EMMA partner



FCG - Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal

FCG Logo

Rua da Quinta Grande 6
2780-156 Oeiras
Portugal

 

FCG building The Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) was founded and is supported by the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian to carry on biomedical research and education. The IGC operates as a 'host institution', offering excellent facilities and services to foreign and Portuguese research groups or individual scientists, in particular to young post-doctoral fellows who are expected to develop their projects and form their groups in complete autonomy. The Institute's scientific interests are focused on the genetic basis of development and the evolution of complex systems and concentrates on organism-centred approaches in experimental models that include plants, yeast, flies and mice, and on the genetics of complex human diseases. A strong theoretical sector (Estudos Avançados de Oeiras) is one of the Institute's strengths, the others being the quality of the services coupled with considerable investment in international exchange which takes the form of graduate courses, workshops and symposia. The IGC offers library and bio-computing services, high-speed cell sorting, electron and confocal (multiphoton) microscopy, automated DNA sequencing and 'genoptyping', GeneChip technology, monoclonal antibody preparation, and Biosafety Level3 laboratory (P3).

The IGC mouse facility is partitioned into 5 independent areas, each with a specific bio-containment level, including germ-free and strict SPF. The facility hosts about 30,000 mice and maintains close to a 100 different inbred strains, which are available to in-house and associated research groups, and to visiting scientists. Production and experimental areas are set to serve active research in various fields of biology (development, neurobiology, infectious diseases, immunology, genetics). Associated with the IGC mouse facility, the Unit for Gene Manipulation provides services for the generation of transgenic and knock-out mice, embryo re-implantation, embryo and sperm freezing.

António Coutinho is the Director of the IGC since 1998. Jocelyne Demengeot is the head of the mouse facility and is representing the IGC at the Board of Participating Directors inside EMMA. Moises Mallo is supervising the Gene Manipulation Unit. Dolores Bonaparte is responsible for health controls and colony management, Tatiana Vassilevskaia is responsible for the germ-free service and the management of the collection of frozen strains.