THE EMBO MEETINg 2012 Jiˇrí Friml receives Ingrid Grummt, German Cancer the EMBO Gold Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany Medal 2012 Legend to come THE EMBO MEETING 2012 Jiří Friml was awarded the EMBO gold Medal 2012 at The EMBO Meeting in Nice, France on Sunday September 23. Friml received his award for defining how the plant hormone auxin func- tions to regulate plant development. He was also recognized for showing how the auxin-governed molecular processes optimise adaptation of plant development and growth to ever-changing envi- ronmental conditions. Jiří Friml performed his PhD work at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, germany, and obtained his PhD in Biology from the University of Cologne in 2000. He was also awarded a PhD in Biochemistry in 2002 from Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. In his doctoral studies, he was already providing crucial insight into the mechanisms of transport and distribution of auxin and its role in plant development. For his outstanding scientific contributions during his PhD studies, the Max Planck Society awarded him the prestigious Otto- Hahn Medal. he 4th EMBO Meeting included a wide range of talks from scientists from many disciplines. Ingrid grummt, Professor at the german Cancer Research Center (DFKZ) in Heidelberg, germany, explained how non-coding RNA controls epige- netic processes in a plenary lecture. In her talk, grummt outlined how non-coding mRNAs may guide DNA methyltransferases to specific target sites on the genome to methylate DNA and switch off transcription. I n another plenary lecture, Adrian Bird from T the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, described how the dinucleotide Cpg can serve as a genomic signaling molecule. The local density 10 EMBOencounters | Autumn 2012 | communications@embo.org ©2012 EMBO E ric Zaragoza | Vence | Côte d’Azur E ric Zaragoza | Vence | Côte d’Azur