Welcome to the website of Biological Optomechanics Division

Cells are the basic entities of biological systems. They have particular physical properties, which enable them to navigate their 3D physical environment and fulfill their biological functions. We investigate these physical – mechanical and optical – properties of living cells and tissues using novel photonics and biophysical tools to test their biological importance. Our ultimate goal is the transfer of our findings to medical application in the fields of improved diagnosis of diseases and novel approaches in regenerative medicine.


German Society for Cell Biology and ZEISS award Carl Zeiss Lecture 2023 to Professor Dr. Jochen Guck

Lecture and award ceremony in a public webinar on 29 November 2023

 

The German Society of Cell Biology (DGZ) and ZEISS have honoured Professor Dr.…

Read more

Another ERC grant for brain research goes to Professor Tomohisa Toda in Erlangen

Tomohisa Toda, Professor of Neural Epigenomics at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has been awarded another European Research…

Read more

Deciphering the secrets of spinal cord regeneration protein by protein

Scientists have long sought to understand how certain animals, such as zebrafish, are able to regrow nerve fibers and regain lost motor function after…

Read more

Get all Research Information here.

Cell Mechanics

Mechanical properties of cells are very often connected to their state and function. They can thus serve as an intrinsic biophysical marker of cell state transitions, such as metastasis of cancer cells, activation of leukocytes, or progression through the cell cycle. Read More...

Mechanosensing

Cells actively sense and respond to a variety of mechanical signals — a process known as mechanosensing. Mechanical cues provided by the extracellular environment can modulate a wide spectrum of cellular events, including cell proliferation, differentiation and protein production. Read More...

Tissue Mechanics

Cells define and largely form their surrounding tissues and, in return, receive biochemical and physical cues from them. We are working on resolving this interdependence by quantifying these tissue mechanical properties, correlating them with biological function, investigating their origin and ultimately controlling them. Read More...

Biophotonics

Biophotonics describes the interaction of light with cells and tissues. We are interested in the interaction between light and tissues which is governed by the optical properties of cells. Read More...

MPL Presseteam

Um unser Kommunikations- & Marketingteam zu kontaktieren, benutzen Sie bitte die Emailadresse: MPLpresse@mpl.mpg.de.

Weitere Informationen zu Presseanfragen oder den aktuellsten Pressemitteilungen und -bildern finden Sie auf unserer Presseseite.

Contact

For all general inquiries, please contact us at:

Guck Division
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Staudtstr. 2
D-91058 Erlangen, Germany

guck-office@mpl.mpg.de

Tel: +49-9131-7133-501
Fax: +49-9131-7133-990

The Max Planck Institute is located right next to the Science Campus of the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, on its northern edge. See the information page on how to find us.

MPL Newsletter

Stay up-to-date with MPL’s latest research via our Newsletter. 

Current issue: Newsletter No 31 - September 2023

Click here to view previous issues.

MPL Research Centers and Schools