Research

 

The EMBL Mouse Biology Unit based at the Monterotondo campus near Rome, Italy is a basic research centre of excellence and innovation in mouse genetics and functional genomics. From its inception, the EMBL Mouse Biology Unit has relied on a focused research vision with the mouse as centrepiece. New opportunities and applications of mouse genetic manipulation are captured through alliances with other EMBL research units, neighbouring facilities in the European Mouse Mutant Archive [EMMA], Italian national research [IBC-CNR] groups, as well as other European academic research and clinical centres. The Mouse Biology Unit participates in several EU-wide initiatives [including Eumorphia, Prime, Eurostemcell, Myores, and Mugen] to establish an international research and information network, linking advances in genetics, phenotyping, physiology and biomedical features.

Recent expansion of basic research activities at the Monterotondo Outstation through faculty recruitment and infrastructural re-organization has generated new initiatives in neurobiology and behaviour, regenerative biology and clinical applications. The Programme features innovations in conditional and inducible gene regulation to provide more accurate models of human pathologies, with high throughput technologies for genomic, proteomic and imaging analysis of mutant models.

A new state-of-the-art facility housing 35,000 mice provides a full range of mouse transgenic and gene knockout production, rederivation and cryopreservation services, and a fully equipped behaviour phenotyping suite. Other centralized core facilities provide a wide array of applications to EMBL researchers, encompassing advanced genomic mutagenesis, histology, FACs analysis, ultrasound imaging, confocal and electron microscopy, monoclonal antibodies, viral vectors and other gene and cell delivery systems. Exploitation of appropriate bioinformatic tools and platforms is underway to support increasingly complex data acquisition and interpretation. EMBL Monterotondo hosts the newly formed EMBL Centre for Disease Mechanisms, which provides opportunities for interaction between EMBL scientists and clinicians, reflecting the increasingly important role of basic research in the understanding and treatment of human disorders through molecular and biomedical exploration.

Download brochure: Research at a Glance
Research at a Glance is published once a year in the summer and is an accessible overview of the current and future research going on at all EMBL sites. Each group has one page on which to describe their activities in a clear and concise way.