Study and Research Program
The Research Training Group (GRK1591) was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) from 2010-2019. During this time, we were dedicated to training graduate and medical students in research projects focused on post-transcriptional control of gene expression in cell fate control, human diseases, and plant-pathogen interactions. Successful candidates characterized at the molecular level how RNA-binding proteins, enzymes acting on RNA, and various regulatory RNAs, including microRNAs, long non-coding RNAs, and bacterial sRNAs, modulate gene expression. Using animal and plant model organisms, students investigated how post-transcriptional control of gene expression determines cell fate and disease.
The educational ´Leitmotiv´ of the GRK1591 was to enable students to conduct independent and internationally competitive research in the life sciences with a focus on posttranscriptional regulation. The training was embedded in an interdisciplinary network that included translational aspects. Accordingly, the graduate program brought together research and training expertise from the Faculty of Natural Sciences I (Biological Sciences) and the Faculty of Medicine at MLU. This bundling created a new concept that advanced research and education in MLU's life sciences focus.
