Institute of Biotechnology

How can we bring science closer to students? By welcoming them directly into the lab. In April, we welcomed two student groups to our labs. One visited through the Hejbni vědou! project organised by Asociace genové terapie, the other came from Sunny Canadian School. A chance to see how research works in practice.

𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐂𝐏𝟒 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐨𝐯é 𝐇𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐲 🧬 Our colleagues contributed with lectures: 🔬 Petr Kolenko - Symmetry – application in crystal structure and single particle analysis 🔬 @jan_dohnalek - Principles of crystallography – diffraction Co-organised with @structbio_cssb ~30 students from across Europe, 20 tutors, and a week full of structural biology

Don't miss this unique opportunity!👇

🔬 Want to try NanoTemper technologies on your own samples? Join the NanoTemper Technologies in @CmsIbt workshop and get hands-on experience with nanoDSF, DLS and Spectral Shift methods for protein characterization (Prometheus Panta, Monolith X). 📅 May 5–6, 2026 | 10:00–17:00 📍 BIOCEV, Vestec 👉 Bring your samples & test your ideas 👉 More info: 1url.cz/2eEKO

Extended deadline! Please see praguemetabolismsymposium.com

📢 Free webinar on @MOSBRIeu outcomes Learn about the eSPC software suite and the Molecular Biophysics Database (MBDB) — how to use them and how they can support your research. 📅 April 8 | 13:00 CEST Speakers incl. G. Anderluh, P. England, O. Burastero, J. Dohnálek 👉cassyni.com/events/WDEKqUE…

🧬 XXII Discussions in Structural Molecular Biology & CIISB User Meeting Researchers recently gathered in Nové Hrady for the XXII Discussions in Structural Molecular Biology and the 9th CIISB User Meeting — a great opportunity to share the latest advances and connect across the structural biology community. 👏 Congratulations to all student awardees — and especially to our colleague Jiří Srogoň, who received the CSSB Prize for an outstanding student poster. Well done!

📢You’re invited to a WiSe@IBT guest lecture at BIOCEV: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐢 𝐋𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐥, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡: 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 📅 21 April 2026 | 10:00 a.m. 📍 BIOCEV Auditorium The lecture explores how maternal stress affects pregnancy and birth outcomes and includes a special segment on Psychology of Women’s Health. 👉Register: 1url.cz/5eweM

⏳Important deadline reminder Abstract submission - 31st of March Be part of the 2026 Prague Metabolism & Signaling Symposium in Prague, Czechia 🇨🇿 - a key meeting for cutting-edge research in metabolism & signaling 🔬🧬 📅June 24–27, 2026

𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭. 🎗️ Our latest study looked at how chemotherapy affects sperm health in men with testicular cancer. 🔬 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: Chemotherapy (specifically the BEP regimen) significantly lowers sperm count and health. In some cases, it can temporarily stop sperm production entirely. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭" 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫: One patient's group (non-seminoma subgroup) often starts with healthier sperm, but their levels can drop quickly once treatment begins. 𝐀 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐞: We showed a specific "marker" on sperm cells - histone modification H4K12ac, that correlates with sperm quality. This could help us predict how well the body is maintaining fertility. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: Testicular cancer often affects younger me. Fertility preservation (like sperm freezing) is important to back up ones' fertility. However, not much is known about the direct impact of tumour on sperm quality or about the recovery times needed for a man to become fully fertile again. Close monitoring can help your andrologist to tailor the best fertility management strategy for you.👉onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/an…

Join us for the next seminars from the BIOCEV Seminar Series! 🫵 📅 19. 3. 2026 🕐 3 p.m. 📍 BIOCEV, Vestec

Two days with the EOSC NRP project team in the Vysočina region🤝 The meeting brought together project partners to share updates, discuss open questions across work areas, and look at where the project is heading next. A great opportunity to exchange perspectives, connect activities across teams, and strengthen collaboration within the project. #EOSC #OpenScience #ResearchData #EOSCNRP

🧬𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 Our colleague Gabriela Pavlínková (@PavlinkovaLab) has been invited to serve as 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 for the Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio) collection “Advances in Embryonic Development.” The collection will showcase new research on the molecular basis of embryonic development and emerging approaches such as single-cell transcriptomics, spatial genomics, and stem-cell-based 3D models. Researchers working in this field are invited to contribute their work to the collection.

🧬𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐪𝐏𝐂𝐑 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) remains one of the most widely used tools in molecular biology — but the accuracy of its results strongly depends on PCR amplification efficiency. In our new review, we explore the state of the art in qPCR data analysis, with a focus on estimating efficiency at the sample level rather than assuming identical, ideal efficiency across experiments. 🔍 The paper discusses: • how amplification efficiency influences both absolute and relative quantification • why assuming equal efficiency can introduce errors and reduce reproducibility • how modern analytical approaches and data-driven methods can improve qPCR interpretation By addressing sample-to-sample variation, this work highlights practical strategies to make qPCR measurements more reliable and reproducible. 👉 Read the full article: mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/5…

Join us for the next seminars from the BIOCEV Seminars Series! 🫵 📆 5. 3. 2026 🕒 3 p.m. 📍BIOCEV, Vestec

📢There are only a few days left to register, so don't miss out on this opportunity! 𝐍𝐮𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐜𝐢𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 We invite domain experts and early-career researchers to join a focused hackathon dedicated to annotation, validation, and prediction of nucleic acid structures, bringing together domain experts and early-career researchers. 🗓 𝟐𝟕–𝟐𝟗 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 📍 Prague, Czech Republic Over three days, participants will work on interoperable workflows, data standards, and benchmarking approaches with an emphasis on reproducibility and community reuse. 👉 Learn more and find all details on our website: 1url.cz/ZeugF Register here 👉1url.cz/neugR