Secrets of Chromatin: A symposium in honor of Peter Becker

On September 12-13, 2018, over 100 current and former colleagues and co-workers of Peter Becker convened in the Small Lecture Hall of the Biomedical Center (BMC) to celebrate his 60th birthday and to discuss past, present and future trends in chromatin research. Genevieve Almouzni (Institut Curie, Paris) gave a fantastic keynote lecture highlighting the development of the chromatin field over the past decades, including Peter Becker's significant contributions. Excellent talks were given, ranging from molecular mechanisms of how chromatin remodeling factors move nucleosomes, presented by Carl Wu (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore) and Cedric Clapier (Health University of Utah), over the role of histone modifications and histone variants, presented by Sandra Hake (Universität Giessen) and Francis Stewart (TU Dresden), to the influence of the microbiome on chromatin structure and function, elaborated by Patrick Varga-Weisz (Universtiy of Essex). The program also included short chromatin project intermezzos by the organizers of the symposium, Gernot Längst (Universtität Regensburg), Alex Brehm (IMT Marburg) and Axel Imhof (BMC Munich), as well as Philipp Korber and Felix Müller-Planitz, both group leaders in the Molecular Biology department (BMC Munich). The day ended with a barbecue in the BMC front courtyard with much discussion among the guests, sharing fond memories, exchanging ideas and speculating on secrets of chromatin yet to be discovered.

Download program (pdf, 48 KB)

The Peter-Becker Bridge

On the occasion of his 60th birthday, the bridge connecting the NB and NC tracts of the Biomedical Center was named Peter-Becker-Bridge to honor Peter Becker’s key role in the foundation and establishment of the Biomedical Center. We wish him all the best, and hope to continue to benefit from his dedication and enthusiasm in his work at the BMC for many years to come.