How can an entire human being develop from a fertilized egg cell? How do the cells of an embryo “know” when and exactly where they are supposed to form blood vessels, nerves, or muscles? And what tricks do immune cells use to migrate from the blood vessels into the infected tissue – although the blood vessels comprise a closed system?

The Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine strives to solve these riddles. Using gene technology, molecular biology and as well as electron and laser microscopy, researchers investigate how cells exchange information, which molecules regulate their behavior and which crosstalk errors between cells lead to diseases like cancer and multiple sclerosis.

The focus of our work is on basic research. However, Institute scientists collaborate closely with physicians at the nearby University of Münster – so that the insights gained in the labs of the Max Planck researchers can be rapidly applied to clinics to benefit patients.