Hands-on synthetic biology for everyone

_{Over 600 children and adults engaged with thh activities at the BioSysteM booth. Photo: BioSysteM}

On October 3, 2026, BioSysteM participated in the open house of the Garching Research Campus and the nationwide “Türen auf mit der Maus” initiative. About 15,000 visitors made their way to Garching to experience science up close.

At the BioSysteM booth, over 600 children and adults enthusiastically designed their own “protein” keychains and built “proteins” from pipe cleaners. This allowed them to have a playful experience with the central dogma, the structure-function relationship, and synthetic biology.

Playful experiences and in-depth explanations

Our BioSysteM postdoctoral researchers Anna Baptist, Juliana Gonçalves, and Tim Kükenshöner provided more in-depth explanations about proteins and the BioSysteM mission more generally to everyone who wanted to know more.

Beyond the booth, visitors could explore different aspects of the research done within BioSysteM. At TUM’s Center for Functional Protein Assemblies, BioSysteM PI Karen Alim and her group demonstrated how a unicellular organism without a nervous system can make decisions and show complex behavior. BioSysteM PI Thomas Schlichthärle and his group invited visitors to learn about AI-guided protein design and the role it can play in drug development. 

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to our activities throughout the day. It was wonderful to join forces with the other Munich Clusters of Excellence and share our science with so many curious visitors.

Photo Gallery: BioSysteM