Iceland to Join European Molecular Biology Laboratory in 2005

NEW YORK, Dec. 7 (GenomeWeb News) - Icelandwill join the European Molecular Biology Laboratory as its 18^th member state on Jan. 1, 2005, EMBL said today.

At EMBL, the nation will be represented by Eirikur Steingrimsson, a professor of medicine at the Universityof Iceland. The country will participate in all EMBL activities, which include research institutes, PhD programs, and research services.

"Since the mid 1980s, Icelandhas invested quite considerably in biotechnology and become particularly prominent in the field of human genomics," Thorgedur Katrin Gunnarsdottir, Iceland's minister of education and science, said in a statement.

EMBL currently has 1,300 staff members at its sites in Grenoble, France; Hamburgand Heidelberg, Germany; Hinxton, UK; and Monterotondi, Italy. Members include most Western European countries and Israel.