No 4/September 28, 2001
”Me and my Genes”
Two German Research Institutions to participate in Polish Science Festival
Two scientific research institutions from Germany are to
participate in this years Polish Science Festival in Warsaw for the first time.
It is the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch with the
Berlin Life Science Learning Center and the GSF-National Research Center for
Environment and Health from Neuherberg near Munich. ”Me and my Genes” is the
title of the presentation given by young Berlin biochemist Dr. Christian Unger.
Visitors to the small mobile laboratory can learn how to extract DNA, the
molecule of life, from fresh fruit or human cells. Dr. Unger will be at the
Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences
(Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN; Pawinskiego 5a)
on Saturday, September 29, 2001. He will give two presentations – at 10:00 am
and 1:00 pm respectively. ”Drinking Water from River Filtration Process:
Isotope Measurements and Computer Modelling” is the title of the presentation
given by Prof. Dr. Piotr Maloszewski from the GSF Institute of Hydrology. He
will be at the Informatics Centre at the Agricultural University of Warsaw,
(SGGW; Nowoursynowska 166) also on Saturday, September 29, 11:00 am. Prof.
Maloszewski is a Polish scientist who has been working in the GSF since 1984.
Also two research institutions from the United Kingdom will be present in
Warsaw. Prof. Magdalena Fikus, one of the initiators and organisers of the
Science Festival from the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of Warsaw
University, opened the Science Festival which took place at the Concert Hall of
Polish Radio in Warsaw on September 20, at 6:00 pm. More than 400 different
events prepared by 150 institutes of Warsaw University, have been presented,
said Prof. Fikus. The debate ”Agression, Dark Side of Man” closed the festival
on September 30 .
The Science Festival has been initiated in 1997. According to the organisers, it is sponsored by the State Committee of Science (KBN), co-sponsors include a TV station and several scientific journals. More than 50 per cents of the costs are covered by the participating instititutions.
The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, founded in 1992, and the GSF-National Research Center for Environment and Health, founded in 1960 are National Research Laboratories of the Helmholtz-Association and funded 90 per cent by the federal state of Germany with the remaining ten per cent coming from the states in which they are situated.
The MDC focuses on research in molecular biology and genetics including cardiovascular diseases, cancer and neurosciences. It collaborates closely with two university clinics and companies from the biotechnology park, also located on the Berlin-Buch Campus. In 1995 the MDC founded the BBB Management company. Since April 1999 the BBB runs the Berlin Life Science Learning Center. There, pupils, students, teachers and the general public can themselves do experiments in a laboratory and learn about genetic engineering. Each year, more than 8.000 visitors come to this Learning Center.
GSF`s objective is the identification of risks to human health and of those threatening the ecological balance, the evaluation of the limits to the burden which humans can place upon the environment, and the creation of concepts to help to avoid long-term damage to this vital resource. The GSF develops scientific building blocks, in order to provide adequate protection for human health and its natural bases for future generations too.
Barbara Bachtler
Press and Public Affairs
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch
Robert-Rössle-Straße 10; 13125 Berlin; Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 96
Fax: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 33
e-mail: presse@mdc-berlin.de
http://www.mdc-berlin.de/englisch/about_the_mdc/public_relations/e_index.htm
Gertrud Aßmann
GSF-Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit
Press Departement
Ingolstädter Landstr. 1
D-85764 Neuherberg/Oberschleißheim
Tel: 0049/89/31 87-28 15
Fax: 0049/89/31 87-33 24
e-mail: assmann@gsf.de
Internet: http://www.gsf.de
Prof. Magdalena Fikus
Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics
University of Warsaw
Pawinskiego 5a
PL-02-106 Warszawa
Tel.: 0048-22-658 23 52
Fax: 0048-22-39 12 16 23
e-mail magdaf@ibb.waw.pl
Internet: http://www.ibb.waw.pl