International conference on biomimetic and biological membranes in Potsdam-Golm Science Park

„Biomembrane Days” on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Wolfgang Helfrich from September 19th-21st 2012

September 18, 2012

At the “ Biomembrane Days“, experts from all over the world inform about recent advances in understanding the morphology and molecular organizat ion of biomimetic and biological membranes. The international scientists from the
USA, Israel, China and other countries come together at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam-Golm to discuss the latest research developments.

Membranes play a cent ral role for the structure and function of all cells. They form the intricately shaped compartments of life and are involved in cell recognition, cell communication, and numerous other biological processes. A central topic of the conference is the interplay of curvature and composition that governs membrane shapes. Other topics include membrane domains, membrane proteins, cell adhesion, and dynamic processes.

Wolfgang Helfrich
The conference takes place on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Wolfgang Helfrich. The physicist published the first complete description of the bending energy of membranes and was a leading pioneer in the field of membrane physics. In 1993, he received the Ostwald Prize of the German Kolloidgesellschaft . Wolfgang Helfrich made numerous theoretical and experimental contributions to membrane physics, in particular on vesicle shapes, membrane shape fluctuations, and the effect of electric fields on vesicles.

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