内容简介：
【简介】 The Friedrich Miescher Institute, named after the discoverer of the nucleic acids, was founded in Basel on April 10 1970 jointly by Ciba AG and J.R. Geigy AG. These two companies fused shortly after to form Ciba-Geigy AG. After the incorporation of Ciba into Novartis, the FMI achieved an independent status within the Novartis Research Foundation.The aim of the FMI is to pursue and promote basic research in the fields of biochemistry and medicine and to provide young scientists from all over the world with an opportunity to participate in scientific research.
Research Interests The correct regulation of the basic processes of cell growth and differentiation through the action of environmental signals, hormones and other intracellular factors lies at the heart of healthy, normal development of all organisms. Conversely, disturbance of specific regulatory steps, for example by physical stress, toxins or genetic damage, result in the most common illnesses and diseases not only of animals but also of plants. It is thus easy to see why study of "the regulation of enzymatic processes important for life", as it was described in the first FMI Annual Report in 1971, has remained in essence the broad aim of the Institute over the past 30 years.
Although the FMI has also remained true to its original themes of tumour biology, neurobiology and regulation by hormones, present-day studies of regulation directly concern gene expression and, thus, the FMI is now very much involved in the area of signal transduction, both intellectually and practically. During its whole history, the FMI has both contributed to and kept pace with the increasing precision of molecular biology and recombinant DNA technology. In 1976, the Institute broadened its interests into plant biology, where probably the greatest impact of the evolving molecular techniques has been felt. Long-researched topics such as plant development, the action of plant hormones and plant-microbe interactions thus developed a new impetus which has been very productive in the laboratory and even in agriculture in the field.
FMI projects today (see our annual reports) are at the level of individual molecules, binding sites or even chemical bonds, using state-of-the-art techniques ranging from protein crystallisation to transgenic organisms. Despite this potentially divisive specialisation, the pivotal nature of regulation in biology actually leads to project overlap. Thus, joint research ventures within the FMI and with Novartis research groups and other leading Institutes worldwide are a strong feature of our work.
