Dresden and beyond: The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics

You might not know it from the blog, but we are here to work! Where exactly are we? We are working at the The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics. The MPI-CBG was founded in 1998. The Max Planck Society is an independent, non-profit organization in Germany. There are a total of 78 institutes in Germany, each with a different focus.

The theme of the MPI-CBG is to understand how cells make tissues. There are somewhere on the order of 100 trillion cells in the human body. None of these cells are an island onto themselves. They are all working together. Large numbers of them develop into teams, or tissues. There are four basic tissue types in the human body. Epithelium form a selective barrier. Connective tissue connects. Muscle tissue promotes motion. Neural tissue helps people write and read blogs. These basic tissues then coordinate to form the organs we are all familiar with.

Remember all those cells started from one fertilized egg. So there are lots of questions, mostly in the category of how do they do that. How do they specialize? How do they communicate? How do they team up? How do the teams stay in harmony? How do tissues respond to injury or illness? These are some of the questions cell biologists would like to answer. The Wikipedia entry on Cell biology is actually pretty good.

The MPI-CBG is one of the premier research institutes working on the answers. Here people use a variety of model organisms, like yeast and worms and mice and frogs and fish, and also human tissues as well. Each model organism has experimental advantages. However, since all life shares a common parent, our shared ancestry means that the answers from one experimental organism can help explain the common fundamental mechanisms of how life works. What we see over and over again in biology is that once life figured out how to do something, like build a tissue, or regulate a gene, it might elaborate on the process, but there are fundamentals that remain constant throughout time and in all life.

So one of the fundamental themes in all biology is communication. So how fitting that the MPI-CBG is so beautifully designed to promote communication. There is one entrance.

From The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics

You will notice that many, many people bike to work.

Inside all the floors open onto one large space that spans all the floors.

From The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics

On the ground floor the institute gathers for conversation.

From The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics

There is a welcome desk to greet everyone who enters.

From The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics

There is a helical staircase that runs up through the building and a shared canteen area for everyone's meals.

From The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics

I do not have a picture of the counter that is open all day for coffee, water and treats, like pretzels, pastry and sandwiches.

There are extremely helpful people everywhere. This person has stood out. She works in the International office. She made sure we had a place to live, and we do not have trouble with the German government, or banks or customs, or our health insurance, etc.

From The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics

I should tell you that in Germany they speak, well yes, lots of German. Without her as a liaison we would be lost. She is just fantastic.

Currently I am doing most of my work in the library.