FWF Emerging Fields Grants awarded to Vienna BioCenter Researchers

Elif Karagöz, Group leader at the Max Perutz Labs Vienna will coordinate the prestigious FWF Emerging Fields consortium project ‘Translating the Ribosome Code of Pediatric Cancers’. Funded with nearly €6 million by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the initiative brings together researchers from leading Vienna-based institutions, combining expertise that spans basic, translational, and patient-focused research. The collaborative project aims to uncover how ribosomes regulate protein production in childhood cancers and to explore whether this hidden layer of gene regulation can be harnessed to develop novel therapeutic strategies.

Although ribosomes – the molecular machines that translate RNA into proteins – were long considered simple cellular factories, growing evidence shows that they actively regulate which proteins are produced and when. Understanding how this regulation is altered in cancer could reveal entirely new vulnerabilities in tumor cells. Supported by the FWF Emerging Fields grant, a Vienna-based inter-institutional consortium will combine expertise in pediatric oncology, mechanistic cell biology, and structural biology to uncover how ribosome function is rewired in childhood cancers.

“Motivated by the emerging role of ribosomes as an underexplored layer of gene regulation in pediatric cancers, our diverse team brings together mechanistic biology and pediatric cancer research”, says coordinator Elif Karagöz. This combination, she explains, uniquely positions the team to decipher the ribosome code of childhood malignancies and translate these discoveries into innovative therapeutic strategies.

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The project GEMINI – Germline’s Molecular Interactions at Nanoscale Imaging will investigate this question by studying how germ cells safeguard, reorganize, and transmit genetic information. It is coordinated by Andrea Pauli (IMP) and includes Julius Brennecke (IMBA), David Haselbach (IMP), Sven Klumpe (IMP/IMBA).

The consortium brings together researchers from IMP, IMBA, and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), combining expertise in developmental biology, transposon biology, structural biology, cryo-electron tomography, and computational modeling. Together, the teams will combine advanced cryo-electron tomography with genome editing and computational image analysis to visualize how germ cells defend their genomes, reorganize DNA during sperm formation, and enable fertilization.

“The germline contains the most important cells in our bodies: without them, none of us would be here, and our entire species would not exist,” says project coordinator Andrea Pauli. “GEMINI will shed light on the fascinating biology hidden in these unique cells. By doing so, it will serve as a role model for the emerging field of ‘Integrated Cell Biology 2.0’ - how cross-fertilization between biology and technology can transform our understanding of fundamental questions in biology and at the same time advance technology.”

Learn more here (German - IMBA/ÖAW)
Learn more here (English - IMP)

In the emerging field of "Comparative Ecological Innovation Styles", the researchers involved are investigating how different body structures, ecological niches, and cognitive abilities shape the emergence of new behaviours. Rather than simply comparing successful problem-solving strategies, the team is analysing the detailed processes of acquisition, learning and development in some of the most innovative animals, such as parrots, corvids and great apes. This creates a process-based understanding of how innovation arises, what role motor skills and environmental conditions play, and why inventive strategies differ between species. These findings will not only expand our understanding of animal intelligence but also contribute to the development of robot systems that are more flexible and adaptable.

Barbara Klump, Christoph Völter and Mark Christopher O’Hara from the Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology at the Faculty of Life Sciences at Vienna BioCenterare co-investigators of this Emerging Field, coordinated by Alice Auersberg from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna.

“We humans are the greatest innovators on this planet, yet, we still do not fully understand the processes and mechanisms that underlie the emergence of such novel behaviours. In the emerging fields project CEIS we will study diverse animal species that evolved high innovation levels independently from each other", Barbara Klump explains. ”This will allow us to uncover the mechanisms of innovative behaviours and transfer them to artificial agents like robots. An important aspect is the inclusion of the ecology of each species in the interpretation of our data. Animals have adapted to the different environments they live in over a very long time, so studying the process by which they approach, solve or fail to solve problems will significantly broaden our understanding of how innovation is influenced by ecology, ultimately helping us to shed light on the evolution of intelligence."

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