They are composed of a complex mixture of lipids, embedded integral or peripheral membrane proteins, and carbohydrates. The elucidation of the structure and organization of biological membranes is a still growing research field and new techniques and methodologies have been developed to understand membrane structure and function. Because of the complexity of biological membranes, artificial model membranes are frequently applied for simplification. They include vesicular lipid bilayers, lipid nanodiscs, freestanding and supported planar lipid bilayers, lipid monolayers, and computational lipid bilayers.

The DGfB section “Membrane Biophysics” supports the strong German community contributing research on biological membranes and artificial membrane models in all levels of complexity and covering a wealth of methods and techniques. Our biannual international meetings have an open and informal character. They attract German and European biophysicists and researchers from related disciplines and help us to train, involve and integrate young academics.

The next meeting will be held in 2024 from May 06 to 08 at the Drübeck monastery close to the Harz Mountains. It will be entitled “From Model to Cellular Membranes”. Registration starts October 02, 2023.
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