Συντηρητικά τροφίμων: Αναγκαία "ασπίδα", αλλά και κρυφοί κίνδυνοι

Recent advances in anaerobic microbiology have driven significant progress in biotechnology, environmental microbiology, and biochemistry. Anaerobes play key roles in sustainable biotechnological processes, including biomethanation, chain elongation for bio-based chemicals, and microbial electrosynthesis for carbon-neutral energy production. In environmental microbiology, anaerobes are essential for wastewater treatment, bioremediation, and global biogeochemical cycles, influencing carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions. In biochemistry, anaerobic microbes produce novel enzymes for industrial applications, and biohydrogen production, offering new solutions for green chemistry.Despite their importance, anaerobic microbiology remains underrepresented due to the technical challenges of anoxic cultivation. This EMBO Practical Course directly addresses this gap by providing researchers with essential training in anaerobic cultivation techniques, from fundamental methods to cutting-edge approaches. By integrating both state-of-the-art and low-tech solutions, the course empowers participants to implement anaerobic research in laboratories worldwide, accelerating innovation in biotechnology, environmental sustainability, and biochemical discovery.

About the WorkshopIn 1977, Woese and colleagues revealed Archaea as a distinct domain of life. Building on this insight, the discovery of Asgard archaea has strengthened the view that many hallmarks of eukaryotic cell biology —from cytoskeletal systems to chromatin— have deep archaeal roots. Yet the significance of Archaea extends beyond comparative evolution and their penchant for extreme environments. Archaea drive major biogeochemical cycles and actively shape microbiomes and viromes. From molecules to ecosystems, Archaea have evolved distinctive solutions to life’s core challenges. Research into their roles in the biosphere has long embraced a holistic, interdisciplinary lens bringing together molecular, cellular and structural biology with ecology, evolution and biophysics.This 2026 EMBO Workshop on the Molecular Biology of Archaea will view biology through the prism of Archaea while marking five decades of archaeal research. Join us in Cambridge, UK, to forge new links between established experts and the many researchers entering the field, integrating knowledge, skills and techniques across disciplines. To strengthen community building, we will host dedicated sessions for Early Career Researcher (ECR) networking, science communication and career development.These activities will begin with be early registration for ECRs along with a pre-meeting lunchtime networking session exclusively for ECRs on the July 6th from 11:30am.Specific scientific sessions include:Archaeal Evolution & EukaryogenesisStructural Biology & BiophysicsCell Biology of ArchaeaInformation Processing: Replication, Transcription & TranslationArchaea in Context: Ecology & BiogeochemistryFriend or Foe? Hosts, Symbionts, Viruses & Mobile ElementsUnique Archaeal Biology & PhysiologyTechnical Frontiers

Time-resolved macromolecular serial crystallography has become increasingly accessible in recent years thanks to the availability of XFELs and dedicated synchrotron beamlines for serial crystallography, especially in Europe. This range of X-ray sources, as well as advances in sample delivery methods and data processing now allow time-resolved crystallography experiments over 15 orders of magnitude (from fs-s) which investigate the atomic details of the biochemical reactions that are crucial for life. The data we can now obtain provide the fundamental basis for next generation drug discovery, biotechnology, and medicine.However, despite the widening availability of the needed infrastructure for these experiments, the successful design, execution, and analysis of time-resolved serial crystallography experiments requires in-depth understanding of a multi-disciplinary experimental setup and skills well beyond those taught in standard crystallographic training programmes. Therefore, to ensure that these emerging scientific possibilities are exploited efficiently, it is crucial to offer appropriate training to the next generation of scientists. This course aims to address exactly this gap, and follows a successful first edition in 2024; which happened in Grenoble. After attending this course, participants will be able to design and successfully perform time-resolved serial crystallography experiments relevant for their own scientific projects.

The 50th Annual Meeting of the ESC Working Group on Cardiac Cellular Electrophysiology (EWGCCE) gathers young researchers and high-level international experts in cardiac cells and provides an overview of topical issues in signalling, ion channels, arrhythmias, models and techniques at experimental and clinical level.