Article

Following up on his previous visit at the occasion of the opening ceremony in March, German ambassador Johannes Haindl spent a morning at the IMP today for a deeper insight into the new building, the founding structure of the institute and current research projects.

After meeting with directors Jan-Michael Peters and Harald Isemann, Mr. Haindl - who was accompanied by counsellor Otto Schneider - visited the microscope-facility where he was introduced to some of the questions that Mariana Da Silva is investigating in meiotic mouse oocytes.

Finally, Andrea Pauli gave a brief overview of her studies on zebrafish and explained the logistics behind maintaining the colony. A very impressive demonstration showed how GFP-staining reveals the beating heart in tiny fish-embryos in an effort to corner in on genes responsible for heart development.