European master in animal breeding and genetics (EMABG): A training for research, practical, and transversal skills

The European Master in Animal Breeding and Genetics (EMABG) is an international master program operating on a global scale, with the aim to train experts and future leaders for research and industry. The training and education takes place at six European universities, within four study tracks with carefully designed curricula. One of the central parts of the MSc programme is the integration of teamwork activities and training of transversal skills to increase the employability of the graduates. To achieve this goal several major events are incorporated into the study programme during the entire duration of the two years. Also, strong emphasis is placed on integration of experts from the industry in the form of talks during joint events, internships, and direct work during special courses, as well as the final thesis

Killer immunoglobulin-like receptor expression on single cells: a cautionary note

Natural killer (NK) cells keep the surface expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules under surveillance using killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR). Virus-infected or aberrant cells are frequently characterized by a reduced surface expression of MHC class I antigens and may therefore be removed by cytolysis. NK cells are heterogeneous with regard to the expression of KIR genes. The resulting subpopulations show distinguishable specificities allowing the recognition of cells lacking varying combinations of MHC class I antigens. The KIR expression pattern in single NK cells has previously been analyzed by Husain and colleagues by cDNA preamplification of CD3(−) CD56(+) single cells and subsequent gene-specific polymerase chain reaction. We show here that the data of this study contain inconsistencies. These inconsistencies are discussed in the context of KIR mRNA abundance and single-cell cDNA amplification efficiency