Volume 3

Transcription

Volume 3

DEVELOPMENT&COMMUNICATION
Volume 3
February 2003
DEUS EX MACHINA
Outside Science
Contents
Editorial
Mark Tummers
The opening party of D&C
Mark Tummers
13
Pikkujoulu party of the graduate
schools
Mark Tummers
15
Pikkujoulu party of BI
Mark Tummers
16
On one dark afternoon in a
science laboratory
Satu Kuure
17
10 questions to Merja Särkioja
18
10 questions to Minna Komu
18
10 questions to Mari Palviainen
19
10 questions to Mari Palgi
19
1
SCIENCE
Netrin signaling pathway
Sébastien Duprat
2
Can dental root epithelium switch
back to crown fate?
Mark Tummers and Henrik Løvschall
4
Deus Ex Machina
Sébastien Duprat
5
Looking for the right one
Nina Perälä
6
A scientific conversation by email
Satu Kuure and Mark Tummers
7
Short history of the Finnish Society
for Developmental Biology, part II
Hannu Sariola
8
Chancellor Lauri Saxén’s medal
Hannu Sariola and Carin Sahlberg
9
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Tvärminne
Satu Kuure
10
Cellular mechanisms of Development
10
Recent publications
10
Gossip: Urban Legends
Kirsi Sainio
11
Feedback
11
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO
SPURIOUS MONKEY
Blondes and Evolution
A University of Life lecture by
Spurious Monkey
20
Feedback to the ‘Belly Button’
Scott Gilbert and Sputious Monkey
20
Unethical conduct
Spurious Monkey
21
How to work with mice, part 3
21
D&C Information
Aims and scope of
Development&Communication
22
Call for writers and editors
23
OPINIONS
To have a Finnish girlfriend or
not to have
Mark Tummers
12
Development & Communication 2003 vol 3 content
Editorial
A new year and old problems
A New Year has started for us all and also for this
journal. There have been only two issues of D&C
but already there have been some major changes. We
started out as a local journal for developmental biologists in Helsinki, but now we have gone national. A
technical change was necessary to accommodate this
move. It proved difficult to distribute the journal to the
rapidly growing audience. As a consequence we put
all issues of the journal on the D&C website (http:/
/www.biocenter.helsinki.fi/bi/development/d&c/). This
also meant we have to be more careful with copyrights,
since it is part of the University website. Sources have
to be properly referred to from now on.
That brings us to the art of good scientific practice and
publication. It seems that many scientists have problems with referring to their sources. Everytime I refereed a paper I found at least one literature reference
that was not correct. And I have to confess that I do not
check specifically for these things. I stumble upon them
by accident.
But it is not just me. It seems that scientists haven’t
actually read one out of five references. And then there
is the famous example of scientists just blindly copying references, reproducing mistakes in them. This is
not random, some mistakes occur more frequently than
others do and a lineage can be traced back to the paper
with the original mistake.
But the biggest news of last year concerned a more
serious scientific misconduct. Hendrik Schön had to
leave the famous Bell Labs in New Jersey after it was
discovered that he had fabricated evidence. He managed to publish 17 papers in 3 years in prestigious journals. However, figures for different sets of data looked
remarkably similar. In the end most of the data could
not be backed up. Crucial raw data was missing, and
nobody actually witnessed him doing these groundbreaking experiments. Peer review had failed some
people claimed, but can we really expect scientists to
prick through scientific fraud? After all we have to trust
our fellow scientists to some degree. We cannot repeat
every experiment every time a paper is thrown on our
desk for reviewing.
Were the co-authors to blame then? All papers had a
string of co-authors on them. None of them apparently
went to the trouble to critically analyze the data that
was published under their own name. Should they have?
They obviously benefited from these papers before the
fraud was committed. A scientist’s career is partially
depended on the number and quality of publications. A
co-authorship on a publication in a prestigious journal
such as Science or Nature is very tempting. Who can
resist such a thing?
Under current guidelines none should refuse co-authorship, since co-authors do not seem to be responsible
for the content of a paper in the eyes of the journals.
This might change though. We could start to see more
journals who will include a guideline that all authors of
a scientific publication share the responsibility for the
content. This might eliminate some of the eagerness to
be a non-involved co-author.
We have a bit of a problem now. D&C is not really peer
reviewed, but we do publish scientific papers. At the
moment the editors decide if it is worthy of publication
or not. Changes that are made in the papers by the editors are usually minimal in nature and often restricted
to cleaning up some of the English. At the moment it
is impossible to adopt the peer review system, because
we would have to find people that are actually willing
to spend a serious amount of time reviewing the work
of someone else.
We might therefore go for the alternative approach to
peer review, the peer response. If someone disagrees
with something published in D&C they will be given
room to post their objections, difficulties, additional
information, and views. The responding author might
even be the original author. There is no disgrace in correcting your own work. Scientists are after all human
and fallible, just as editors are.
Mark Tummers
Development & Communication 2003 vol 3 p1
Netrin signaling pathway
Sébastien Duprat*
*Group Marjo Salminen, program of developmental
biology, Viikki biocenter.
It has been suspected for a long time (Ramón y Cajal S.,
1894) that chemoattractive mechanisms are involved in
axon growth. Several such molecules, the first of which
was Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), have been discovered
in the last few decades. Early in the 90’s, a new protein
named netrin, the vertebrate homologue of C.elegans
UNC-6, was observed to be both a chemorepellant and
a chemoattractant for axon guidance (Kennedy et al,
1994; Colamarino et al, 1995). The proteins of the
netrin family are well preserved among the species and
known members have been isolated from worm, fly,
chick, rodents and human.
Netrin genes encode for a 70-80 kDa secreted protein,
containing a laminin homology domain and three EGFlike repeats.
If many studies gave new insights on the role of netrin
in the central nervous system development, very little
is known of the netrin signaling pathway. Here I gather
the recent knowledge on molecules involved in this
pathway.
The first netrin receptor discovered was DCC, which
stands for Deleted in Colorectal Cancer (Keino-Masu
et al, 1996). DCC homologues (UNC-40, frazzled) and
neogenin form a distinct class of receptors. A second
accepted class of netrin receptors is formed by the
homologues of UNC-5 C. elegans protein (Leonardo et
al, 1997). DCC and UNC-5 families of receptors bind
netrins with high affinity. Finally, the adenosine receptor A2b was proposed as netrin receptor (Corset et al,
2000) but its role has been under controversy (Stein (2)
et al, 2001) and no further evidence has been published
in this field since.
Netrins are particular in their ability to induce attractive
and repulsive signals in the same neurons, depending of
the stage of axon elongation. Several systems have been
proposed to explain the switch from attraction to repulsion. It is now thought that DCC mediates attraction
when acting alone. Repulsion involves mainly UNC-5
Vax1
+
Ligand:
Slit
Netrin
?
Receptor
type:
* : known to be
survival receptors
UNC-5
D.C.C.
(tyrosine kinase)
(tyrosine kinase)
UNC-5 family:
UNC-5-H1*
UNC-5-H2*
UNC-5-H3*
UNC-5-H4
Robo
A2b
(From Adenosine
receptors family)
NCAM family:
DCC*
neogenin
DCC as co-factor
Axon guidance
ONLY
Intracellular
messenger:
GTPase
GTPase
(SH2 proteins)
(Cdc42, rac1)
Axon guidance
ONLY
Cell
response:
MAPK
?
cAMP
SRE Elk1
- Axon guidance (repulsion)
- axon elongation
- Axon guidance (attraction)
- Axon regeneration
(cytoskeleton)
- Axon growth &
regeneration
- Survival (caspases 3, 7)
Low [Ca2+]
- Survival (caspases 3, 9)
High [Ca2+]
Fig 1: This figure gives an overview on the molecules involved for netrin to signal its effect. Netrins
direct their cell responses through 2 (maybe 3) classes of receptors: DCC, UNC5 and possibly A2b. The
transduction of information involves MAPK, GTPases, cAMP and Ca2+ concentration to be conducted
intracellularly to the nucleus. The interactions between those groups of molecules are largely unknown.
Several cellular response of netrin activation has been observed, mainly affecting Axon guidance and
growth, but also cell survival and axon regeneration. The violet pentagons represent transcription factors.
receptors, with implication of DCC as co-factor for
long range repulsion (Hong et al, 1999; Keleman et
al, 2001). Evidence that the cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration is critical in the switch between attraction and
repulsion has also been presented (Hong et al, 2000). In
this paper, the authors proposed that a low level of cytoplasmic Ca2+ is associated with a repulsive response,
whereas a high cytoplasmic Ca2+ level drives an attractive response to the axons.
Other factors have been proposed to interact with
netrins. Laminin can change the attractive response to
a repulsive one (Höpker et al, 1999). A recent paper
describing elegant research work suggests that netrin
interacts with slit: another known chemorepellent protein involved in brain development. Slit, through activation of its receptor robo may silence the netrin axon
guidance effect by interactions between the cytoplasmic domains of slit-activated robo and DCC (Stein (1)
et al, 2001). Others propose that activation by netrin of
an homodimer of DCC signals attraction to the growth
cone, that DCC-robo heterodimer binding netrin and
slit silences the attractive action of netrin, and that robo
alone activated by slit drives a repulsive effect to the
growth cone (Dickinson, 2001).
The axon elongation and guidance effects on netrins
have recently been linked with the cytoskeleton. Netrin
acts in the formation of lamellipodia and filopodia of
elongating growth cone, through activation of GTPases
cdc42 and Rac1 by DCC receptor (Sherakabi et al,
2002).
Netrin molecules are also involved in the cell preservation of apoptosis and Axon regeneration. It has been
shown that netrin receptors of DCC and UNC-5 families induce apoptosis in absence of netrin ligand. Therefore, netrin protect from apotosis the netrin-receptor
expressing cells (Llambi et al, 2001). Finally, netrin
expression is highly affected during peripheral nerve
injuries and regeneration (Madison et al, 2000).
The intracellular cascade of molecules hasn’t been
extensively described in the literature. Both DCC and
UNC-5 families of receptors possess a tyrosine kinase
activity induced by netrin-1. It has been shown that the
activation of DCC by netrins involves MAPK pathway
for axon growth and guidance (Forcet et al, 2002). It is
also known that SH2 proteins are required for the cell
response to netrin activation through both UNC-5 and
DCC classes of receptors (Tong et al, 2001; Shekarabi
et al, 2002). If A2b adenosine receptor is activated by
netrins, cAMP has been proposed to transduce its effect
(Corset et al, 2000).
Very few transcription factors have been identified in
direct relation to netrin response. Nevertheless, a recent
work shows that netrin-1 activation, through DCC
and MAPK pathway, involves Elk-1 and SRE (Serum
Response Element) dependant transcription (Forcet et
al, 2002).
Finally, it has been suggested that vax-1 transcription
factor is required for the expression of netrin-1 gene in
midline axons (Bertuzzi et al, 1999). In this article, the
authors noticed co-expressions of netrin-1 and vax-1
in the developing brain, and described an altered level
of netrin-1 expression in Vax-1 knockout mice embryo.
In this mutant, progressive loss of netrin-1 expression
has been observed (from E12.5 to E14) in the normally
“vax-1-positive” cells, but not from normally “vax-1negative” cells. The vax-1 knockout embryos reveal
very similar failures in midline axonal crossing that has
been observed in netrin-1 knock out embryos. Interestingly, no difference in expression has been seen for the
chemorepellent protein slit-1. Unfortunately, no published data show direct binding of vax-1 to netrin regulatory elements.
Despite a growing interest for these molecules, the
netrin signaling pathway is still largely unclear and
future research on this family of proteins will be necessary to fully clarify its way of action.
References:
Bertuzzi S, Hindges R, Mui HS, O’Learry DDM,
Lemke G. The homeodomain protein Vax1 is required
for axon guidance and major tract formation in the
developing forebrain. Genes & Development 1999; 13:
3092-3105.
Dickson BJ. Developmental neuroscience: Moving on.
Science 2001 Mar 9; 291: 1910-1911.
Colamarino SA, Tessier-Lavigne M. The axonal chemoattractant netrin-1 is also a chemorepellent for trochlear motor axons. Cell 1995 May 19; 81: 621-629.
Corset V, Nguyen-Ba-Charvet KT, Forcet C, Moyse
E, Chédotal A, Mehlen P. Netrin-1-mediated axon outgrowth and cAMP production requires interaction with
adenosine A2b receptor. Nature 2000 Oct 12; 407:
747-749.
Forcet C, Stein E, Pays L, Corset V, Llambi F, Tessier-Lavigne M, Mehlen P. Netrin-1-mediated axon
outgrowth requires Deleted in Colorectal Cancer-dependant MAPK activation. Nature 2002 May 23; 417:
443-447.
Hong K, Hinck L, Nishiyama M, Poo M, Tessier-Lavigne M, Stein E. A ligand-gated association between
cytoplasmic domains of UNC5 and DCC family receptors converts netrin-induced growth cone attraction to
repulsion. Cell 1999 Jun 25; 97:927-941.
Hong K, Nishiyama M, Henley J, Tessier-Lavigne M,
Poo M. Calcium signaling in the guidance of nerve
growth by netrin-1. Nature 2000 Jan 6; 403: 93-98.
Höpker VH, Shewan D, Tessier-Lavigne M, Poo M,
Holt C. Growth-cone attraction to netrin-1 is converted
to repulsion by laminin-1. Nature 1999 Sep 2; 401:
69-73.
Keino-Massu K, Masu M, Hinck L, Leonardo ED,
Chan SSY, Culotti JG, Tessier-Lavigne M. Deleted in
Colorectal Cancer (DCC) Encodes a netrin receptor.
Cell 1996 Oct 18; 87: 175-185.
Keleman K, Dickson BJ. Short- and long-range repulsion by the drosophila UNC5 netrin receptor. Neuron
2001 Nov 20; 32: 605-617.
Kennedy TE, Serafini T, Torre JS, Tessier-Lavigne M.
Netrins are diffusible chemotropic factors for commissural axons in the embryonic spinal cord. Cell 1994
Aug 12; 78: 425-435.
Leonardo ED, Hinck L, Masu M, Keino-Masu K, Ackerman SL, Tessier-Lavigne M. Vertebrate homologues
of C. elegans UNC-5 are candidate netrin receptors.
Nature 1997 Apr 24; 386 (6627): 833-8.
Llambi F, Causeret F, Bloch-Gallego E, Mehlen P.
Netrin-1 acts as a survival factor via its receptors
UNC5H and DCC. EMBO journal 2001;
20:2715-2722.
Madison RD, Zomorodi A, Robinson GA. Netrin-1 and
peripheral nerve regeneration in the adult rat. Experimental Neurology 2000; 161: 563-570.
Ramón y Cajal S. Les nouvelles idées sur la structure
du système nerveux. Paris 1894.
Shekarabi M, Kennedy TE. The netrin-1 receptor DCC
promotes filopodia formation and cell spreading by
activating Cdc42 and Rac1. Molecular and cellular neuroscience 2002; 19: 1-17.
(1) Stein E, Tessier-Lavigne M. Hierarchical organization of guidance receptors: silencing of netrin attraction
by slit through a Robo/DCC receptor complex. Science
2001 Mar 9; 291: 1928-1938.
(2) Stein E, Zou Y, Poo M, Tessier-Lavigne M. Binding of DCC by Netrin-1 to mediate axon guidance independent of adenosine A2b receptor activation. Science
2001 Mar 9; 291: 1976-1982.
Tong J, Killeen M, Steven R, Binns KL, Culotti J,
Pawson T. Netrin stimulates tyrosine phosphorylation
of the UNC-5 Family of netrin receptors and induces
Shp2 binding to the RCM cytodomain. J Biol Chem
2001 Nov 2; 276: 40917-40925.
CAN DENTAL ROOT EPITHELIUM
SWITCH BACK TO CROWN
FATE?
Figure 1. Enamel pearls visible on the roots of a
molar (arrows).
dentin-producing odontoblasts in both crown and root.
Therefore, the development of the overall layout of the
tooth, crown and root, seems to be controlled by the
epithelium. This is a point we are trying to bring
across.
Are there any known examples of root epithelium
switching back to crown fate, showing that the switch
is not unidirectional? Well, the dental abnormality
on the figure shows enamel pearls on the root
surface. Apparently, root epithelium does have a certain
capability to produce enamel-producing ameloblasts
when root formation has started. The question arises if
at this point there were any epithelial stem cells left, or
just root epithelium.
How would the presence of epithelial stem cells lead to
enamel pearls? If some pockets of stem cells survived
until this point in time, and their regulation was altered,
i.e. out of control, they could have started to produce
ameloblasts, when in fact they were supposed to make
root epithelium. This then results in enamel pearls
growing like cancer on the roots of the tooth. The
second option would be that there is just root epithelium
left, and apparently this epithelium is either capable of
de-differentiation, or it is not as differentiated as we
think it is.
References:
M. Tummers, The rodent incisor: to grow or not
to grow: Development&Communication 2002, vol 1,
p3-4.
Mark Tummers and Henrik Løvschall
Tooth development follows a very simple pattern. First
the crown is formed and then the root (Tummers, 2002).
The epithelial stem cells of the tooth are capable of
differentiating into both ameloblasts that are part of
the crown, and the more simple root epithelium. The
mesenchyme on the other hand will differentiate into
Deus ex machina*
ment with a low angle, and to construct a rather “ethanol proof” (for sterilising it) machine.
The background…
How often have you been annoyed by one of your laboratory tools, which isn’t designed optimally and cannot
solve your problem? Finally, we all adapt our work
habits to our tools even when our tools should be our
servants!
The problem…
I have been recently confronted with such a problem in my research-project. Briefly, my aim was
to cultivate cells in suspension. As long as they Fig 1
don’t attach, we can consider them as stem cells, but as soon as they do attach to
the cell culture plate, they differentiate. This phenomenon occurs especially after trypsinisation and leads to
a large waste of material and energy.
The simplest answer to our problem would be to let
the cells remain on a very slow rocking-table several
hours after splitting them. In this way, the cell-stress,
and the cell-attachment is minimal. We couldn’t guess
that obtaining a suitable machine for this job would be
the most stressful part for us researchers, due to the
impossibility for any manufacturer to propose a rocking table using batteries as a power supply. Our incubators aren’t designed to have plugs inside, and having
an electric wire through an “half-closed” door would
endanger our cell cultures.
The best option from biotech companies (Fig 1) was
a shaker operating at 12V DC, with a thin wire to the
plug. So, for a price close to 1200 EUR, we would have
been just half-satisfied (because the incubator-door airtightness wasn’t guaranteed).
Fig 3
Future improvements…
To be honest, no further projects of this kind are going
on right now in our lab. But if needed in the future,
why not to adapt a toaster for special PCR reactions;
to use a Playmobile character as Falcon-tube rack;
or fishing hooks for micro-dissections! No possibilities
are excluded…
By Sébastien Duprat with nice support from Marjo
Salminen.
*This Latin quotation (meaning “a god come from
the machine”) refers to Roman Empire’s theatre plays,
when a god came out of a lift (= machine) to solve
the problems that basic mortals were incapable of handling themselves because of physical or mental limitations. This expression is used when an event or a thing
arrives just at the right time to solve a dramatic situation or difficulty.
The solution…
Fortunately, my father was an engineer and I spent
quite a lot of my childhood playing (under his supervision) with LegoTechnics and Meccano! I proposed
to my supervisor to supply me with the bigger
Meccano box available in
Finland, for a total of 100
EUR (see fig 2, her reaction).
After collecting some electric
equipment and engines from
the computer technical support of our institute, I got Fig 2
all the necessary elements to
design my first HOME MADE ROCKING TABLE
(fig 3). I was careful to avoid electric shortcuts (possible in a wet incubator), to obtain a very slow move-
Looking For The Right One…
Nina Perälä
Yesterday I finally gave up.
After
searching
and
searching, not even this one
turned out to be the right one
for me. I tried everything
it seems (even spent a lot
of money on it!), but things
just didn’t work out. Too
bad, I had actually grown to
like this one, despite its all faults and despite people
telling me to forget that one. But, it is time to look for
a new and better one. Even I realize that now…
I proceed to work. I pull myself to the desk
towards my computer and start to surf the net in hope
of finding “The One” this time. Nowadays the Internet
helps life a lot, even in this matter. I click myself to the
homepage of NCBI BLAST, and continue to the Standard nucleotide-nucleotide BLAST [blastn]-page in the
search of a match that works and feels good.
Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you that “The One”
I’m looking for is a new probe for my mouse Plexin-B3
protein for doing in situ hybridisation. The previous
candidate for “The One” didn’t work, even though my
friend Ventana and I did all that we could. (Ventana,
again, is the scifi-beeping-metal-automatic-hybridisation-“person” doing all the work for me☺.)
Anyway, so back to work. The goal is to find
a suitable mouse EST-clone containing a part of my
target mRNA-sequence to make a DIG-labelled probe.
EST stands for Expressed Sequence Tags that are short
pieces of cDNA-sequences cloned into a vector. Usually the EST-insert is only partly sequenced and the precise size of it is not known. Those ESTs that have a socalled IMAGE-number as Clone Id, can then be ordered
from the I.M.A.G.E. Consortium, a large, public collection of genes.
So this is what happens in practise. In the
nucleotide-nucleotide BLAST I have chosen the EST
mouse-database, and “blasted” the mRNA-sequence of
the mouse Plexin-B3 (that is almost 6000 bp long). I
actually get quite many hits, one of them being the excandidate that didn’t do what it was supposed to do
(isn’t it always like that?☺). The first problem with
most of the matching ESTs in this particular case is that
they are from the Riken Genome Exploration Research
Group in Japan, and harder to obtain. So I skip those
and concentrate on the few matching ESTs that are
available from the I.M.A.G.E. Consortium. I use
the nucleotide-nucleotide BLAST again, but this time
I search within each EST using the mouse-specific
nr-database containing all sequences (except ESTs),
and hope that they won’t recognize anything else but
Plexin-B3. However, I’m not that lucky, as the ESTs
also seem to recognize another member of the PlexinB-subfamily, Plexin-B1. That is not good, because I
don’t want the probe to hybridise with any other mRNA
than that of the Plexin-B3. Hmm, what now? Well,
maybe I could cut away that part of one of the EST that
recognizes Plexin-B1 and use the rest for the making
of the probe. Yes, that could work, as the estimated
length of the EST in this case is 1,0 kb and only the first
200 nucleotides recognize Plexin-B1. That is what I’m
going to do. But no, the problems are still not over.
The “favourite” EST is cloned into a vector that I’ve
never heard about, and I can’t find any information on it
in the Internet or anywhere else for that matter. Great,
argh, frustration is peeking behind the corner… one,
two, three, four, five,…, ten. After intensive thinking
(yes, I AM capable of that☺), I realize that the information sheet of the EST tells me with what restriction
enzymes the EST is inserted with into the vector. So
it only needs subcloning into a familiar vector. Great!!
Maybe this will be “The One”…
After a short burst of joy I realize that the
journey is not yet over (is it ever?). Ahead is still the
checking of the EST-sequence, making of the probe
and the optimisation of the in situ hybridisation. But
that’ll be another story.
A scientific conversation by
email
after discussing the transgenic data and explain how
your transgenic experiment clarifies the process of budding.
One of the objectives of Development & Communication is to increase communication between developmental biologists in Helsinki. We noticed that there was
a lack of informal discussion of people’s work in the
hallways, coffee break rooms, offices, labs etc. Here
we present an email discussion that was inspired by the
Hyytiäälä meeting between one of the speakers (Satu:
text in bold) and a member of the audience (Mark: text
normal font). We hope that this inspires you to just ask
silly questions to other members of the development
group about their work, because they will appreciate it.
First of all, it is a really nice feeling to know that someone is interested in your work, and secondly, a different
viewpoint on your work helps you to re-evaluate your
own work.
This is how I thought your talk went (if my memory
serves me right):
hei Satu,
I didn’t ask it in Hyytiälä, but is bambi normally (wt)
expressed at the boundary of notch and jagged expression? That’s what I would expect listening to your
explanation of the events.
Mark
-------Hey Mark,
Normally notch is expressed in quite a lot of the mesenchyme (?) and jagged1 is restricted to a limited domain
in the epithelium (?). Now in your jagged transgenic
notch signaling is activated in most of the mesenchyme.
This leads to extra budding. BMP is still expressed
everywhere, therefore this cannot be it (the cause of
budding). However, Bambi, a BMP repressor is up-regulated dramatically, resulting in extra budding. BMP
therefore normally inhibits budding and BMP inhibitors allow for budding.
And in your jagged1 transgenic kidney bambi is upregulated and notch2 is activated by the ectopic jagged1
ligand. And at this point I expected that you would
return to the wild type situation saying something
like: “In the WT Bambi IS expressed at the border of
jagged1 and notch2 expression, and therefore represses
BMP signaling leading to bud formation during normal
kidney development.
I’m just thinking about the story here. I don’t really
know your data that well. But your story/data was actually really interesting.
have a nice weekend,
Bambi is normally expressed faintly where Bmp4
is expressed, and at the site where ureter budding
takes place, Bambi is up-regulated to down-regulate
Bmp4 and this allows the budding to happen. Notch
and Jagged are actually not participating to budding directly meaning that the expression of Bambi
does not co-localise to border of Notch and Jagged,
at least that I know of. I don’t know if I could
answer to your question, but if not ask more!
Satu
-------Dear Satu,
This is a bit of a rant, but I thought you deserved some
clarification.
I made this remark about Bambi because I was trying
to get a feel of your story when you were giving your
talk. I don’t know if you are interested in this but I
will try to explain my thoughts on your talk a bit more
clearly. This would be then my viewpoint as an interested member of the audience, your audience.
Mark
------Hi Marky-man,
About bambi, of course I’m interested about your
ideas. The thing is that Notch signalling is not
inducing ureter budding from Wolffian duct directly
and all the things happening in Bmp signalling are
likely to be indirect effects. Therefore, and especially because Bambi is in the wildtype expressed
in exactly the same cells as in transgenic kidneys,
whereas Notch2, the putative receptor for Jagged1,
is not normally expressed in this population at all in
wild types.
Actually, maybe I need to confirm this statement.
Anyway, I guess I now got what you meant by
border expression. Maybe we can continue this discussion next time in Viikki when we’ll meet. Have a
nice weeked,
Satu
In short: all the bambi stuff in your talk was about the
jagged transgenic and was very interesting. But at one
point I expected that you would return to the wild type
Short history of the Finnish
Society for Developmental
Biology, Part II
participants, but it was clearly several hundreds. Some
members of the Society participate in the symposium
“Östersjömiljön – nu och i framtiden” in Stockholm.
Developmental biology was put there to the light of
ecology. 155 members.
Hannu Sariola
1993. The Society organises a seminar “Growth,
differentiation, and neoplasia” in Medicine 93 Fair.
The Society is almost changed to Union: The Union
for Cell and Developmental Biology in Finland. This
name has actually not replaced Society, as I have not
found any documents that this proposal would have
been passed to the officers! Would you like to be
a union man? The Society members also contribute
to the Duodecim symposium “Molecular Biology of
Lysosomal Diseases”. Two travel funds are granted.
Some initiatives are presented to fuse the Developmental
Biology Society with the Histochemistry and Cell
Biology Society of Finland. The annual meeting shoots
this down. 153 members.
Summary of Part I: The Society was founded twice,
in 1976 and 1977. The reason for the double
birth remains enigmatic. The founding members
formulate the objectives of the Society. It should
improve the conditions for developmental biological
research, improve training, and take care of domestic
and international connections. Developmental biology
seminars are initiated and they have frequently foreign
visitors. The Society grows from 26 founders in 1977
to 137 members at the end of 1990. Eero Lehtonen acts
as the chairman.
1990. The cell biology seminar list includes names
such as Genevieve Fourel, Scott Gilbert, Hidesaburo
Hanafusa, Douglas Lewy, and Atsushi Uchida. The
Society takes part in the seminar series “Molecular
biology of cell growth, differentiation and cancer.”
These lectures are addressed to undergraduate students
from different Faculties. Thus, the present trend in the
developmental biology training, the unifying principle,
takes its initial steps. Developmental biology is an
interdisciplinary art of science, and therefore the
undergraduate training should be essentially the same
in both the Faculty of Medicine and Science.
1991. Core members of the Society participate in
the Bilateral Symposium for Developmental Biology
of the Finnish-Soviet Scientific-Technological
Committee. This time the meeting is in Suzdal, and it
is one of its kinds, very memorable and exotic. Soviet
Union is falling in parts during those days, and the
smell of new winds is strong. Suzdal, the old Capital
of Russia, undresses its Soviet coat, and the restoration
of numerous Cathedrals is on the way. These FinnishSoviet developmental biology meetings, which were
organised in Tallinn, Tashkent, and T’bilisi at least,
were unique, indeed. The Finnish Team members were
treated like stars, and as you know, the stars do not
always behave well. If someone remembers something
from these trips, he or she should stand up. It is now
high time to write down these memories. With our
Swedish colleagues a collaboration agreement is signed
on October 11, 1991. 144 members.
1992. VII International Congress of The International
Society for Differentiation is held in Helsinki and hosted
by the Society. This Congress “Cellular programmes
for growth, differentiation, and neoplasia” is a great
success. I did not find any marks from the number of
1994. The Society organises a one-day symposium,
where the speakers include Ulf Eriksson, John K. Heath,
and Daniel Dumond. Also, an in situ hybridisation
course is organised. The Society has collected a
reasonable capital of 65920 FIM, and continues to give
small grants to young scientists. 164 members.
1995. The main event is the III International Duodecim
symposium “Embryonic induction: models and
molecules” in Mariehamn. The symposium honours
Lauri Saxén’s work for Finnish developmental biology.
All of us have participated to numerous international
meetings, but the Duodecim symposium was something
special, not only scientifically, but also gastronomically.
Even the weather was perfectly organised. Because of
the excellent financial status, several travel grants are
awarded.
1996. Documents missing. Call for the missing papers.
1997. Irma Thesleff becomes the chairperson. The
Society celebrates its 20th anniversary by inviting Lewis
Wolpert to Helsinki. He lectures in Viikki Biocenter
on the topic “Pattern formation in development”.
The banquet is organised in Svenska Klubben. The
major event of the year is the foundation of the
developmental biology research program at the Institute
of Biotechnology. Yes, it actually has nothing to do
with the Society, but belongs to its history.
1998. Kathleen Smith gives a guest lecture “Early
craniofacial development in marsupial and placental
mammals: the origins of the heterochrony”. The
symposium “The development of the male” is organised
in Turku, and the principal organiser is Pasi Pöllänen.
The First National Meeting of the Finnish
Developmental Biologists is organised in Hyytiälä on
November 6 to 7. The feedback is so positive that a
decision is made to continue these meetings. There it
goes; the Society has started an everlasting tradition.
The money is running out, and only a few grants can be
awarded.
1999. Together with the Swedes, the members of
the Society contribute to “The First Finnish-Swedish
Meeting in Connective Tissue Research” in Turku.
Also, the Second Hyytiälä meeting is organised.
Because developmental biology flies high, Irma Thesleff
proposes that cell should be deleted from the Society’s
name. It happens a few years later.
General comments. During 90’ies, the Society
establishes its traditions and existence. The seminar
series at Haartman Institute continues through the
decade, and attracts numerous domestic and
international visitors. Developmental biology research
and training spreads to all Finnish Universities, and
receives the publicity and respect they deserve among
biosciences. Small teams grow and differentiate to
research groups, and form research programs. The
Society naturally grows all the time and is reaching
maturity while entering the next millennium.
To be continued...
Chancellor Lauri Saxén’s medal
The former chancellor of the University of Helsinki,
professor Lauri Saxén, had his 75 year anniversary on
July 27th 2002. To honour his long and internationally
widely appreciated career as a scientist, promoter of
culture and academic, the University of Helsinki, The
Finnish Medical Society Duodecim, the Finnish Society for Developmental Biology and the Finnish Cultural Foundation have had a Lauri Saxén medal made.
It was designed by the sculptor Toivo Jaatinen who
this year won the J. Sanford Saltus award. The medal
was presented to professor Saxén on August 14th in the
teachers lounge of the main building of the University
of Helsinki.
(the embryo differentiates into an individual) as well as
to his role as an educator, his central position as a promoter of Finnish biomedical research, a teacher of several generations of scientists and a popularizer of science.
The medal was cast by Rahapaja Oy, 350 medals in
bronze and one in silver. Its diameter is 55 mm. 100
bronze medals are for sale. The rest of the medals
remain at the disposal of the organizers. The price of
the medal is 50 Euros plus mailing costs. The Finnish
Society for Developmental Biology will use the entire
revenue for grants to support young scientists.
For more information:
Professor Hannu Sariola
tel: +358-9-191 25140/ fax: +358-9-19125235
e-mail [email protected]
Carin Sahlberg
Secretary of the Finnish Society for Developmental
Biology
Institute of Dentistry
Biomedicum Helsinki
PL 63, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
tel: +358-9-191 25214 / fax: +358-9-191 25371
[email protected]
Developmental biology is the theme on the reverse
side of the Lauri Saxén medal. In the middle is a
newt embryo and under this are the shapes of cultured
embryonic cells. The newt embryo theme was picked
from the logo of the Finnish Society for Developmental Biology which originally was designed by Lauri
Saxén. The newt plays a central role in the history
of Finnish developmental biology, because Saxén and
Sulo Toivonen performed the experiments on primary
induction on newt embryos. The text “Ex uno varietas”
(from one to many) alludes to Saxén’s scientific career
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Keynote lectures:
Annual Tvärminne seminar trip
Eddy de Robertis (HHMI/UCLA, USA):
Extracellular regulation of BMP signalling in the Xenopus embryo
Dear developmental biologists,
Our annual spring meeting in Tvärminne is held this
time in April 23th - 24th. The organizing committee
consisting of Tomi Jukkola, Johanna Laurikkala (the
chair), Mari Paqi, Heli Pessa and the undersigned has
already started its work but it is still possible to give
ideas how the program should be scheduled and what
common non-scientific activities would be nice to have.
The final program will be released later in the spring
including all the details and timetables.
See you all in Tvärminne,
On the behalf of the organizing committee,
Satu Kuure
Please be aware of the forthcoming meeting
CELLULAR MECHANISMS OF
DEVELOPMENT
in Biomedicum Helsinki, May 8-10, 2003
Web-site is open at: http://life2000.helsinki.fi/DB/
Developmental biology has become a science with
mutually beneficial interactions with several other disciplines, such as genetics, cell biology, neurobiology
and cancer biology. Its techniques offer ways to manipulate the genome and identify stem cells for various
organs that are expected to offer new avenues for example to gene therapy. The purpose of the meeting is to
bring together people with various backgrounds to discuss recent advances in understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms, which drive embryonic
development. Students and scientists at different stages
of their career are encouraged to participate. The registered participants will have an opportunity to present
their work either as a poster or an oral presentation.
Janet Rossant (Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute
and the
University of Toronto, Canada): Cell fate specification
and axis
patterning in the peri-implantation mouse embryo
Speakers:
Saverio Bellusci
Lynn Cooley
Tom Gridley
Mathias Hammerschmid
Susan Mango
Paul Martin
Sarah Millar
Annette Neubüser
Heikki Rauvala
Lou Reichardt
Christos Samakovlis
Antonio Simeone
Irma Thesleff
Seppo Vainio
David Wilkinson
Abstract submission, registration and more information available at:
http://life2000.helsinki.fi/DB/
Contact:
Communications manager, Dr. Laura Walin
Life 2000 / Institute of Biotechnology
P.O.Box 56, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
Finland
Tel: +358 9 19158898, Fax +358 9 191 58754
e-mail: [email protected]
Sessions:
Cellular architecture and cell fate
Cell adhesion and migration
Nuclear control of development
Intercellular communication
Proliferation and differentation
From Maxim:
GOSSIP
Dear Maritta, Satu, Mark and Ras also!
Urban Legends
I suggested to Mark and Satu at the grand opening of
D&C last fall that we must have a gossip column in
D&C. Well, maybe this is not it, but still a funny and
true story:
Hannu Sariola is driving his bike from Herttoniemi in
to Meilahti Biomedicum campus where our lab is, and
he is making this trip almost without exception every
week day, all through the year. As a consequence he is
bringing half of his carederobe with him all the time
(belive me, we share the same office...). Except once...
We had a journal club in Viikki one Thursday morning
and after that, Hannu went to an other meeting at the
Institute of Biotechnology, where the Finnish Academy
Center of Excellence money was divided between the
groups. After the hundreds of thousands of Euros had
been dealt with, Hannu started to put on his biking
jacket - just to see that he had been sitting in the meeting only his underware on - all the other clothes he had
forgotten. Maybe because of this, our group got more
money that expected... maybe Irma took pity on him?
Thank you very much for organising such a good
party.
I just got a paper version of D&C, it is just enjoable
to hold it !!!, not
mentioning the content!
Thank you all very much,
Maxim.
From Matti Poutanen:
Leon, this is a fantastic journal, I definitely would like
to be in the mailing list also in the future..
This is best I have seen in a long time, congratulations
to all editors.
Cheers.
Matti
From Scott Gilbert:
The new issue of Development and Communication is
a gem. The pictures are wonderful!
Kirsi Sainio
Scott gilbert
FEEDBACK
From Takashi Yamashiro:
Feel free to write to us your opinion on D&C. Here
is some feeback that we have collected over the past
few months:
Hi Mark,
From Kirsi:
Takashi
Thank you very much. Great. You can be a professional editor.
Dear developmental biologists,
We have had the pleasure to read already two issues of
D&C: First one was good, but the second one almost
too good to be true! As the Hyytiälä meeting is already
traditional (6th meeting is to be held on 24th and 25th
of October, 2003), I feel that also D&C issue dedicated
to Hyytiälä should become a tradition. First of all, we
got all the pictures published and the tremendous stories written by Jonathan and Scott, all published and
printed and available to everyone. This was truly great
fun.
Editor’s comment: The editor-in-chief was really
pleased with Takashi’s comment and awarded Takashi
a free lifetime membership of D&C.
Hannu is writing down the history of the Finnish Society of Cell and Developmental Biology. I think that was
also great fun to read. Moreover, I feel that it is important to get this written down just for
the record.
So, what I really want to say is: keep up the good work
that you have started with the D&C!
OPINIONS
In the last issue of D&C Ras raised some questions
about our scientific careers and the possibilities to
become a groupleader. We are still waiting for a respons
of any of the groupleaders, but here is one respons from
a PhD student. Maybe a postdoc will also volunteer to
give an opinion in the near future?
To have a Finnish girlfriend or
not to have
I never really worried about my career in my life. That
is probably why I am a very old PhD student. I finished my pre-university school in Holland on average
turns. I wasn’t really motivated because I had no clue
what to do next in my life. I certainly wasn’t thinking
about going into science, even though my education
suggested that I was supposed to go to University (in
Dutch the school is called VWO, which roughly translates into Preparatory Scientific Education). In the end
I did nothing and this lack of action meant I was drafted
into the army for 14 months. At the end of my service
I still didn’t know what to do, but strangely enough I
got an letter from an art school inviting me to the entry
exam. This invitation was a year too late, since I had
applied for it after finishing school. Now it came just
in time. I always liked arts in school (well, I liked
playing with colours). They accepted me, and the next
two years were spent in an art school, painting like a
madman. But halfway I couldn’t really envision myself
as an artist and turned to my second interest, biology.
This was probably the first real decision I ever made.
I managed to finish my masters in five years and was
strangely enough so motivated that I ended up in the top
ten percent of my class, graduating in developmental
biology. Motivation for me came with age, or was it just
that I had just found the one thing I like doing.
Although I was good
in biology I made one
career mistake during
my studies, I did my
minor subject in the
history of biology.
They somehow noticed
I was a good writer and The real reason I came
asked me for a PhD here.
project. Once again I
didn’t really have to make a decision. I just went with
the flow. I did this for two years. Unfortunately, fate
decided that I once again couldn’t finish what I had
started. I met a finnish girl. I was almost forced to move
to Finland. But what could I do there? It was impossible to do a history of science project there since this
requires knowledge of the local language. I also was a
bit bored with it, since you work a lot on you own. I
went back to my old interest, developmental biology. I
did a web search and found some papers from a group
headed by Irma Thesleff. I send her an email and that
was the end of my career story, but hopefully not the
end of my career.
This was a long introduction, but you might already
have guessed my point. I hardly ever made a career
decision in my life. Most of the decisions were made
for me somehow. I suspect that my future will be dictated under similar circumstances. The only real decision I would have to make is whether I want to stay
in science or not after finishing my PhD. I’d gathered
from talking to people that it isn’t very difficult to find
a postdoc position. What is difficult is what comes after
this. I’m not under the false assumption that I will ever
become a groupleader in Finland. I have some obvious
disadvantages.
I also wonder if I am too old to have a career in science. In Finland the phenomena of old PhD students
is not uncommon. In most countries the PhD student
only gets funding for a limited amount of years, usually something between 3 and 5 years. When the money
is gone it is gone. Here the groupleader can decide to
continue funding a student.
This alters the structure of a research group somewhat.
For different reasons it can be more fruitful to stay on
as a PhD student than to continue on the insecure path
of postdoc existence. The balance in Finland might be
skewed towards PhD students compared to postdocs.
And could that actually mean that too many PhD students are trained on average? The reason to train PhD
students after all is that they can pursue a career in
science. Train too many and the balance is upset, and
maybe false hope is created in the eyes of students.
They cannot all have a fruitful career in the sciences.
In principal it is simple. If your purpose is to train students to take over as groupleader, a groupleader should
only take on one single apprentice. That person will be
then be the successor. We all know that this is not how
it works in science and that not everyone can become
a groupleader, although it is not explicitly stated when
you sign up for this job. There has to be some sifting
process. But do not worry about me. I can always take
up my old career as a cleaner of offices.
Mark Tummers
THE OPENING PARTY OF D&C
D&C celebrated the release of its first issue in style. A grand opening party was organized for
this special occasion. The party was held in Sariola Lab in the Biomedicum. Thank you all for
coming and we will hope to see you all again at the next D&C party.
The D&C opening party started with some serious shopping by We first listened to some
interesting lectures in the
two experts (Satu and Maritta) and a packmule (Mark).
Biomedicum and then all
moved to the Sariola lab for
the grand opening of D&C.
The audience was impressed by the
content and couldn’t stop reading.
The editor-in-chief gave
a short speech on the
importance of this new
journal.
Ras was happy that D&C inspired
lots of communication.
Someone decided that the fifth floor in the Biomedicum should also have an editor.
Someone also told me who that should be. I then made a fool of myself by telling the
wrong person that she was the new editor of D&C (picture on the left). It turned out
that actually Milla had been volunteered (picture in the middle). When she heard the
good news she responded in the usual manner (picture on the right).
As usual the Sariola circus provided high quality entertainment. I didn’t
understand the Finnish, but I gathered that being a researcher is really stressful
and sometimes you feel the urge to rip off your labcoat and chase around
your fellow researcher of the opposite sex. Once you finally caught her you
can sing a nice song together while someone else holds up a sign that says
something in Gibberish.
We noticed that the Sariola lab was well
equipped. Unfortunately there was no money
left in the budget for shoes.
These were the last two pictures I took of
the successful evening and it is a miracle
that they were in focus.
Pikkujoulu party of the Graduate Schools in Helsinki
The evening started out pretty relaxed. Some small talk before dinner with friends and
meeting new people at the dinner table.
There was some kind of official program. Dancing, a lottery and a Disco dancing demonstration (I won a T-shirt demonstrating all my latest groovy moves). There was a band, but Tinde
thought that the room needed a bit more rock.
Ras gave the party 3 thumbs up and then it was time to leave for home. We hope, however,
that there will be more people from the development group next time. See you all there!
Pikkujoulu party of BI of the Biocenter in Helsinki
This is the first
picture that has
been censored in
the history of
D&C.
Strangely enough the young waiters were the
same for the pikkujoulu of the graduate school
and the BI. Also the menus were similar. Also
we had food left over after the graduate pikkujoulu, whereas we
had a food shortage
during BI’s. Coincidence? Or did we
eat the same food
twice?
The band.
We were also being
filmed. I took
revenge by making
pictures of the picture taker. Life can
be ironic.
Other personel of BI
was doing some situps
to keep in shape.
The art of making a
decision.
Something was in the air
There was also another band. Somehow they were more succesful than the official band.
They performed well, but when we asked Dennis about his perfomance he seemed a bit
embarrassed (picture on the right).
But soon it was time to
go home again and think
about the presents we
would get at X-mas.
On one dark afternoon in a
science laboratory
Just Before Christmas people often are dulled, tired
and irritated. Long hours in the lab with unsuccessful
experiments, promising young minds lacking the capability to produce the great scientific words that describe
the results for the rest of the community, tend to make
days even more backbreaking. It is total darkness when
you try to navigate to the lab, and possibly, even darker
returning home in the afternoon. Yes, I know that the
daylight time is short but I really wonder if it is the eternal darkness that makes people so exhausted? And is
it the darkness and exhaustion why so many pre-Xmas
parties are needed? Who knows, but anyway, we had
one also in the fabulous Circus Sariola lab on a dark
Thursday night two weeks before Christmas. Just in
time to cheer up our minds and bring some joy for the
coming holiday season.
Figure 1. Waiting for the wine tasting.
This time we had decided to have a change from the
traditional pre-Xmas party. By the way, at this point it
is my nasty duty to remind my closest colleagues, and
to tell to the rest of the readers, that in the year 2001
there was NO pre-Christmas party in the Sariola lab at
all! I had worked in the lab at that time for about half a
year and I thought that this just couldn’t be true! Luckily, as it later turned out, it is not a tradition not to have
a Pikkujoulu and therefore we were free to have great
one this time.
The plan for the afternoon was to start with wine tasting (Fig. 1), then continue with meat and cheese fondue
(Fig. 2), and to end with playful competition where
people were supposed to recognise who is who in childhood pictures. We started our afternoon with four different wines unknown to the audience. The organizers
had told to participants beforehand only the origin of
the wines. We of course had to try to guess what wine is
what, and to judge which one is the best. Imagine yourself drinking the third and fourth 50ml glass of excellent red wine (surely one needs to drink it all and not
to spit it out!). Suddenly it gets much easier to find the
right words to describe the taste, but it is also impossible to remember the taste of the first one. Then you
have to have a sip again, but the bottle is empty and
soon you don’t remember what were the countries the
wines were supposed to be from. It was definitively too
complicated. In the end I personally found the most
expensive one the best – what a surprise!
We adopted the
fondue
eating
rules from Asterix
and Obelix: the
person, who drops
the piece for the
first time to the
pot, gets beaten
with stick. The
punishment
is
increased if you Figure 3. The young and beautiare stupid enough ful; ready to go and have some
to do it twice. You fun.
get beaten with the whip. Third time is definitively final
because you are thrown into Lake Geneva! We didn’t
have to mug anybody too badly (who counts slamming,
nobody!) and there was so much food that the chocolate fondue planned for the desert was actually eaten
few days beforehand. Just to make sure that most of
the people would still be awake and conscious after the
dinner. Anyhow, the combination of good wines and
fondue was such a killing experience that soon after
our party animals (Fig. 3) had disappeared into wild
nightlife of Helsinki, the lights were turned off automatically in Biomedicum. It is of course forbidden to
tell anything about what happened after this closing
signal. Maybe I will just briefly mention that everybody
showed up in the lab the next morning indicating that
nothing really serious occurred during the late hours of
night.
Satu Kuure
Figure 2. Preparing the meat for fondue may be
dangerous or disgusting…
10 QUESTIONS
More 10 QUESTIONS
What’s your name?
Merja Särkioja
Where are you from?
Am I from OuluUleåborg, or what? Yes.
What do you do now?
I’m sitting. Heh, for
my project, I came to
visit Sariola lab for
three months to perform some in situs
with fabulous Ventana
In Situ Automate
What did you do
before you came here?
I worked with Maaret
Ridanpää in a group
studying cartilage-hair-hypoplasia in Department of
Medical Genetics. I’m continuing my former project
here.
What is your favourite animal and why?
Fish or horse, difficult to decide. Maybe fish because I
have fish. Actually I have a cool online camera, which
offers me a great chance to peak my fish in the web
side during the day.
What do you like to do?
I love hiking. Just before Christmas I went to Lapland
for Kaamosvaellus. I also like all kinds of sports
including downhill and cross-country skiing in winter
and paddling and scuba diving in summer time.
What don’t you like to do?
I hate to say but I don’t like cleaning my house very
much (except sometimes!) and at the moment I dislike
PCR.
Is your glass half full, half empty, or always empty?
This is really difficult… would it be half empty,
maybe.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a scientist?
Oh, God. I would like to travel around the world as a
tv-reporter like these lonely planet guys.
How long can you hold your breath?
As long as needed (we didn’t test this, might have been
too dangerous!).
What is your favourite food?
Oriental food with lots of spices.
Did you ever get into a fight and why?
Not physically but with words many times in a week.
What’s the best day of the week?
Monday! It’s the day when you are allowed to come
to work again!
What would you rather be, a worm or a tiger, and
why?
To be honest, I would like to be a tiger but on the
other hand, as a worm one could wriggle to small,
tight places. Yes, I would rather be a worm.
What’s your name?
Minna Komu
Where are you from?
Oulu
What was the topic of your thesis?
Development of the adreno-genital system; Female
sex determination, ovarian and adrenal gland ontogeny
regulated by Wnt-4 in mice
I have no idea… If I have to name one it could be
small lamb - they are so cute.
First of all, I love to play with my sweet daughter
Venla. Children’s ever-expanding imagination is just
really exciting! Home decoration is also close to my
heart. I enjoy doing all those small things that doesn’t
require lots of money, but just your own creativity.
Third thing is sport - what so ever I usually love it :)
In addition to ordinary or common sport events, I like
some extreme stuff. Now, when I have already been
climbing on ice walls there is still this one big dream
- skydiving.
This is the hardest question… I don’t even think about
those things that I don’t like, so naming is pretty hard.
To say something - I don’t like to eat butter with the
spoon :)
Is your glass half full, half empty, or always empty?
Half full, always :)
Most likely I would be interior architect or interior
decorator.
What is your favourite journal and why?
There are few, but none of them is scientific one…
Those that I really love to read deal with interior
design or babys/kids.
What is your favourite food?
I like Chinese food and generally about “far-east food”
- especially if I don’t need to do those by my own.
At least not often. If I am very tired I can say my opinions really straight forward… Sometimes that doesn’t
lead to anything good…
Saturday. Then I can spend the whole day with my
family and there is still Sunday to come :)
why?
Tiger, definitely! Worms are disgusting, ugly and slow.
And More 10 QUESTIONS
What’s your name?
Mari Johanna Palviainen
Where are you from?
I’m from Joensuu, a beautifull city in North Carelia.
What did you do before
you came here?
Before joining Tapsa’s
group I was working in
molecular neurophysiology group here in Viikki.
A Dog because dogs are always so positive and full of
action. They don’t mind about bad days.
Play floorball, read books, hang out with my family.
To wash the toilet.
Is your glass half full, half empty or always empty?
Depends on a day, usually always empty because I
forget to fill it.
I’d be the nasty lady in a hospital lab who wants your
blood.
What’s your favourite journal and why?
Have I one?
What’s your favourite food?
Hard to say, something that is not good for me like
pizza.
No, and I try to avoid it too.
Saturday.
why?
I AM a tiger (in Chinese horoscope, anyway).
Everyday cooking.
Is your glass half full, half empty or always empty?
Sometimes half full and sometimes empty.
Maybe gardening and dog breeding full-time?
What’s your favourite journal and why?
Of course “Development and Communication”.
What’s your favourite food?
I am not very “picky” and it varies depending on the
season for example marine food or vegetables.
I used as a little girl, not anymore. For girls rights it
happened…
Friday.
why?
Tiger, mammals are nice, aren’t they.
Still More10 QUESTIONS
What’s your name?
Mari Palgi
Where are you from?
Estonia, Tallinn
What did you do before
you came here?
I was working as PhD student in molecular neurophysiology group BI.
What is your favourite
animal and why?
I have several: Orcinus Orca, dolphins ans dogs, close
to my nature I quess?
Hiking, walking in the nature, bird-watching.
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SPURIOUS MONKEY
A University of Life Lecture
Blondes and Evolution
Here at the UOL we
receive questions about life
from concerned citizens on
a daily basis. Yesterday an
elderly gentleman from the
far North of Europe asked
us why there are so many
blonde people there. For
the answer we have to look
at the mother of all scientific theories, the theory of
evolution.
It is a fact that blond people are most predominant in
Northern Europe. This cannot be a coincidence. We
therefore looked at which selective pressures could
cause the blonde hair phenotype to be successful
and combine this with knowledge of other species.
Although there have been some reports that the early
human might have been a scavenger, by the time man
reached the northern plains they were proficient hunters. Another successful hunter of the North is the polar
bear. This efficient hunting machine is perfectly camouflaged in its snow and ice infested surroundings. Its
fur is a beautiful white. And here we have the answer
we were seeking. Blonde haired people were more successful hunters during the lean winter seasons. They
were less visible to the prey species. Their heads were
covered in beautiful locks of blonde hair, interrupting
the human outline against the white background.
But why are not all the people of the North blonde
one might ask righteously. The answer is surprisingly
simple. The blonde haired tribes invented the ‘hat’ relatively late, unlike other tribes. Tribes that wore hats had
no advantage in being blonde. Their hair was covered
after all.
Spurious Monkey
Professor at the UOL
A scientific correspondence on the belly
button.
In the last issue we presented the most recent data on
the biology of the belly button and we are happy to
report that it ellicitated a lot of scientific controversy.
We received a well documented reponse from Scott
Gilbert, which is shown below, together with our official response.
Dear Spurious Monkey,
I was disappointed by the totally selectionist account of
the organogenesis of the belly button. A more proper evodevo study would include proximate causation. Such
a study can be found at http://zygote.swarthmore.edu/
April1.potato.html .
The abstract reads: Anyone who has ever seen human
beings on a beach knows that our species comes in two
distinct morphotypes--innies and outies. With reference to umbilical anatomy, this appears to be a random
event, although it is said that innies run in families.
Panganiban and colleagues (1997) demonstrated that a
Distal-less protein (Dll in Drosophila, Dlx1-3 in mammals) is expressed in the distal tip of those regions destined to stick out from the main body axis. To determine if Dlx expression provided a genetic basis for this
morphological variation, Polly and Spiro Keats probed
human embryos with antibodies against the Dlx proteins. They found Dlx3 expression in the umbilical
rudiment. They showed that as early as the ninth week
of gestation, Dlx3 was found in the tips of those umbilical rudiments destined to become outies. Such expression was not found embryos in those whose umbilical
anatomies proved to be innies.
Scott
An open letter to Scott Gilbert:
Dear Scott,
Here at the University of Life we are well aware of this
study. And although we do not question the data, we
do question the conclusions reached in this particular
study. We would interpret the presence of Dlx3 expression in the umbilical rudiment as the primitive state of
the developmental program of the belly button. It is a
remnant of the ancestral function of the belly button, to
provide nutrition and oxygen to the fetus via the umbilical cord. To produce a functional belly button (one that
gathers navel fluff) evolution had to alter the developmental program of the umbilical rudiment. One of these
changes is the downregulation of Dlx3. I hope that this
resolves the controversy surrounding this fascinating
topic.
It is a mystery why there are still outies, since these
belly buttons clearly are not suited for gathering navel
fluff. We propose that the evolution of the belly button
and the enlargement of the brain coincided to some
degree. Although it was a clear evolutionary advantage
to have a fluff gathering navel at earlier times, the evo-
lution of a large brain removed some of the selective pressure for
this trade. The large human brain made it possible for humans
to figure out that large concentrations of unwanted fluff all over
the abdomen and thorax region is an undesirable state. Creative
solutions were put forward by the human brain to deal with this
problem, for instance the habit of washing and the invention
of primitive soaps. Unfortunately there is no physical evidence
for this theory. Plastic soap containers were not invented until
recently and hence no physical evidence has ever been found
near human fossils.
How to work with
laboratory animals part 3
BE SMART! On way to make sure
mice don't bite you is to create a
mutant without any teeth!!!
Spurious Monkey
Professor at the UOL
Unethical conduct
Do not be afraid, the little mouse
has no teeth. Just pick it up
gently.
Aren't you a cute little mousie.
Come to pappa!
Some disturbing news reached us. There were some rumours
that a scientist at the Viiki Biocenter in Helsinki had used human
DNA to create a transgenic mousline. And that person didn’t just
use any human DNA, but his or her own DNA! Last week we
received an email with this picture attached. A picture taken in
the animal facility in Viikki. Rumours have become reality. The
Biocenter has lost its innocence. The question is who is this scientist responsible for this travesty of scientific conduct. Email us
if you know the answer and you will be a prime candiate for the
generous reward ([email protected]).
Spurious Monkey
Just make sure that you do not
accidentily put a heterozygote in
between the homozygotes.
UOL Website
You can still visit Spurious Monkey at the UOL website:
http://www.geocities.com/spuriousmonkey/
You can for instance find out why elephants are afraid of mice.
spurious monkey
Development&Communication
Aims and scope
The aim of Development&Communication is to promote developmental biology, and local communication
between developmental biologists, providing a forum
for this purpose.
Preparing manuscripts
Submission
Authors may submit their manuscripts electronically
by e-mail, personally, or by any other means directly to
any of the editors. There are no submission fees or page
charges.
Editorial board
Managing Directors
Satu Kuure
Ras Trokovic
Mark tummers
Editor-in-chief
Mark tummers
Editors:
Helsinki:
Satu Kuure ([email protected])
Maritta Ilmonen ([email protected])
Milla Mikkola ([email protected])
Ras Trokovic ([email protected])
Mark Tummers ([email protected])
Oulu:
Renata Prunskaite ([email protected])
Turku:
Leon Brokken ([email protected])
develoment\Development&Communication\ in Viikki
and L:\laitos\sariola\D&C\ in Biomedicum
Style
No strict structural requirements exist, other than that
the manuscripts should be logical, sufficiently argumented, and clear.
Several sections are available for submitting articles.
Everyone is invited to contribute to any of these:
Science:
Different kinds of articles can be sunmitted to the science section:
Original article:
A short article about original data, or a more informal
re-evaluation of already published data.
Short reviews:
A short review of one or some articles of interest for
developmental biology. This review may be far from
complete. We are interested to hear what you think are
interesting ideas in developmental biology.
News and Announcements:
All kind of news will be accepted in this section, for
instance, the introduction of new people, new articles
published by the development group, meetings, rules,
etc.
Opinions:
Your opinion on what has been published in this and
other journals, the contents of the journal clubs, meetings etc.
Conferences and Posters:
Experiences and news from meetings and posters that
were presented at the meetings.
A few hours away from Science:
An informal section which can contain everything that
is not directly related to science, but will promote communication between scientists.
Cover picture
Length
The
cover
picture
for
each
issue
of
Development&Communication can be submitted
together with a manuscript or without. Preference will
be given to scientific pictures.
Articles should be 2 pages or less (but longer ones will
be accepted).
Language
Contributors are encouraged to write in English.
Disclaimer
All authors and readers should note that responsibility
for the views that are expressed in the articles lies with
the authors, and that no responsibility for such matters
is assumed by Development&Communication, or the
editors.
Copyright
The copyright of all published material remains with
the author(s). For use of all copyrighted material permission should be asked if possible.
Publication
Call for Papers and Writers
Development&Communication will be published in
PDF format and distributed by e-mail and will
be
available
under
S:\groups\
D&C has been founded by the PhD students in the
developmental biology programme. Its purpose is to
develop communication between developmental biologists. That is why D&C is depended on your contributions and on you for material published in this journal.
Without you this journal can not exist. All contributions
to this journal, be it scientific in nature of not are welcome. Do you have the writers itch! Do you have something to say! Do you have an anouncement to make! Do
not hesitate to send in your material or even just ideas.
We will assist you in any way possible and we will consider every input. Just send your stuff or idea to any of
the editors by email, or just push it in their hands.
Call for Editors
We are still looking for enthusiastic editors to join our
team. We can’t offer a salary but we can offer you the
opportunity to experience what it is like to publish a
journal, albeit a minor one. At the moment the journal
is roughly devided into a science section and a nonscience section. It is possible to work on just one of
these sections or both. Also the amount of work you put
in is flexible and shouldn’t interfer with your scientific
work.

Volume 3

Transcription

Similar documents

Helsinki | 12 November, 2015

Karen K. Resendes Westminster College New Wilmington, Pa

Bodies in Motion – Brains in Motion

10 species of sea anemones

Pearle* Helsinki 2014 General information FINAL

pharmacy - Cooper

Road Atlas Finland

N F59PHI Commuter Locomotive

Lecture 1: Introduction to the class

143 February 2015 - Realtrack Models