Thursday, March 1, 2007

The European Micro Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and molecular machines


I very much like the works of the Frangakis Group. I've come across the website for The Structural and Computational Biology Unit at EMBL. "The Structural and Computational Biology Unit pursues a few common large projects, such as trying to obtain a cell at molecular resolution, that require the input of the different skill sets in the Unit. At the same time it advances science in the different science disciplines it unites." Electron microscopy has come a long way over the past 20 years. The ability to integrate mulitple means of detection into one image is a powerful tool. Hopefully one day these guys will look at cell wall deficient forms and the like.
This work correlates to 'Technologies for the characterization and imaging of molecular machines' objective set out by the DOE Genomics: GTL departement. Being an engineer, I love machines and visualizing them.