Flashback Friday: EMBL Archive provides peek into its holdings
EMBL celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024, and in so doing, we have been digging through the archives for some fascinating stories from EMBL’s past publications to publish in this blog. Instead, this week’s “flashback’ provides a sneak peek into the EMBL Archive holdings as we open a special, temporary exhibit, just in time for our anniversary celebrations on 4 July.
Within EMBL’s World of Molecular Biology (WMB) exhibition, you can find a few artefacts from EMBL’s history on display until the end of October. The exhibit is made possible through a collaboration between the EMBL Archive and EMBL’s Science Education and Public Engagement office. It supplements the unique WMB multimedia gallery that acts as an interactive guide to molecular biology. The new ‘pop-up’ historical exhibit shares information about some key moments in EMBL history. Here is just a small sampling of the included items:
Photos from the EMBL signing ceremony. Ten initial member states signed the document that gave life to EMBL on 10 May 1973 at CERN in Geneva. Photos, like these, capture the seven representatives who were present: Josef Löns, Germany; Frederick Mason, United Kingdom; Erik Thrane, Denmark; Rudolf Martins, Austria; Shabtai Rosenne, Israel; Rene Keller, Switzerland; and Polak Rosenberg, Netherlands. Representatives not in attendance: Smoquina, Italy; Rune Fremlin, Sweden; and Bernard Dufournier, France.
Heidelberg map with proposed EMBL construction site. (See above.) A map from the early 1970s indicates EMBL’s proposed site. From 1970 to 1972, the EMBO Council established an EMBO committee to select the site for what was initially referred to as the EMBO Laboratory. In September 1970, this committee decided that EMBL should be established in Germany, following an official offer from the German government, and by early 1971, it proposed Heidelberg as the site hosting the new organisation. The decision was finalised in 1972.
Replica Nobel Prize Medal. The Nobel Foundation presented Jacques Dubochet with a traditional medal as he was named a Nobel laureate in chemistry in 2017. He, in turn, donated this replica to EMBL in January 2018. It is made of gold-plated bronze. In addition to this replica, the exhibit includes Dubochet’s correspondence with then EMBL Director General Iain Mattaj related to the award and donating the medal to EMBL, plus some of Dubochet’s instrumentation. The Nobel Prize Medal is a registered trademark of the Nobel Foundation.
Want to see more? The exhibit is included in tours of the World of Molecular Biology. The general public can find out more on how to schedule a tour here. For more information about the EMBL Archive, click here.