Sustainable and affordable: Using plant waste, air and light to produce an active substance against malaria

13-Jan-2021

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has awarded Peter H. Seeberger and two colleagues the "ACS Award for Affordable Green Chemistry" for developing a particularly efficient chemical process for producing artemisinin. All the components needed to produce the active ingredient come from nature: ...

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10-Dec-2020

Our bones have so-called mechanosensors that react to pressure and communicate with each other. “These sensors enable that bone is formed where it is mechanically necessary and broken down elsewhere," says Richard Weinkamer from the Biomaterials Department. In their research they have come a ...

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Scientists are developing a procedure whereby vaccines can be absorbed through the skin

14-May-2020

The Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam and the Technology Transfer Fund KHAN-I are developing a vaccine procedure for SARS-CoV2 together with the Lead Discovery Center in Dortmund. The researchers hope that within the next few years, they will be able to establish immunity ...

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Research team analyses flagellar locomotion

25-Feb-2020

A scientific team from the Biosciences and Biotechnology Institute of Aix-Marseille in Saint-Paul lez Durance, in collaboration with researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam and the University of Göttingen, determined the trajectory and swimming speed of the ...

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Scientists uncover a novel and generic mechanism for the division of artificial cells into two daughter cells

21-Feb-2020

The success of life on earth is based on the amazing ability of living cells to divide themselves into two daughter cells. During such a division process, the outer cell membrane has to undergo a series of morphological transformations that ultimately lead to membrane fission. Scientists at the ...

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Researchers engineer a minimal synthetic cellular system to study basic cell function

24-Jan-2020

Cells are the basic unit of life. They provide an environment for the fundamental molecules of life to interact, for reactions to take place and sustain life. However, the biological cell is very complicated, making it difficult to understand what takes place inside it. One way to tackle this ...

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Researchers present a cost-effective machine for the production of microarrays

16-Oct-2019

Microarrays are state-of-the-art tools in molecular biology that enable the rapid and parallel diagnosis of various diseases. Therefore, they are indispensable for the development of new vaccines. Like a computer chip, microarrays contain a lot of information in the smallest space. Microarrays ...

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Liquid-like tissue behavior is a key principle for the formation of structures in biological systems

17-Sep-2019

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam have shown that growing bone tissue behaves like a viscous liquid on long time scales, thereby accepting forms with minimal surface area. This cell behavior determines the shape of the tissue when it grows on a ...

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Award for research of biomineralization in coccolithophorid algae

12-Jun-2018

Sanja Sviben has been awarded with the Otto Hahn Medal from the Max Planck Society (MPG). She will receive the award during the annual meeting of the MPG, which takes place from June 13th-14th in Heidelberg. The society recognizes her outstanding doctoral thesis on the investigation of the ...

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Nanoparticles from the secretion of velvet worms form polymer fibres that can be recycled in water

18-Oct-2017

Nature is an excellent teacher – even for material scientists. Researchers, including scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, have now observed a remarkable mechanism by which polymer materials are formed. In order to capture prey, velvet worms shoot out a sticky ...

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