Max Planck Institutes and Experts

Semiconductor chips and neuronal systems can be electrically coupled on a microscopic level. This research provides the fundament for an application of such hybrid processors in brain research, neuroprosthetics and information technology. On the neuronal side, ion channels, nerve cells and brain tissue are employed. On the electronic side, simple silicon chips with transistors and capacitors are used for the elucidation of the coupling mechanism. On that basis, complex chips are developed with more that 30000 contact sites to supervise neuronal activity with highest spatial resolution.

The structure of viruses provides a remarkable example of simplicity and functionality in biological systems. Composed of a limited number of proteins and often organized according to geometric principles, viral particles are effective devices in the transfer of the viral genome and proteins to host cells. To determine the molecular interactions, cryo electron tomography is employed to reveal the molecular players through which viruses communicate with their hosts and to understand how viruses take advantage of cellular cues in infection and for replicating themselves efficiently.

How are ecosystem functions influenced by the loss of species diversity? How does the presence or absence of particular species affect biogeochemical cycles? The group ‘Organismic Biogeochemistry’ addresses these questions by compiling and analyzing global databases of functional plant traits and ecosystem properties. Three examples are presented to show that species identity effects may influence the carbon cycles at large scales and may thus be relevant in the context of climate change.

Researchers of the MPI for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster have made an important advancement towards obtaining patient-specific stem cells. They have succeeded in resetting adult somatic cells to an embryonic original state with less intrusions than previously necessary: instead of a „cocktail“ of four genes, the scientists needed merely two. This could make future stem cell therapies simpler and safer.

In the mouse, the sense of smell (olfaction) is mediated by more than 1200 odorant receptors (ORs), the largest gene family in the genome. These ORs are G-protein coupled receptors. Every olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) in the main olfactory epithelium is thought to express just one OR gene, from one allele. Axons of OSNs that express the same OR coalesce into the same structures in the olfactory bulb, termed glomeruli, where they form synapses with second-order neurons in the olfactory pathway.