Epigenetics - packaging artists in the cell

Biomaterials - patent solutions from nature

Animals and plants can produce amazing materials such as spider webs, wood or bone using only a few raw materials available. How do they achieve this? And what can engineers learn from them? more

Chaperones - folding helpers in the cell

Nothing works without the correct form: For most proteins, there are millions of ways in which these molecules, composed of long chains of amino acids, can be folded - but only one way is the right one. Researchers in the department "Cellular Biochemistry" at the Max Planck Institute for Bi ... more

Gene-editing with CRISPR/Cas9

The discovery that bacteria use a kind of immune system to fight viruses initially was only interesting for microbiologists. But when the discovery that CRISPR/Cas9 system is able to manipulate genes of many organisms was made, also non-scientists were alerted. But how does this method works? more

"Ultimate cell sorter" developed: combining imaging of deformed cells and AI

In medicine and biology, there is great interest in efficient and inexpensive methods for identifying and separating different cell types, for example for medical diagnostics or for regenerative therapies using stem cells. Up to this point, the method of choice has been the so-called flow c ... more

Rolling into the deep

A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Stuttgart invented a tiny microrobot that resembles a white blood cell travelling through the circulatory system. It has the shape, the size and the moving capabilities of leukocytes and could perhaps be ... more

Interorganellar signals regulate longevity

As people get older, they often feel less energetic, mobile or active. This may be due in part to a decline in mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses inside of our cells, which provide energy and regulate metabolism. In fact, mitochondria decline with age not only in humans, but in many species ... more

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e.V.

The research institutes of the Max Planck Society perform basic research in the interest of the general public in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. In particular, the Max Planck Society takes up new and innovative research areas that German universiti ... more