Now, we thought we’d done pretty well getting James Randi to attend the Nature Network London drinks. Hats off to our friends in the Berlin group who persuaded Nobel laureates Oliver Smithies and Mario Capecchi to join us for a dinner in Berlin last night.

The pair shared the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for creating the first knockout mice. Smithies is also credited with the invention of gel electrophoresis. They very graciously gave a few hours of their time to dine with members of the Nature Network Berlin group, giving young scientists a unique opportunity to meet scientific royalty.

Oliver and his wife Nobuyo Maeda then joined us for a few drinks at a local bar. I think I’m not the only one with a hangover this morning. Thanks to Philipp Selenko for organising such an incredible evening (and picking me up from the airport).

The prizewinners are in town with fellow laureate Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard to open the International Congress with keynote talks. I’ll be attending for the first two days and will blog about it here.