A new path to drug diversity
Many important medicines, such as antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs, are derived from natural substances made by bacteria. A team led by Prof. Dr. Helge Bode has now taken a closer look at evolution: New starting points will enable faster and more targeted development of potential drugs in the future.
How the very first microorganisms made use of hydrogen
Hydrogen, the key to sustainable energy for the future, is actually ancient energy: microbes have been using it as an energy source since the dawn of life. A new study by Martina Preiner and colleagues sheds light on this process that can still be found in deep-sea habitats today.
Triple Success
Dr Katharina Höfer receives the Otto Meyerhof Award, Dr. Luca Schulz the Dissertation Prize, Helena Schulz-Mirbach the Rainer Rudolph Prize of the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM)
The MarBiNa Award 2023 goes to Dr. Maren Nattermann
The Postdoctoral Researcher receives the Marburg Prize for Bio- and Nanotechnology for her work on the sustainable use of CO2
Dr. Nadya Abbood receives Dissertation Prize for Natural Product Research from DECHEMA
The scientist in the department of "Natural Products in Organismic Interactions" has developed a process for engineering bacterial enzymes using synthetic biology methods to produce natural products with new properties.
Welcome to the
Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology
Life without microorganisms is simply impossible. Microbes were the first life forms on early Earth. They evolved the ability to capture carbon dioxide and nitrogen, providing life with energy and nutrients. Microbes also invented photosynthesis, brought oxygen to the atmosphere and gave birth to multicellularity and the evolution of higher life. Microbes are more numerous and diverse than all other living organisms and there is no ecological niche that is not covered by them. They live in constant interactions with their environment, affecting health, agricultural productivity, and the climate on a global scale.Our mission is to understand the function, communication, and interaction of microorganisms with their environment, to describe them with mathematical models, and to modify them with synthetic biological approaches.
We specifically focus on the microbial metabolism of greenhouse gases, the synthesis and function of bioactive natural compounds, cellular communication and regulation networks, as well as their spatial and temporal organization. Our research scale ranges from the atomic level up to global ecosystems.
Together with our two affiliated centers, SYNMIKRO and the Microcosm Earth Center, MPI-TM is one of Europe’s leading Institutes in the fields of Molecular and Synthetic Microbiology, currently hosting more than 300 scientists and students from more than 35 countries.
upcoming Seminars & Events
Dr. Ilka Bischofs-Pfeifer
Cell-physiology experiments in fluctuating micro-environments
Mar 25, 2024 09:00 AM (Local Time Germany) - Mar 29, 2024 05:00 PM
BioQuant of the University of Heidelberg, Room: BQ 0041
Graduate Students Mini Symposium IV-2024
Apr 8, 2024 01:15 PM (Local Time Germany)
MPI für terrestrische Mikrobiologie, Room: Lecture Hall / Hybrid
Dr. Georg Hochberg
A beginner's guide to maximum-likelihood phylogenetics
Apr 15, 2024 09:00 AM (Local Time Germany) - Apr 19, 2024 05:00 PM
ZSM (Synmikro), Karl-von-Frisch-Str. 14, Room: Small seminar room
Prof. Dr. Martin J. Loessner
Bacteriophages reinvented: tiny killers, life savers and detectives
Apr 15, 2024 01:15 PM (Local Time Germany)
MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology, Room: Lecture Hall / Hybrid