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13. June 2024
The city of Brno was the centre of structural biology and electron microscopy from 10 to 13 June 2024, CEITEC Masaryk University hosted the international meeting of the iNEXT-Discovery consortium together with a symposium reflecting the latest advances in cryo-electron microscopy. The podium was filled with leading scientists and experts and Brno once again confirmed its leading position in the field of microscopy.
The iNEXT-Discovery consortium brings together 22 European top-notch laboratories from 14 European countries providing access to infrastructure for NMR spectroscopy, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and X-ray diffraction for the purpose of using them to study the structures and functions of biomolecules. CEITEC Masaryk University is a member of the iNEXT-Discovery consortium and is contributing its NMR and cryo-EM laboratories and method development to building a community of users who use these technologies to study, for example, the function of viruses or cellular processes related to the transcription of genetic information. The Horizon-2020-funded iNEXT-Discovery project has already supported the research of over 1,000 primarily junior scientists in more than 400 different projects, the results of which have been reported in more than 200 publications, building on the success of iNEXT and continues to introduce and develop new technologies that make structural biology research more efficient and faster. Remote access and the development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence have accelerated the development of joint projects and specialised laboratories, the results of which show that every euro spent has been well invested. For example, the conference featured presentations on a new way to potentially block the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 virus, the development of a new method to streamline structural studies using X-ray diffraction, a platform for automated sample preparation and control for cryo-EM, and current opportunities for NMR studies inside cells.
"The conference is dedicated to Prof. Vladimír Sklenář, one of the most renowned scientists in the field of structural biology, who has passed away this year and who contributed significantly to the development of structural biology in the Czech Republic, especially in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy," says Jiří Nováček, Head of the cryo-EM core facility at CEITEC Masaryk University. "The conference is a great opportunity for a face-to-face meeting of the European community, which can share the latest findings in their respective fields and, thanks to this openness and collaboration, advance scientific knowledge together," he adds.
The focus of the conference resonates with the city of Brno, which is known as a centre of electron microscopy. "We are very proud to welcome such a prestigious international conference to Brno. Electron microscopy is an area in which Brno excels, and we are convinced that iNEXT-Discovery has brought new impulses and opportunities for the further development of this field," said Brno Mayor Markéta Vaňková, who took over the patronage of the event.
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