Matthias Mann to receive the Körber Prize 2012

The physicist and bioinformatician Matthias Mann has developed a high-precision mass-spectrometry technique with which all the proteins in a cell can be analysed at once. Previously, researchers could only concern themselves with the effects of one or a few proteins. In 2008, Mann and his team were the first to successfully decode the proteome - the entirety of all the proteins of a living organism - of the yeast cell (more than 4,000 proteins). In the meantime, researchers all over the world are working on analysing the complete human proteome. The "Human Proteome Project", which is comparable to the "Human Genome Project" just over ten years ago, opens up completely new perspectives for medicine. While the genes provide only the construction plan, it is the proteins which are the real building blocks of life. A comparison of the proteome of healthy and diseased cells, for example, reveals which proteins benefit or hinder the emergence of diseases such as cancer or diabetes. And it is also the proteins on which all medicinal products act.

Matthias Mann will present his research work at 4 p.m. on 6th September at Hamburg University, in the Chemistry Department, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 6, Lecture Hall B, at a Körber Lecture entitled "Decoding the Proteome by Mass Spectrometry".

In 2012, the Körber Prize is being presented for the 28th time. Every year, the Prize honours outstanding scientists working in Europe for their promising research work. It is awarded for excellent and innovative research projects that show great potential for application and international impact. Selection committees comprising top scientists from all over Europe search for suitable candidates. The final decision is made by a trustee committee chaired by Prof. Dr. Peter Gruss, President of the Max Planck Society.

Source: Körber-Stiftung