Listening to each other

Listening to each other

June 26, 2025

Like all complex organisms, every human originates from a single cell that multiplies through countless cell divisions. Thousands of cells coordinate, move and exert mechanical forces on each other as an embryo takes shape. Researchers at the Göttingen Campus Institute for Dynamics of Biological Networks (CIDBN), the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organisation, and the University of Marburg have now discovered a new way that embryonic cells coordinate their behaviour. This involves molecular mechanisms previously known only from the process of hearing. The researchers attribute the fact that such different cells use the same proteins for two such different functions to their evolutionary origin. The results were published in Current Biology. more

Assembly instructions for enzymes

Universal rules can help to design an optimal enzyme from scratch more

Cell colonies under pressure – how growth can prevent motion

The interaction between growth and the active migration of cells plays a crucial role in the spatial mixing of growing cell colonies. This connection was discovered by scientists from the Department of Living Matter Physics at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS). Their results provide new approaches to understanding the dynamics of bacterial colonies and tumors. more

Activity stabilizes mixtures

Non-reciprocal interactions between particles allow regulation of dynamic states more

Artificial neurons organize themselves

Göttingen research team constructs network of self-learning infomorphic neurons more

Microorganisms go with the Flow

Researchers from the University of Bayreuth and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organisation in Göttingen have investigated the movement patterns of unicellular, hydrogen-producing green algae under different light intensities. Their findings will contribute to optimising the use of these microorganisms in biotechnological applications, such as the production of renewable energy sources. The team has published its results in the internationally renowned journal PNAS. more

Manfred Faubel receives innovation award

The Friends of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have awarded experimental physicist Manfred Faubel from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) the Innovation Prize Synchrotron Radiation 2024. The prize, which is awarded annually, recognizes his outstanding innovations in the further development of photoelectron spectroscopy more

Madame de Staël Prize awarded to Viola Priesemann

The ALLEA award recognizes Viola Priesemann, Board Member of the German Young Academy ("Die Junge Akademie"), for her groundbreaking contributions to interdisciplinary science, her exceptional leadership during the pandemic, and her dedication to fostering pan-European collaboration in science, policy, and public health. more

Spirals and waves

Spirals and waves

December 12, 2024

A new model highlights the importance of molecular interactions to create order in active systems more

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