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The main part of the research program is dedicated to the development of new
theoretical methods and their application to the analysis and reconstruction
of molecular networks involved in cellular sensing and response. Research is
performed on experimental model systems, on mammalian cells challenged by
infection, and on cells of the immune system. The Center conducts research
in systems biology in an international competitive fashion and aims at
becoming a breeding point for young researchers working in the field of
Systems Biology. To achieve these goals, a high quality educational systems
biology graduate program will be set up on top of the already existing study
programs Biosystemtechnik (Biosystems Engineering), Technical Cybernetics and
Computer Mathematics. In addition, a new chair for Systems Biology and
several independent junior research groups will be installed within the
Center, all of which will address biological questions of high scientific or
practical relevance by using and developing advanced experimental and
computational methods of systems biology, engineering and mathematics.
A hallmark of the Magdeburg Systems Biology Research Center is the
expertise in systems theory and systems engineering and the combination of
continuous and discrete mathematical modelling of all kinds of biological
networks. This offers the potential to apply these theoretical methods and
tools to the experimental analysis of biological systems of different levels
of complexity, which are already established by research groups in
Magdeburg. The sequence of complexity is characterized by procaryotes
(Escherichia coli and Rhodospirillum rubrum), eucaryotic model
systems (Physarum polycephalum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae),
mammalian cells (T-cells, epithelial cells, neural cells) and complex
processes like infection and cell differentiation (T-cells or ephithelial
cells infected with Helicobacter pylori or an influenza virus).
The research program significantly contributes to
our understanding of the structure and dynamics of molecular networks involved
in cellular sensing and response, controling cell differentiation,
proliferation or apoptosis, for example. This includes cellular processes
related to infection and immunity, illustrating the potential of the proposed
project for medical relevant problems.
The goal is the establishment of new, broadly applicable concepts for modelling and systems analysis
which are applicable to different levels of molecular and functional complexity. After funding by the
Federal Ministry of Education MaCS will become part of the research center
Dynamic Systems in Biosystems Engineering, an essential element of the
Excellence Initiative of Saxony-Anhalt.
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