BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Tartu University Gene reserve gets a 20 mln kroons grant from the EU

The Tartu University Estonian Gene Reserve received a 20 mln kroons science grant from the European Commission, Estonian National Broadcasting/LETA reports.

This one of the biggest science grants that Estonia has received and it enables the Gene Reserve to acquire new equipment, a gene analysis device that costs more than 6.5 mln kroons, and invite renowned scientists to Estonia so that they would create their lab or research group here. The wider meaning of the grant is to open the Estonian Gene Reserve up for European scientists.

The grant, that is meant for three years, can also be used to send Gene Reserve’s own scientists to study in European research centres for up to six months, said Estonian Gene Reserve director Andres Metspalu.

Metspalu said that the grant shows that the Gene Reserve, that last week acquired its 40,000 gene donor, has importance in the whole of Europe, having over the past six months been connected with around 30 different international projects.

Juhan Tere

This Week in Genome Biology

In Genome Biology this week, University of Tartu scientists present MEM, or Multi-Experiment Matrix, a web-based tool to search for co-expressed genes across many microarray datasets. Unique features include "automatic detection, characterization and visualization of datasets that includes the strongest co-expression patterns." MEM is available for free.

In a new methods paper, scientists search for genetic interactions in Saccharomyces cerevisae. Igor Ulitsky and Ron Shamir at Tel Aviv University and the University of California, San Francisco's Nevan Krogan have developed a novel method that combines genetic interaction and genomic data to find the approximately 40 percent missing interactions in this model organism. Their results showed almost 190,000 novel interactions.

Scientists led by Jacobs University Bremen's Albert Jeltsch have studied the effect of DNA methylation on autosomal chromosomes and its subsequent effect on phenotypic differences. Looking at methylation of CpG islands on chromosome 21 in white blood cells from healthy people, they saw "novel cases of pronounced differential methylation of alleles," and that this allele-specific methylation is likely to affect about 10 percent of all genes and contribute to allele-specific expression and monoallelic gene silencing, they say.

Have a look inside your body

By Ella Karapetyan

TALLINN - Our bodies are our most important possession. They are intricately developed machines; more complex and wondrous than all the computers and gadgetry we surround ourselves with today. Yet, many of us do not know what makes us tick - how we function, what we need to survive, what destroys us, what revives us.
For nearly 35,000 years, since the first known depiction of the human form, we have been fascinated by our own bodies. Through the ages artists have sought to represent the body through sculptures, paintings, prints and sketches. The “Bodies Revealed” exhibition  now presents the real thing!

From Nov. 13 to Feb. 28, Tallinn is hosting the world-known international exhibition called “Bodies Revealed,” which is a phenomenal exhibition about the amazing and complex machine we call the human body. This is an opportunity for those that don’t understand the science behind a lot of the exhibits to learn about the body.
Tallinn’s Solaris Center welcomes all its visitors and guests to take part in this exhibition, organized by Dr. Roy Glover, a former anatomy professor at the University of Michigan, and Premier Exhibition, Inc. The exhibition features real human bodies and organs that have been donated to medical science.

Dr. Heiti Paves : Art and Science in a small world (2009 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition)

The winner from the "2009 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition" : Dr. Heiti Paves

First Place: Dr. Heiti Paves
Affiliation: Tallinn University of Technology
Location: Tallinn, Estonia
Subject/Magnification: Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) anther (20x)
Technique: Confocal
Photo: Heiti Paves