Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie

The Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) is part of the Max Planck Society, a non profit research organization dedicated to top level basic research. The MPIB, which currently has 10 departments and 15 independent junior research groups, is one of the largest Institutes within the Max Planck Society's biomedical section. While its size enables the Institute to maintain a variety of methods, it also provides a basis for developing a research focus with close collaboration among the departments. The research focus of the institute might best be described as the examination of the structure, function and interaction of biological macromolecules (especially proteins), commencing with a single molecule, progressing to the cell and the organism as a whole. The institute thus has a broad methodological repertoire, with the result that appropriate specialist expertise is on hand to deal with virtually any experimental problem, ranging from x-ray structural analysis of proteins to their functional analysis in transgenic organisms. Examples for special research interests are cell-cell interactions, cell division, cell growth and differentiation, gene regulation, signal transduction, also including biomedical aspects like cancer and other diseases. Research in the scientific departments and groups is supported by several scientific, administrative and technical service facilities.