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To achieve effective visual communication of complex data, it is important that biologists identify the needs of their audience — whether they are peers or an outreach audience. This guide to the available wealth of resources, ranging from software tools to professional illustrators, should help researchers to generate better figures and presentations tailored to the needs of any audience.
To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), Gottfried Schatz reflects on the consequences of science growth, the challenges for young generations of researchers and on what EMBO has done for them.