From network to system( etworks and cell systems through combin...)

etworks and cell systems through combinatorial geometry methods is currently of great interest. "Networks are snapshots of complex systems, and systems are made up of networks in action," says Prof. Andreas Dress, one of the Institute directors. Only by ascertaining the cellular activity in detail can a deeper understanding of the extremely complex processes in the human organism be achieved and, ultimately, new drugs developed. In particular, Dress and his group will focus on protein and metabolism networks in both healthy and cancerous cells.

Networks also play a key role at the level of the entire organism and particularly in how our genetic material works. Prof. Li Jin, the second Director at the Partner Institute, focuses in particular on the variability of the human genome between individuals, which accounts for just 0.1 percent of our genetic material. What distinguishes humans from one another is determined by minute differences in the DNA sequence, the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A set of simultaneously inherited SNPs in one region of the genome is referred to as a "haplotype". Studying them helps, on the one hand, to answer questions about the origin, relationship, history, structure and migration pattern of human populations (molecular anthropology). On the other hand, some gene variants, or the proteins encoded by them, are linked to certain diseases. Finding the reasons behind this will help bring us closer to the biological roots of widespread diseases and facilitate the development of appropriate drugs. In addition, attempts are being made to find gene variants that are responsible for individual response to active agents, or for the occurrence of side effects (pharmacogenomics).

Institute Directors

Prof. Andreas Dress (born in 1938) studied mathematics in Berlin, Tbingen and Kiel, earned his doctorate in 1962 and obtained his postdoctoral lecture qualification in 1965. He was a member of the Institute for Adva
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Contact: Dr. Barbara Spielmann
spielmann@gv.mpg.de
49-89-2108-1365
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
22-Jun-2005

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