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Molecular Time Travel

The ability to produce stem cells was previously thought to be an invention of animal cells. Now, as part of an international study, Dr Georg Hochberg's team has resurrected ancient proteins from single-celled organisms and made a surprising discovery: proteins that regulate stem cells already exist in microbes and are much older than the animal kingdom itself.

Hidden Talent

Adaptive evolution in the laboratory revealed the hidden capabilities of a well-known enzyme. This unexpected flexibility could prove to be a valuable resource for biotechnological innovation.

Congratulations, iGEM Team!

Rubber from dandelions: The Marburg iGEM team won the Synthetic Biology Competition in Paris with their project 'Tarakate', bringing the overall title to Marburg for the third time.

What brings Bacteria into shape?

Round, oval, spiral... the shape of bacteria can be very diverse and is crucial for their fitness. A team of researchers led by Max Planck Fellow Prof. Martin Thanbichler has discovered how a specific protein determines the shape of spiral bacteria.

Luca Schulz receives Birnstiel Award

The postdoctoral researcher is being honored for his work at the interface of evolutionary biology and biochemistry

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.