This EU-funded Europe-wide network consisted of 12 partners in 6 countries and focussed on a multidisciplinary approach to the study of DNA enzymes down to the single molecule level. Within the framework of the project, young scientists all over from Europe received excellent training opportunities.

"DNA Enzymes" took up its work in October 2005 and for four years was financed by the European Commission. As a Marie-Curie Research Training Network it provided training and research experience for researchers of any age or nationality by giving them the opportunity to spend between three months to three years in another country as part of an international high-quality research project. The network contributed to the transfer of knowledge through the promotion of multidisciplinary research. It also supported the interaction and exchange of all research staff working on the project.

The project received the grade "good to excellent" after the evaluation of the final report and was asked for a dissamination report (see file below).

Scientific background: Enzymes that interact with DNA (“DNA enzymes”) are crucial for the copying, maintenance and repair, and expression of genetic information. Those DNA enzymes that interact with DNA at specific sites have to locate these sites, recognize the specific sequence and initiate catalysis. In the past, the focus of scientific investigation has been on the recognition process and the catalytic reaction, while the process of target site location on one hand and the conformational transitions required to couple recognition and catalysis on the other hand, have received relatively little attention. The reasons for this are not hard to see: the processes preceding and following recognition involve complexes, often comprising several polypeptides that are spatially and temporarily transient in nature, unsynchronised and often not highly populated. The study of such processes is experimentally very demanding; however, it is essential that an understanding of these processes is achieved before we can claim that we have an adequate description of the mode of action of these important DNA enzymes.