Welcome to the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics!

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 computational biology.

Our Research


Werner Kühlbrandt – Structural Biology
Gerhard Hummer – Theoretical Biophysics
Ana J. García-Sáez
Ulrich Ermler – Enzyme Mechanism
Martin Beck – Molecular Sociology
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
Beata Turoňová – Image Processing
Florian Wilfling – Mechanisms of Cellular Quality Control

Overview

Scientific Facilities


Sonja Welsch – Electron Microscopy
Julian Langer – Mass Spectrometry
https://brain.mpg.de/imaging

News

Girls’ Day on April 3, 2025

Girls’ Day on April 3, 2025

Events Upcoming Events
Be a scientist for a day! Solve biological 3D puzzles and discover how tiny building blocks control your body!
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The Molecular Choreography of Efficient Microbial Carbon Capture

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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Four scientists look at the camera, while working in a wet lab.

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Latest Publications

1.
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)
MPG.PuRe
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2.
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)
MPG.PuRe
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3.
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)
MPG.PuRe
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4.
Klumpe, S.; Senti, K. A.; Beck, F.; Sachweh, J.; Hampoelz, B.; Ronchi, P.; Oorschot, V.; Brandstetter, M.; Yeroslaviz, A.; Briggs, J. A. G. et al.; Brennecke, J.; Beck, M.; Plitzko, J. M.: In-cell structure and snapshots of copia retrotransposons in intact tissue by cryoelectron tomography. Cell 188 (2025)
MPG.PuRe
DOI
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