Chancellor Angela Merkel Presses Starts Button for New State-of-the-Art Sequencer at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin

The MDC explores
the development of diseases inside the cell, focusing on genes and proteins. Using
highly advanced techniques, Medical Systems Biology enables detailed insight
into the molecular networks of genes and proteins and studies their regulation
and interaction as well as their importance for disease development. “To
accomplish this, enormous quantities of data must be processed,” Professor
Rajewsky said. “This data deluge - previously only associated with nuclear
physics and astrophysics - is analyzed by means of mathematical and statistical
methods and high-performance computing,” he explained to the Chancellor. Like
Angela Merkel, Professor Rajewsky originally studied physics.

The new PacBio
RS sequencing system, which was launched on the market by Pacific Biosciences, a
technology company in Menlo Park, California, USA, in April of this year, supplements
the technologies in the BIMSB Scientific Genomics Platform led by Dr. Wei Chen.
The novel sequencer reads the sequence of the DNA bases in real time, and
visualizes the reaction of a single enzyme with a single DNA molecule by means
of a laser. DNA amplification is no longer required prior to sequencing, and
thus potential sources of error can be avoided. The new SMRT (single molecule
real-time) technology can, on average, produce DNA reads of more than 1000
bases and can complete an experiment in one day instead of one week or longer.

“The
outstanding characteristic of SMRT technology is not only that one can watch
how DNA is being synthesized. The data we generate through this new technology
enable us to quantitatively analyze gene regulation, RNA function, epigenetic
gene regulation, DNA modification and genome structure,” Professor Rajewsky
said. “This technology allows us deeper insight into gene regulatory networks and
opens new approaches to personalized medicine.”

The BIMSB
was launched by the MDC in 2008 on Campus Berlin-Buch and was supported by pilot
funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the
Senate of Berlin. It works closely with research institutions and networks in
Berlin and beyond, in particular with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and also with New York University in the
U.S. A new 5500 m² building for around 300 employees located on Humboldt
University’s ‘Campus Nord’ is planned to be completed in 2015. The Senate of
Berlin has allocated 30 million euros for the building project. The annual
operating costs of 20 million will be funded by the Federal Ministry of
Education and Research (90 percent) and by the State of Berlin (10 percent).

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pictures please contact Bundespresseamt
(Bundesbildstelle, Telephone: +49 (0)30 18 272-2332, bilderdienst@bpa.bund.de and the internet at:http://www.mdc-berlin.de/en/news/2011/index.html

Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed the start button for a new state-of-the-art DNA sequencer during her visit on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB) of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch. Looking on are Dr. Jonas Korlach, co-inventor of the technology of Pacific Biosciences and a native Berliner, Dr. Wei Chen (in front), head of the Scientific Genomics Platform at BIMSB. In the background Federal Minister of Education and Research, Annette Schavan, and Professor Nikolaus Rajewsky (l.), head of the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB) of the MDC (Photo: David Ausserhofer/Copyright: MDC)

Dr. Jonas Korlach (r.) co-inventor of the new state-of-the-art DNA sequencer of Pacific Biosciences and a native Berliner, explains to chancellor Angela Merkel how this device works, that has just been installed at the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB) of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) as Dr. Wei Chen (in front), head of the Scientific Genomics Platform at BIMSB, looks on. (Photo: David Ausserhofer/Copyright: MDC)

Barbara
Bachtler
Press
Department
Max
Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch
in the
Helmholtz Association
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/
Further
information:
Glenn
Farrell
Senior
Director, Marketing Communications
Pacific
Biosciences
1380
Willow Road
Menlo
Park, CA 94025, USA
Cell Phone:
001 650 804 27 70
e-mail:
GFarrell@pacificbiosciences.com
http://www.pacificbiosciences.com/
http://www.pacificbiosciences.com/news_and_events/mediakit