems’, to be held in Nagoya, Japan in November 2012, is now open. Please visit the chick meeting homepage , to register. A small fee (15,000yen/10,000yen for students) will be charged which will include the mixers, lunches and the closing party.

We are also very pleased to announce a limited number of travel awards of 40,000yen for students/postdocs from outside Japan and of 15,000 yen for students/postdocs from Japan. If you wish to apply for the awards, please indicate on the registration page.

4 outstanding keynote lectures are programmed:

Makoto Manabe – A new look at the evolution of dinosaurs to modern birds
Craig Smith – Recent Advances in Our Understanding of Avian Sex Determination
Shinji Iijima – Germline transgenesis of chicken
Olivier Pourquie – Patterning of the vertebrate embryonic axis.

In addition, a number of speaking opportunities are available in most sessions. Please indicate during abstract submission if you would like to be considered as a speaker.

We look forward to welcoming you to Japan this November.

Please feel free to pass on this information to any of colleagues who may be interested.

(1 votes)

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Sitting down to write this reflection, it struck me that I couldn’t believe it has really been two weeks since I arrived in the quiet town of Woods Hole, MA for the Embryology course at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL). Time has become an abstract concept for my fellow students and me; it seems like we just got here and yet have known one another for months. We engage in science almost every hour of every day. There is no work – only play. I was imaging immunostained plankton on a new Nikon A1 confocal microscope at 3am Saturday morning. I would have gone all night except I did not want to miss Nipam Patel’s famous butterfly lecture at 9am the same morning. Again, this isn’t work. I want to be doing this – and so does everyone else here.

I don’t know what generates the enthusiasm and energy at the MBL. In my graduate lab back at the University of Washington I am a hard worker, yet I don’t have the inclination (or ability) to maintain the pace that I have picked up here. It is not uncommon to work in lab until 2 or 3am, and yet we all eagerly attend lectures a few hours later and put in another 15+ hour day, six or seven days a week. Perhaps it’s the access to the best scientific equipment around – the sheer quantity of reagents and quality of microscopes available to us is stunning. However, more likely it’s being removed for six weeks from my regular graduate school environment. There is no pressure to generate actual data during my time here, no PI to disappoint, no lab meetings to prepare, and certainly no time to read current papers (I’ll have a lot of catching up to do in August!). There is only active experimentation. I am encouraged to ask my own questions and take ridiculous risks. I can do what interests me, even if there is no apparent face value for my field. For example, I spent last week honing my antibody staining skills by asking the question, “What is the prettiest combination of antibodies one can use on Drosophila embryos?” At the same time there is enough structure to ensure that I am learning the principles of developmental biology at an alarming pace.

I am a student of molecular biology but fairly new to the field of development, so I initially worried that I would struggle to keep up with students who were already experienced in developmental biology. These worries were unfounded as we all have as varied scientific backgrounds as our countries of origin. As one of five Americans in our class of twenty-four, this experience has allowed me to discover the commonalities in the language of science. Our techniques and questions might be different, but our curiosity and passion is matched. We were told that we would form bonds that will last the rest of our careers here, and two weeks in, I have little doubt that this was the truth.

When we are not actively manipulating embryos, world-renowned scientists distill their experience into our exhausted minds. We absorb as much as we can and then teach them drinking games in the wee hours of the morning. We have learned how to operate multitudes of imaging systems and practiced performing essential experimental techniques on more organisms than most people experience in a lifetime. In just two weeks we have been immersed in the history and current research directions of several models of development, including sea urchin, C. elegans, Drosophila, and many other invertebrates. Each model brings with it new opportunities and excitement, as well as traditions and challenges.

As we make the transition to vertebrate models, I am glad to take this moment to pause and reflect on my experiences so far. Six weeks is a long time to step out of one’s graduate research (and not to mention one’s life). It’s hard to assess what this time will mean to me in the years to come as I continue my own research. But if I were able to continue to engage as fully with the science of life as I have these last two weeks, I would never look back.

(15 votes)

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