Research

Integrating structural and dynamic information at various scales is essential for understanding complex biological processes. GRAL emphasizes the dynamics of biological systems, including for example the assembly of protein complexes, their integration into functional operating systems, the kinetics of interactions between host and pathogens and the self-organization of cells into multicellular architectures such as tissues or organoids. Overall, GRAL is divided into two main programmes: 1) “Molecular Machines and Dynamics” and 2) “Self-organization of Biological Systems”.

GRAL’s global priority is to decipher and integrate knowledge on the structure and dynamics of biological molecules and their function in the cellular context, in space and time. This approach will allow to better understand the regulation of biological functions, and will open the way to major advances in health, environment, and biotechnologies.

Combining expertise on molecular description of biological molecules, their interactions, and their dynamics in space and time, together with expertise on integrative biology, including modelling, should ultimately lead to a paradigm shift in how we understand complex biological processes, as a step towards systems biology and its technological counterpart, synthetic biology.

Read the full description and expected outcomes of GRAL.