Research Program
Proteins are the most important biopolymers. Thanks to their great structural and chemical diversity, they are important for the structural stability and motility of cells, the controlled propagation and use of genetic information, energy conversion, all kinds of biosyntheses, and molecular communication in every organism from bacteria to man. Research on the physical and chemical properties of proteins, their roles in biological processes, especially in plants, and their technical application is a well-established research focus at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Scientific results in these areas contribute to improvements in medical diagnostics and therapies as well as in technical processes. The aim of the joint research project is the further consolidation and broadening of protein research at our university.
While the focus is on protein function, a large variety of scientific topics is covered due to the cooperation of research groups from protein biochemistry, biophysics, molecular plant sciences, cell biology and molecular medicine as well as the collaboration between the university and the non-university research institutions. We investigate these topics with the help of a broad variety of methods coming from synthetic or analytical chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics, genetics and cell biology.