Presentations: New Antibiotics and Stress Management in the Microcosm

Leading scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg will provide insights into contemporary issues at the Steinmühle as part of the microbes@school lecture series. These visits by experts also serve, to some extent, as career guidance. After each presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions, including those about the speakers’ professional careers.

 

New Antibiotics—The Ingenious Building Blocks of Microbes

Antibiotics such as penicillin, cancer drugs, and medications for organ transplants—many of these drugs are produced by bacteria. Prof. Dr. Helge Bode, director at the Max Planck Institute in Marburg, reveals the tricks bacteria use and clearly explains how their microbial building blocks can be used to discover new antibiotics even faster—or even to build new antibiotics from scratch.

The lecture will take place on Tuesday, September 15, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Steinmühle in Room 615.

 

Stress Management in the Microcosm—What We Can Learn from Bacteria

It’s not just people—microbes experience stress, too. What surprising strategies do bacteria use to cope with stress? What can we learn from this to apply to our own lives?

Dr. Ilka Bischofs-Pfeifer will discuss this in her presentation on Tuesday, September 29, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., also at the Steinmühle in Room 615.

Afterward, there will be time for questions about science, everyday life in the lab, or career paths.

The lectures are open to the public and can be attended without prior registration.

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