In the department of Molecular Physiology and Cell Biology, scientists are researching into important processes in and between cells. The department of Structural Biology is investigating key molecules involved in this activity and is elucidating their structure down to atomic resolution, to enable a targeted search for active substances. Finally, the department of Chemical Biology is searching systematically for such active substances; promising candidates are optimised further.
The FMP is developing new perspectives and research stimuli for pharmaceutical research and is excellently equipped with the latest technology to achieve this goal. For example, two separate buildings are furnished with complex NMR spectroscopy systems that are used for the structural elucidation of biomolecules. In the "Screening Unit", state-of-the-art robots are capable of testing tens of thousands of different substances for a specific action within the shortest of time.
The FMP cooperates with other research institutions in Berlin, such as the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine and the Charité - University Medicine Berlin, and is involved in various research projects, such as the excellence cluster "Neurocure". In addition, the Institute is a co-initiator and leader of the major European project "EU-OPENSCREEN", which since April 2013 is part of the national roadmap for large research infrastructures of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). In the context of EU-OPENSCREEN, institutes from various different European countries are coordinating the search for new active substances.
