Structure & Function of Molecular Machines

Three-dimensional structures of human mitochondrial transcription complexes.

We are a research lab located at the University Medical Center Göttingen and at the Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences Göttingen.

Our research is aimed at understanding how genetic information is decoded and expressed in human cells, and how this process is linked to human diseaseWe are particularly interested in how genes are activated in mitochondria, the powerhouses of our cells.

To study this, we use ultra-cold electron microscopes (a.k.a. cryo-EM) and high-energy X-Ray beams (a.k.a. X-Ray crystallography) to visualize molecular “nanomachines” in 3D at near-atomic resolution.

News from the Lab

Franziska Finke receives BIF PhD Fellowship

Franziska Finke was awarded a prestigious PhD Fellowship by the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds. Congratulation Franzi – we are very proud!...

Hauke receives Peter & Traudl Engelhorn Foundation Research Prize 2022

Hauke received the Peter & Traudl Engelhorn Foundation Research Prize 2022 on April 3rd in Munich. See the press releases by the UMG and MPI-NAT...

Website artwork by Arjun Bhatta