29. July 2022
Heineman Grant for Dresden Research group leader Alexander von Appen
Alexander von Appen, research group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) in Dresden, Germany, is one of four investigators awarded the prestigious Heineman Grant from the Minna-James-Heineman-Stiftung. In collaboration with Ori Avinoam, research group…
19. September 2023
A quick intro to the Physics of Wetting
Water forms droplets on the surface of a leaf but it spreads and completely wets the skin of a snail. Why does water behave so differently on the two surfaces? In this video, we introduce the fundamental concepts of surface tension, contact angle and the difference between hydrophobic and…
8. August 2023
How Protein Condensates Age
Protein condensates are dense droplets of proteins that organise the interior of the cell. Curiously, they age, meaning their physical properties such as viscosity change over time. In our paper "Theory of rheology and aging of protein condensates" published in PRX Life, we study how…
31. May 2023
Diving into the Free Energy: Part 1
Get ready to dive into the Free Energy! Cells can be described as systems made of different phases. For instance, biomolecular condensates are dense droplets of proteins that coexist with the rest of the cytoplasm. Thermodynamics is a helpful theoretical framework to understand phases in…
31. May 2023
Diving into the Free Energy: Part 2
Get ready to dive into the Free Energy! If we want to understand phases in cells we need to talk about the Free Energy of a thermodynamic system. This is the second part of the video “Diving into the Free Energy”. In this video, we will understand how thermodynamic mixtures reach…
6. April 2023
CD-Code is now published in Nature Methods
CD-CODE is now published in Nature Methods. It is a “living database” that we designed for fast addition and review of information about condensates and proteins and is open to users and expert researchers who would like to contribute. Join us and visit cd-code! CD code has been a…
4. April 2023
Computational Postdoc or PhD student (m/f/d) in protein evolution and biomolecular condensates
The Toth-Petroczy lab is an interdisciplinary research group at MPI-CBG and CSBD that studies protein evolution. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) and the Center for Systems…
4. April 2023
We are hiring a Software Developer
The Toth-Petroczy lab is an interdisciplinary research group at MPI-CBG and CSBD that studies protein evolution. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) and the Center for…
24. February 2023
How do single molecules move in and out of condensates?
Cells organize their interior into functional compartments, some without an enclosing membrane. These dense liquid droplets of biomolecules coexist with the surrounding environment like oil drops in water constantly exchanging material with it. How is the random movement of single…
15. February 2023
A quick intro to Complexity
The Earth, which once was a messy ball of melted rock, is now teeming with complex living creatures extraordinarily adapted to their ecosystem. But the second law of thermodynamics tells us that systems spontaneously tend towards disorder and structures states, just like milk tends to mix with…