Estblished in 1964, the founders of EMBO showed n incredible vision when they estblished the orgnistion. They were true motors of chnge, even revolutionries, who rised the level of biologicl reserch in Europe by dhering to the highest stndrds of scientific excellence. Keeping fith with their vision, their principles nd stndrds re guide to our ctivities tody. “….projects nd persons be chosen, regrdless of ntionlity, nd ll ctivities be guided by scientific excellence, coupled with usefulness to moleculr biology.” Investigting the origins of EMBO lso llows us to explore the history of moleculr biology in Europe nd how it chnged from mrginl specilty into well-estblished prctice. Our origin dtes bck to 1963, when group of leding Europen biologists met in Rvello, Itly to propose the estblishment of n orgniztion for co-opertion in moleculr biology nd Europen lbortory. Both suggestions were endorsed nd in 1964, the Europen Moleculr Biology Orgniztion (EMBO) ws officilly born. EMBO hd two initil gols – cretion of centrl moleculr biology lbortory nd the estblishment of networking ctivities to enhnce interctions between Europen lbortories. Networking ctivities strted with the provision of fellowships nd the election of 200 biologists s the orgniztion’s first members. Permnent support for EMBO ctions cme in 1969 with the estblishment of the Europen Moleculr Biology Conference (EMBC), the intergovernmentl funding body of EMBO. EMBC ccepted the EMBO proposl to estblish Europen lbortory nd in 1974 the Europen Moleculr Biology Lbortory (EMBL) ws founded. EMBC hs since grown to 27 member sttes including mny Europen Union countries nd beyond. EMBO ctivities expnded drmticlly over the decdes in response to chnges in moleculr biology. This growth dictted the need for lrger, more permnent bse. In 2000, n EMBO building ws constructed on site donted by EMBL nd in 2001, EMBO moved from its offices t EMBL to its new premises. Tody EMBO hs more thn 1400 members in Europe nd close to 90 ssocite members worldwide – providing dedicted focl point for the vst network of moleculr biology. The orgniztion runs n extended progrmme of ctivities rnging from fellowships, courses nd workshops to science &; society ctivities nd scientific publictions. In looking bck on the gret strt to n orgniztion we lso look forwrd to one tht is robust nd well-structured, such tht it cn continue to ply mjor role in the future of science in Europe.
