biophysics Archives

15 October 2024 Visual metaphor showing the transport of vitamin B1 in the body.

Vitamin B1’s journey in your body, and why it matters

EMBL Hamburg scientists have gained molecular insights into how we absorb vitamin B1 – a mechanism with implications for disease and drug development.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2024

science-technology

18 June 2024 A progression of three images against a blue/purple background. Each image shows a simulated mouse embryo inner cell mass with two types of cells marked in pink and green respectively. From the first to the third image, the pink cells slowly move from the outer edge to the inside of the mass.

A progression of three images against a blue/purple background. Each image shows a simulated mouse embryo inner cell mass with two types of cells marked in pink and green respectively. From the first to the third image, the pink cells slowly move from the outer edge to the inside of the mass.

Minecraft-ing our way into studying cell sorting

A theoretical model involving tiny Minecraft-like cubes can help us understand dynamic biological processes, such as cell sorting in embryos.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2024

science-technology

14 December 2023 3D illustration of a Y-shaped molecule, purple and blue. This represents the antibody molecule.

Using artificial intelligence to discover therapeutic antibodies

Former EMBL staff scientist founds a start-up – DenovAI – for broader, faster and cheaper antibody discovery using advanced machine learning and computational biophysics.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2023

sciencescience-technology

27 November 2023 A man and a woman looking at the camera, parts of a restaurant are visible in the background.

Exploring the universe: Roel Wijnaendts

EMBL alumnus Roel Wijnaendts looks back at a long career in academic research and entrepreneurship that has left an indelible mark in the fields of instrumentation and optics.

PEOPLE & PERSPECTIVES

2023

alumnipeople-perspectives

23 November 2023 Photographs of two scientists on a decorative background

ERC Consolidator Grants awarded to two EMBL researchers

Alba Diz-Muñoz and Arnaud Krebs from EMBL Heidelberg have received grants to work on projects that aim, respectively, to understand the cellular mechanics that control cell division and investigate the regulatory networks that govern transcription factor function.

EMBL ANNOUNCEMENTS LAB MATTERS

2023

embl-announcementslab-matters

13 September 2023 Magenta and green sombrero-shaped object with grey lines beyond it sits against a black background

Understanding how cells avoid obstacles

EMBL researchers have identified a novel mechanism that allows cells to sense obstacles in their path and avoid them while navigating complex environments.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2023

sciencescience-technology

26 May 2023 Microscopy image showing cancer cells.

Cancer cell ‘decathlon’ to help predict tumour aggressiveness and metastasis

The PLAST-CELL project aims to understanding cancer progression by quantifying a cancer cell’s ability to respond to environmental stress that threatens its survival

CONNECTIONS

2023

connectionstechnology-and-innovation

30 March 2023 Science illustration representing two embryos imaged using the Brillouin microscopy technique. The embryo in the front is a mouse embryo at 20h and the one in the back a Phallusia mammillata embryo. A laser beam crosses the samples to analyse tissue stiffness (here represented by acoustic waves).

Science illustration representing two embryos imaged using the Brillouin microscopy technique. The embryo in the front is a mouse embryo at 20h and the one in the back a Phallusia mammillata embryo. A laser beam crosses the samples to analyse tissue stiffness (here represented by acoustic waves).

Shining light on the mechanics of embryo development

A new microscope built by EMBL researchers, based on Brillouin scattering principles, allows scientists to observe the dynamics of mechanical properties inside developing embryos in real time.

LAB MATTERS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2023

lab-matterssciencescience-technology

15 February 2023 A photo of a scientist operating one of the instruments at the EMBL SPC Facility.

Supporting scientists across Europe: the SPC Facility at EMBL Hamburg

EMBL Hamburg’s Sample Preparation and Characterisation (SPC) Facility offers scientists access to almost all available biophysics technologies. The facility’s staff provides advice and support with experiments and data analysis. The facility is conveniently located just next to the EMBL…

LAB MATTERS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2023

lab-mattersscience-technology

4 March 2022 A gloved hand holds a slide with visible wells containing Matrigel immersed in culture medium. A magnified close-up shows a mouse embryo developing over the course of 48 hours

A gloved hand holds a slide with visible wells containing Matrigel immersed in culture medium. A magnified close-up shows a mouse embryo developing over the course of 48 hours

A 3D culture model to study embryo growth

A recent study by EMBL researchers proposes a new method to grow early embryos in the laboratory. With a 3D culture set-up, scientists can closely monitor the changes embryos undergo around the time of implantation.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2022

sciencescience-technology

25 October 2021 A collage of the visuals representing each of the three modules of the eSPC platform.

Biophysics analysis made easy with an online tool

EMBL Hamburg’s Sample Preparation and Characterisation (SPC) Facility has released eSPC, an online platform for analysing data from biophysical experiments. The platform enables the scientific community to analyse data from different experiments without the need to travel.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2021

sciencescience-technology

22 June 2021 Woman stands at brown railing in front of trees

Welcome: Anna Erzberger

Anna Erzberger, one of EMBL’s newest group leaders, will provide unique perspective as a theoretical biological physicist.

LAB MATTERS PEOPLE & PERSPECTIVES

2021

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

1 June 2021 Two purple and white spheres against dark background.

Nuclear twins

Captured by EMBL postdoc Arina Rybina, these ‘nuclear twins’ are two daughter nuclei straight after division of a HeLa cell.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2021

picture-of-the-weekscience-technology

22 February 2021 A scientist (only their hand is visible) inserting a 96-well plate into a sample dispensing device in the Sample Preparation and Characterisation Facility in Hamburg.

A scientist (only their hand is visible) inserting a 96-well plate into a sample dispensing device in the Sample Preparation and Characterisation Facility in Hamburg.

SPC Facility in Hamburg supports a new pan-European consortium

The Sample Preparation and Characterisation (SPC) Facility at EMBL Hamburg is one of the founding members of the Molecular-Scale Biophysics Research Infrastructure (MOSBRI). Within this new European initiative, the SPC Facility will offer services related to membrane proteins, protein complexes,…

CONNECTIONS LAB MATTERS

2021

connectionslab-matters

21 July 2020 Top row: The evolution of tumour cells (green) within a normal organoid (grey) shown in three panels. Lower row: Surface rendition of tumour cells and labels new cells that arise from a single cell in the same colour.

Top row: The evolution of tumour cells (green) within a normal organoid (grey) shown in three panels. Lower row: Surface rendition of tumour cells and labels new cells that arise from a single cell in the same colour.

A tool to improve cancer research

EMBL scientists have created a new, realistic 3D testbed that could help achieve the goal of stopping cancers before they start by studying cancer cells as they first form.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2020

sciencescience-technology

28 April 2020 Close-up view of the interior of a protein analytics system

Exploring synthetic antibodies to stop coronavirus

Scientists at EMBL Hamburg and Karolinska Institutet Stockholm aim to find synthetic antibodies – known as nanobodies – that bind a surface protein of the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Nanobodies could prevent the virus from entering human cells and causing COVID-19.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2020

sciencescience-technology

16 February 2018 New EMBL group leader Sara Cuylen-Häring will explore biophysical properties of chromosomes and other cellular assemblies.

Welcome: Sara Cuylen-Häring

New EMBL group leader explores biophysical properties of chromosomes and other cellular assemblies

PEOPLE & PERSPECTIVES

2018

people-perspectivesscience

5 October 2017

Looping the loops: how chromosomes form

EMBL researchers and collaborators unravel how chromosomes form

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2017

sciencescience-technology

23 September 2016

Watching nuclear pores in growing nuclei

Puzzle of nuclear pore formation in growing nuclei solved

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2016

sciencescience-technology

30 August 2016 Data by Natalia Wesolowska has been visualised in 3D stereoscopic view, as an anaglyph and a 3D lenticular poster by Stefan Günther & Gustavo de Medeiros at EMBL

Data by Natalia Wesolowska has been visualised in 3D stereoscopic view, as an anaglyph and a 3D lenticular poster by Stefan Günther & Gustavo de Medeiros at EMBL

See data in a new light

3D printing, gaming, virtual reality and lenticular posters bring new perspectives to research

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2016

sciencescience-technology

3 August 2016 Cells that contract more strongly (pink) move inwards to form the embryo. IMAGE: Jean-Léon Maître/EMBL

The force is strong with embryo cells

Strength of contraction determines whether cells become embryo or placenta

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2016

sciencescience-technology

29 June 2016 Alba Diz-Muñoz. PHOTO: Hugo Neves/EMBL Photolab

Welcome: Alba Diz-Muñoz

New group leader combines physics and biology to answer the 'hows' of cell movement

PEOPLE & PERSPECTIVES

2016

people-perspectivesscience

10 May 2016 A small loop (green) of the atomic structure of DAPK shown to be crucial for dimer formation and binding with its signaling partner Calmodulin. IMAGE: Petra Riedinger/EMBL

A small loop (green) of the atomic structure of DAPK shown to be crucial for dimer formation and binding with its signaling partner Calmodulin. IMAGE: Petra Riedinger/EMBL

Enzyme with a dual-purpose loop

Unexpected results: structure of DAPK enzyme reveals dual-purpose loop

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2016

sciencescience-technology

17 December 2015 Digital zebrafish embryo provided the first complete developmental blueprint of a vertebrate in 2008. IMAGE: EMBL/Keller et al.

SPIM doctors

From initial development to a start-up company: Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) at EMBL.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2015

sciencescience-technology

11 December 2015

Periodic table of protein complexes

Making it easier to visualise, understand and predict how proteins combine to drive biological processes.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2015

sciencescience-technology

25 November 2015 Question mark

Q&A: Biophysics

What does a physicist do in a biology lab?

LAB MATTERS PEOPLE & PERSPECTIVES

2015

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

30 October 2015

One hard pull

Fibres that pull membrane to form a vesicle exert a force that’s 2500 times a yeast cell’s own weight

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2015

sciencescience-technology

29 September 2015

Karsenti wins CNRS gold

Gold medal celebrates Eric Karsenti’s exceptional career and outstanding contributions to biology.

EMBL ANNOUNCEMENTS LAB MATTERS

2015

embl-announcementslab-matters

17 July 2015

Science of Spider-Man

Web of lies? Science Movie Night reveals science behind the most famous spider bite in film history.

LAB MATTERS

2015

eventslab-matters

18 June 2015 Clathrin proteins involved in endocytosis form a lattice that can dramatically change its shape to form the vesicle

Decades-old cell biology puzzle solved

Behaviour of clathrin proteins, crucial for endocytosis, is clarified using new imaging techniques.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2015

sciencescience-technology

15 June 2015 The scientists measured the force required to change the shape of the cells by gently deforming each cell with a pipette. IMAGE: J.L. Maitre/EMBL