Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics


The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics is a biology research institute located in Dresden, Germany. It was founded in 1998 and was fully operational in 2001. More than twenty research groups work in molecular biology, cell biology, developmental biology, biophysics, and systems biology supported by various facilities.

Research

The fundamental scientific questions of the MPI-CBG are: How do cells form tissues? and How do tissues form organisms? The research in the institute encompasses many topics from molecular, cellular, and developmental biology as well as from biophysics. An incomplete list of individual topics follows: molecular motors, neural development, cell division, lipid rafts, endocytosis, embryogenesis, regeneration.

Organisation

The MPI-CBG is headed by five tenured directors or group leaders – :de:Marino Zerial|Marino Zerial as Managing Director, Anne Grapin-Botton, :de:Stephan Grill|Stephan Grill, Anthony Hyman, Eugene Myers, – and a chief operating officer. Together with the directors' groups, 23 independent research groups led by untenured principal investigators and about 21 facilities make up the work force of the institute. In total, the institute employs around 550 people of whom about half are not German. The flat organisation and the absence of department divisions fosters direct communication and a slim administration.

Networking

The MPI-CBG is located next to research centers of the Technische Universität Dresden, including the Biotechnology Center of the TUD, the :de:Zentrum für Regenerative Therapien Dresden|Center for Regenerative Therapies at TUD, the B CUBE - Center for Molecular Bioengineering. In proximity of the MPI-CBG is also the :de:Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus Dresden|University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, the Medical Theoretical Centre and the BioInnovationsZentrum. The MPI-CBG has collaborations with its neighbouring research institutes and with other centres in the city like the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems. Together with the MPI-PKS and the TUD, the MPI-CBG founded the Center for Systems Biology Dresden. This center develops theoretical and computational approaches to biological systems across different scales, from molecules to cells and from cells to tissues. The MPI-CBG is also part of DRESDEN-concept, a research alliance of the TUD together with the four major research institutions – Max Planck, Helmholtz, Fraunhofer, and Leibniz – and the research-active museums in Dresden. It also collaborates with institutions abroad. In addition, it operates an international PhD program together with the aforementioned neighbours.