Mouse Biology at Monterotondo

Abstract

Gretchen Vogel's article on the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Programme at Monterotondo (“Institute sparks an Italian Renaissance in mouse biology,” News Focus, 8 Oct., p. 217) was a well-deserved recognition of the success of this new branch of EMBL. Regrettably, the other parties that share credit for the success of Monterotondo were not mentioned. EMBL would not have succeeded if it were the only research entity on the Adriano Buzzati-Traverso campus at Monterotondo. The Consiglio Nazionale della Ricerca (CNR), through its Institute of Cell Biology (IBC) led by Glauco Tocchini-Valentini, has been an essential partner, inviting and hosting EMBL, providing an active scientific environment, sharing space and equipment, and solving a myriad of minor and major problems. CNR-IBC also operates EMMA-Monterotondo (the European Mutant Mouse Archive). Further credit is due to the pioneer teams of Klaus Rajewsky, Walter Witke, and Ulrich Kalinke, who, within strict budgetary constraints, created the nucleus of EMBL-Monterotondo. Rajewsky, the first director, brought conditional mutagenesis to the campus (an approach still central to the research of the EMBL groups), and encouraged the complementary development of powerful, RNA-based methods by IBC. The CNR/EMBL partnership created an atmosphere that justified increased funding by the EMBL member states in 2000, which was essential for the recruitment and success of Nadia Rosenthal and her group leaders. The lessons are of broader significance, too. The important shared goal of EMBL-Monterotondo, to promote internationalization of the Italian research landscape, cannot be achieved unilaterally. The recipe for success includes recruiting outstanding and dedicated staff, but also mutually respectful interaction and fruitful cooperation with local colleagues.