The Cluster of Excellence SCALE – SubCellular Architecture of LifE
In the Cluster of Excellence SCALE (SubCellular Architecture of LifE), scientists explore the structure of the human cell and the basic molecular self-organization principles of cells.
Cells consist of billions of molecules that are organized from single molecules to large molecular complexes to organelles. Although the functions of many individual molecules have been well characterized by now, it often remains unclear how the cellular architecture develops and functions, and how the parts interact. In addition to uncovering the cell’s self-organization principles, the scientists at SCALE also want to create a simulation of the cell with high spatial and temporal resolution. This, they hope, will lead to a better understanding of how cells really function and how their various “machines” interact.
The Cluster of Excellence from the RMU profile area Health is one of a total of five Clusters of Excellence at the Rhine-Main Universities that receive funding in the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments.
In addition to Goethe University Frankfurt, the institutions involved are Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, the Max-Planck Institute of Biophysics, the Max-Planck Institute of Brain Research, the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), Saarland University, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Heidelberg and the Buchmann Institute of Molecular Life Sciences.
In our interview, spokesperson Professor Michaela Müller-McNicoll of Goethe University Frankfurt explains how findings about the functioning of cells help to better understand diseases, why SCALE is unique in its research approach and how science communication can help make young people, in particular, interested in the research of SCALE.
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