European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Monterotondo

Dynamic partnerships and exchanges with other international academic research and clinical centres, and participation in multiple EU-wide mouse research and informatics initiatives, are integral parts of our discovery process into genetics and genomics, cell biology and pathology.

The continued refinement and diversification of methodologies for introducing genetic and epigenetic perturbations of cellular and physiological function is allowing the outstation to generate ever more accurate mouse models of human disease and multigenic disorders. The use of engineered nucleases in particular is allowing the ‘democratisation’ of experimental perturbation to virtually any mouse strain, allowing much more sophisticated approaches to be applied to understanding the complex interactions occurring between genes and across the genome- interactions which will likely have both epigenetic and environmental components.

Research groups at EMBL Monterotondo are using these powerful tools to investigate wide-ranging aspects of mammalian biology, including gene expression during early embryogenesis, haemopoietic development and differentiation, cancer and regeneration, behaviour and sensory perception.