The program is part of the Max Planck School Matter to Life. This internationally oriented project comprises cooperating master's programs at three different university locations, supported by German research institutes by a network of more than 40 renowned scientists: Max-Planck School.
Matter to Life covers areas such as bionanotechnology and synthetic biology. In bionanotechnology, for example, synthetic nanoblocks from biomaterials are used to create molecular machines. These could one day be nanomachines that can move independently, have catalytic activity, or exert mechanical forces. Or imagine a few nanometer transport shuttles that can target cancer cells in a targeted manner. Synthetic biology deals with the challenge of manipulating biological systems on the scale of cells or cell networks in such a way that completely new functions emerge from them. Bacterial strains could then run mathematical programs, such as counting to ten. Or one day they would be able to make completely new raw materials and medicines, or to recycle waste. Another goal is to create life-like minimal systems from individual building blocks. Thus, for example, artificial cells could be generated that can reproduce or move themselves. Another area of synthetic biology, DNA computing, explores the programmability of DNA with the vision of using DNA as a new storage medium and programmable biomaterial for the creation of biological computing machines. Another goal is to quantitatively describe and model biological systems in order to make reliable predictions about the behavior of biological systems. From the modeling of living and life-like systems, a completely new approach to the central question of what constitutes living systems can be deduced. In this way, a deeper understanding of biological processes for basic research can be made possible.
See also:
www.ph.tum.de/academics/msc/m2l/m2l/
