Institute of Biological Information processing (IBI)

The goal of the Institute of Biological Information processing (IBI) is to quantitatively and qualitatively understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of biological information processing down to the atomic level. The focus here is on information processing in and between nerve cells.

To this end, the institute explores the function of individual molecules and investigates how they interact and determine cellular functions. Ultimately, we want to understand how the interactions of cells lead to the formation of networks that plastically change their properties and thus form the basis for learning and memory. Sustainable, energy- and resource-conserving adaptation and regeneration of cellular structures and processes during ongoing operation are unique to biological information processing.

By comparative analysis of healthy, pathological and age-related mechanisms, the Institute of Biological Information processing accelerates the gain of knowledge, opens knowledge-based access to new therapeutic and diagnostic applications for diseases and new concepts in information technology. To this end, the institute develops and uses globally unique instruments and combines state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical methods from all areas of the natural sciences to understand the molecular mechanisms of biological structures and processes up to the network level, including their dynamics and plasticity.