biology

Institute of Molecular Biology

Institute of Molecular Biology is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Institute of Molecular Biology rather than just read about it. In short: The Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) is a modern research centre on the campus of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. It is funded by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation and the state of Rheinland Palatinate.

Key takeaways

Institute of Molecular Biology belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Institute of Molecular Biology to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Institute of Molecular Biology from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) is a modern research centre on the campus of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. It is funded by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation and the state of Rheinland Palatinate. The scientists at IMB primarily conduct basic science in developmental biology, epigenetics, ageing, genome stability and related areas.

History Source:

In early 2009 the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation decided to fund a new centre of excellence in the life sciences. The federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate financed the construction of a new building, starting in December 2009 on the campus of the University of Mainz. In May 2010 developmental biologist Christof Niehrs (formerly at the German Cancer Research Center, DKFZ) was appointed as the institute's founding director. The institute was then named "Institute of Molecular Biology" and the institute's research focus on developmental biology, epigenetics, and DNA repair was set. The major part of the IMB building was inaugurated in March 2011. In July 2011, the first five research groups started their work at IMB, with four more groups following in 2012. From 2013 to 2015, eight research groups joined IMB. From 2018 to 2021, six groups joined IMB. The continuation of core funding was secured from autumn 2020 – 2027 by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation and the State of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Research Source: IMB's mission is to answer key questions in how organisms grow, age, and develop disease through basic research in epigenetics, genome stability and related fields. Research in these fields is carried out in the following research groups, led by one group leader each:

Roopesh Anand: Homology-directed DNA repair Peter Baumann: Chromosome Dynamics, Telomeres & Ageing Petra Beli: Chromatin Biology & Proteomics Dorothee Dormann: RNA-Binding Proteins in Neurodegeneration Claudia Keller Valsecchi: Biology of Gene Dosage Alterations René Ketting: Biology of Non-Coding RNA Anton Khmelinksii: Proteome Organisation & Dynamics Julian König: Genomic Views of the RNA World Nard Kubben: Biology of Ageing and Ageing-Related Diseases Edward Lemke: Synthetic Biophysics of Protein Disorder Katja Luck: Integrative Systems Biology Brian Luke: Telomere Biology Christof Niehrs: DNA Demethylation & Reprogramming Stamatis Papathanasiou: Functional Consequences of Errors in Mitosis Katharina Papsdorf: Lipid Homeostasis in Ageing & Longevity Jan Padeken: Heterochromatin & Genome Stability Vassilis Roukos: Cell Biology of Genome Maintenance Sandra Schick: Chromatin Regulation Lukas Stelzl: Gene Regulation by Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation Helle Ulrich: Maintenance of Genome Stability Siyao Wang: Transgenrational Consequences of DNA Damage Sina Wittmann: Protein Order in Transcription

Joint Research Initiatives IMB coordinates a number of joint research initiatives with institutions in Mainz (Johannes Gutenberg University, the University Medical Centre, and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research) and beyond. Current joint Research Initiatives:

The SFB 1361 on "Regulation of DNA Repair and Genome Stability" funded by the DFG The "Centre for Healthy Ageing" (CHA), a virtual research centre that brings together researchers in DNA repair, telomere biology, epigenetics, resilience, immunology and clinical specialties in the context of ageing The "Resilience, Adaption and Longevity" (ReALity), a joint initiative of all Principal investigators of the Faculty of Biology, the Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), the Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), and the Center for Translational Vascular Biology (CTVB) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz The "Science of Healthy Ageing Research Programme" (SHARP), a joint PhD programme between IMB, Johannes Gutenberg University, and the University Medical Center Mainz (UMC). The GenEvo Research Training Group on "Gene Regulation in Evolution" The Cohorts for Healthy Ageing (CoAGE), a doctoral programme which aims to understand why many diseases occur more frequently in old age and how we can age healthily Centre for Healthy Ageing Programme for Clinician Scientists (CHANCE) provides Clinician Scientists at the University Medical Center Mainz (UMC) with research opportunities in the Centre for Healthy Ageing (CHA) partner institutions The CRC 1551: Polymer Concepts in Cellular Function, a newly-established DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) to build an interdisciplinary think tank for polymer scientists and life scientists 4R: R-loop Regulation in Robustness & Resilience - A Research Training Group that aims to gain mechanistic insights regarding how RNA-based processes contribute to robustness and resilience, especially through R-loops IMB's International PhD Programme (IPP) IMB's International Summer School (ISS), an annual six-week research experience for students IMB's Postdoc Programme (IPPro) In addition, IMB runs an Advanced Training Programme with short courses in soft skills.

International PhD Programme (IPP) Source: The International PhD Program is coordinated by the Institute for Molecular Biology. The participating groups are located at the following institutions:

Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU) University Medical Centre (UMC) The research groups in the IPP cover a broad range of expertise in ageing & disease, DNA repair & genome stability, epigenetics & nuclear dynamics, bioinformatics & computational biology, RNA biology, and gene regulation & evolution. Core funding for the IPP comes from the three main participating institutions of IMB, JGU, and UMC.

International Summer School The International Summer School (ISS) is a 6-week programme with a focus on "Gene Regulation, Epigenetics and Genome Stability". The ISS offers outstanding and enthusiastic undergraduate and Master's students from all over the world the opportunity to acquire excellent practical skills and hands-on training from leading scientists in molecular biology.

Postdoc Programme The IMB Postdoc Programme (IPPro) was established specifically to provide IMBs postdocs with the necessary scientific & technical support and tailored mentoring to fast-track their careers, including scientific seminars, courses & events, technical training, professional skills training, mentoring, and career development.

Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Current members of the SAB:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Institute of Molecular Biology

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Institute of Molecular Biology claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Institute of Molecular Biology before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Institute of Molecular Biology ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Institute of Molecular Biology

In research: Institute of Molecular Biology appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Institute of Molecular Biology in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Institute of Molecular Biology is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2010 establishments in Germany, Biological research institutes in Germany, Medical and health organisations based in Rhineland-Palatinate, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Institute of Molecular Biology outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Institute of Molecular Biology in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Institute of Molecular Biology means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Institute of Molecular Biology out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Institute of Molecular Biology in simple terms?

Why does Institute of Molecular Biology matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Institute of Molecular Biology?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Institute of Molecular Biology.