The Insect Allies program – genetically modified viruses in agriculture

Scientists want to use insects to transfer genetically modified viruses to crops in order to make them more resistent to pests or environmental influences. But what happens when the viruses become independent? Or the technology for the military is misappropriated?

This animation (in German), organized by members of the Plön Institute for Evolutionary Biology and sponsored by the Max Planck Society, was recently shown at a meeting at the United Nations in Geneva.

Highly-coveted EU funding for two Plön Max Planck researchers

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded starting grants of up to 1.5 million euros to 408 scientists. Two of these highly-coveted grants go to
the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön (MPI-EB).
Dr. Christian Hilbe (to the left) and Dr. Javier Lopez Garrido (to the right) each have been awarded such an ERC starting grant.

Eva Stukenbrock becomes Fellow of the renowned Canadian Institute of Advanced Research (CIFAR)

Recently, evolutionary biologist Eva Stukenbrock has been nominated a “Fellow” of the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research (CIFAR).
Together with a group of international experts, Eva will run a “think-tank” with a focus on fungal human and plant pathogens. Their work will explore the genetic basis of the interactions of fungi and various host organisms, in particular with regard to human, animal and plant pathogenesis.

"Where there's life, there's evolution!"

For Diethard Tautz and Paul Rainey from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön and Ralf Sommer from the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Darwin laid the foundations for evolutionary science. This field of research no longer solely considers the past but, instead, increasingly looks to the future.