Alexander Heckel (Chemical Biology)
Spokesperson of the Profile Area Structure & Dynamics of Life
“Cells are the basic units of life. To understand how biological systems function, we must have a deep understanding of the building blocks that make up cells and how they fit together to form their highly complex internal structure. We also need to grasp how this structure dynamically self-assembles, maintains its equilibrium and continuously remodels itself to adapt to the environment, both under healthy and pathological conditions. These are to me the challenging oals of the Profile Area."
Virginie Lecaudey (Cell Biology and Neuroscience)
Spokesperson of the Profile Area Structure & Dynamics of Life
To address these questions, scientists need instruments and tools allowing them to study and interfere with biological systems at these very different spatiotemporal scales. For this reason, Goethe University maintains centers for nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy, as well as electron and optical microscopy. In addition, essential tools are specially built to induce light-driven processes. In this context, the genetic manipulation of organisms plays a crucial role to observe the diverse processes under physiological conditions.
Currently, the SCALE (SubCellular Architecture of LifE) consortium is preparing a full proposal for the Cluster of Excellence funding line in the context of the Excellence Strategy (ExStra). SCALE, integrating many scientists of the Profile Area, brings together expertise from cell biology, biophysics, molecular biology, neurobiology, chemistry, bioinformatics and mathematics. It will develop radically novel experimental techniques to map and to simulate the interior of cells, and to predict their behavior. This research will provide important new insights into bacterial resistance, inflammation, neurodegenerative diseases and immune defense.
Other main research themes in SDL include RNA-based processes, membrane and organelle dynamics, neuronal molecular and cellular architectures, cell-cell interactions, and light-driven processes, as well as their many interconnections.
DFG (German Research Foundation)
Associations:
HMWK (Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts)
Association:
EU
Associations:
Others:
VolkswagenStiftung
ERC-Grants
Emmy Noether Junior Research Groups
Heisenberg-Professorships
Lichtenberg Professorship
GRADE Centers
Institutions of Goethe University:
Cooperating Institutions: