The main aim of this postdoctoral positon is to study the molecular mechanisms responsible for transcriptional activation of the Drosophila embryo after egg fertilization. More specifically this work will involve the characterization of a previously isolated collection of mutants (Pimenta-Marques et al., 2008), identification and characterization of the mutants specifically defective for transcriptional activation, and functional characterization of the relevant gene(s). The goal is to better understand how is transcription initiated de novo in a spatially and temporally controlled manner after egg fertilization. (224)

The research training program Graduiertenkolleg 1104 (From Cells to Organs: Molecular Mechanisms of Organogenesis) is a DFG-funded research program joining developmental biologists in the Faculty of Biology, the Faculty of Medicine,and the Max-Planck- Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg with the aim to create an innovative training program for graduate students. (128)

Recently Nobel prizes were announced in various categories and GFP protein took the honors in the chemistry department.OSAMU SHIMOMURA, MARTIN CHALFIE, and ROGER Y TSIEN will receive Nobel prize in December 2008 for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP ( you can read here ).But the man’s name, who is responsible for the cloning of this glowing gene in early 90′s was conspicuous by its absence. Douglas prasher cloned the GFP gene when he was at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and later …

Jelly fish , a free living Cnidarian got its credit for its contribution in this years chemistry Nobel prize .At a UCSD news conference Roger Tsien did not forget to thank this beautiful animal for the role it played in making life easier in biology.

“It has been (fluorescing) for millions of years, though for reasons we still don’t understand. None of this would have happened without the jellyfish.”
Roger Tsien, Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie were awarded the 2008 Nobel in chemistry for their roles in discovering and developing …

Harald zur Hausen ,Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier shared the Nobel prize for the year 2008 in Medicine and Physiology for thier classical work in identifying the roles of viruses in sexually transmitted diseases. Harald Zur Hausen ( Born 1936 ) from Germany has been rewarded for his discovery of human papilloma viruses (HPV) causing cervical cancer” and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi (Born 1947)/ Luc Montagnier (Born 1832) “for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus”. (125)

A post-doctoral position is available in the laboratory of Marie-Anne Felix, Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS- University Paris 7, Paris, France, starting in the spring of 2009. Possible projects include quantitative studies of the inter cellular signalling network involved in C. elegans vulva development and evolutionary studies of vulva development in the Caenorhabditis genus. For interested candidates, please send a letter of motivation, a Curriculum Vitae and a list of three referees.
Marie-Anne Felix e-mail:felix@ijm.jussieu.fr (178)

Casey Dunn is looking for a postdoc in his lab at Brown University.This would be great fun, mixing genomics and microscopy to do some very cool science. Just to remind you ( in case you forget) Cassey dunn is same person who hit headlines with phylogenomics paper in April issue of Nature,which placed Ctenophores at the base of the tree of life. So all finishing graduates, its an interesting opportunity around.
Currently seeking a postdoctoral researcher interested in the evolutionary developmental biology of cnidarians. The primary goal of the project …