Patrick Cramer Ph.D.

Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry | Professor
Member of Academia Europaea

Main Reaearch Fields

Gene transcription is the first step in the expression of the genetic information and a focal point for cellular regulation. Our goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms of gene transcription and the principles of genomic regulation in eukaryotic cells. We use integrated structural biology and complementary functional studies to unravel the three-dimensional and functional architecture of large macromolecular complexes involved in transcription. We also develop functional genomics methods and computational approaches to unravel the cellular mechanisms of genomic regulation. These efforts led to a first molecular movie

of transcription and provided insights into gene-regulatory cellular networks. Together, these efforts shape the emerging fields of genome biology and molecular systems biology. Our aim is to understand the functional genome as a regulatory network based on