On April 19th, the Center for Molecular Biosystems (BioSysM) of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) celebrated its official opening. The new building on the High Tech Campus Martinsried-Großhadern will accommodate 200 employees. BioSysM collocates LMU research groups that focus on systems biology. Systems biologists do not investigate individual genes or proteins, but complex biological systems as a whole. With the help of big data, they unravel functional networks and analyse how these react to perturbations. By finding new therapeutic strategies, systems biology lays the foundation for systems medicine.
BioSysM will house four established labs and four independent junior research groups. Prof. Ulrike Gaul is the scientific coordinator of the new center. The biochemist and her group will move from the neighbouring Gene Center to the new building. Likewise, the immuno biochemist Prof. Veit Hornung and part of the group of Dirk Trauner, Professor for Chemical Biology and Chemical Genetics, will join. A fourth Chair devoted to Computational Biology will be established. In addition, Don Lamb will move in, Professor for Biophysical Chemistry and specialist for fluorescence microscopy. The research groups will work closely together in interdisciplinary projects.
BioSysM will also act as the central node of the Bavarian Research Network for Molecular Biosystems (BioSysNet), which includes institutions in several locations in Bavaria and is financially supported by the State Government. Prof. Horst Domdey, CEO of BioM, is the scientific coordinator of BioSysNet and has also been involved in drafting the concept, which includes the new building.