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Welcome to the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics!

We study the structure and function of proteins which regulate vital cellular processes using a wide methodological repertoire including advanced light and electron microscopy and as well as computational biology.

Our Research

Ernst Bamberg – The Functional Analysis of Electrogenic Membrane Proteins

Eugene Kim – Structure and Dynamics of Chromosomes

Melanie McDowell – Membrane Protein Biogenesis

Hartmut Michel – Molecular Membrane Biology

Bonnie Murphy – Redox and Metalloproteins

Florian Wilfling – Mechanisms of Cellular Quality Control

Overview

Scientific Facilities

News

Girls’ Day on April 3, 2025

Be a scientist for a day! Solve biological 3D puzzles and discover how tiny building blocks control your body!

The Molecular Choreography of Efficient Microbial Carbon Capture

Research News

A new structural study reveals the mechanism used by anaerobic microbes to grow on waste gases

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Latest Publications

Roeck, B. F.; Lotfipour Nasudivar, S.; Vorndran, M. R. H.; Schueller, L.; Yapici, F. I.; Rübsam, M.; von Karstedt, S.; Niessen, C. M.; Garcia-Saez, A. J.: Ferroptosis spreads to neighboring cells via plasma membrane contacts. Nature Communications 16, 2951 (2025)

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Eerlapally, R.; Hareendran, D. L.; Velasco, L.; Charisiadis, A.; Sauvan, M.; Debnath, J.; Moonshiram, D.; Draksharapu, A.: Impact of Lewis Acids on the Reactivity of a High-Valent Cu(III) Complex. Inorganic Chemistry (2025)

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Licheva, M.; Babic, R.; Pflaum, J.; Mancilla, H.; Wilfling, F.; Kraft, C.: To degrade or not to degrade: how phase separation modulates selective autophagy. Autophagy (2025)

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Zimmann, F.; McNicoll, F.; Thakur, P. K.; Blažíková, M.; Kubovčiak, J.; Hernández Cañás, M. C.; Nováková, Z.; Bařinka, C.; Kolář, M.; Staněk, D. et al.; Müller-McNicoll, M.; Cvačková, Z.: Retinitis pigmentosa-linked mutations impair the snRNA unwinding activity of SNRNP200 and reduce pre-mRNA binding of PRPF8. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 82, 103 (2025)

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