# Erich Sackmann > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Erich_Sackmann > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Erich_Sackmann.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Sackmann > Source revision: 1352663079 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|German biophysicist (1934–2024)}} {{Redirect|Sackmann|other meanings|Sackman (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox scientist |name=Erich Sackmann |image=Erich Sackmann.jpg |image_size=190px |birth_date={{birth date and age text|26 November 1934}} |birth_place=[Baiersbronn](/source/Baiersbronn), Germany |death_date= |death_place= |alma_mater=[University of Stuttgart](/source/University_of_Stuttgart) |field=[Biophysics](/source/Biophysics) |thesis_title=Untersuchung der indirekten Kernspinkopplung zwischen Protonen und Kohlenstoff-13 |thesis_url=https://rds-stg.ibs-bw.de/link?kid=1143366131 |thesis_year=1964 }} '''Erich Sackmann''' (26 November 1934 – 29 May 2024[https://trauer.sueddeutsche.de/traueranzeige/erich-sackmann Traueranzeige in der Süddeutschen Zeitung 7 June 2024], retrieved 7 June 2024.) was a German experimental physicist and a pioneer of biophysics in Europe.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/C3SM51910D| pmid = 24651316| title = Physics of cell adhesion: Some lessons from cell-mimetic systems| journal = Soft Matter| volume = 10| issue = 11| pages = 1644–59| year = 2014| last1 = Sackmann | first1 = E. | last2 = Smith | first2 = A. S. A. | bibcode = 2014SMat...10.1644S | pmc=4028615}} ==Education== Sackmann obtained his MSc (1961) and PhD{{cite Q|Q126172843}} (1964) degrees from the [University of Stuttgart](/source/University_of_Stuttgart) in the group of [Theodor Förster](/source/Theodor_F%C3%B6rster).{{cite Q|Q48447464}} ==Career== Following the awarding of his PhD, Sackmann then spent two years at [Bell Telephone Laboratories](/source/Bell_Telephone_Laboratories) in Murray Hill, New Jersey, and six years at [Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry](/source/Max_Planck_Institute_for_Biophysical_Chemistry) in Göttingen, Germany. Between 1974 and 1980 he was professor of physics and head of the biophysics department at [Universität Ulm](/source/Universit%C3%A4t_Ulm), and from 1980 until retirement in 2003 he held the same positions at the Physics Department of the [Technical University of Munich](/source/Technical_University_of_Munich). ===Research=== Sackmann dedicated a lifetime of research towards probing the living cell with tools of physics, long before biophysics was the mode of the day. Considered as a father of biophysics in Europe, he pioneered, along with others, the idea of a "bottom up" approach towards understanding the cell – starting from relatively simple systems like lipid bilayers, giant vesicles and actin in solution and going towards more and more complex systems to reach eventually an understanding at the level of the entire cell. More than 200 publications and several books [http://dispatch.opac.ddb.de/DB=4.1/REL?PPN=107150948 Literatur von und über Erich Sackmann]{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} testify to his contributions to [soft matter](/source/soft_matter) and [biophysics](/source/biophysics). His early work was mainly on [lyotropic](/source/lyotropic) [liquid crystals](/source/liquid_crystals) and lipid [membranes](/source/Biological_membrane). Later, along with his students he laid the foundations of our current understanding of membrane adhesion. Over the years, his team developed and improved the technique of [reflection interference contrast microscopy](/source/reflection_interference_contrast_microscopy) – RICM (which is quantitative [interference reflection microscopy](/source/interference_reflection_microscopy) – IRM){{Cite journal | doi = 10.1051/jp2:1993163| title = Imaging optical thicknesses and separation distances of phospholipid vesicles at solid surfaces| journal = Journal de Physique II| volume = 3| issue = 5| pages = 727–748| year = 1993| last1 = Rädler | first1 = J. | last2 = Sackmann | first2 = E. | bibcode = 1993JPhy2...3..727R| url = http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:19-epub-3788-0}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1364/AO.37.006892| pmid = 18301506| title = Microinterferometry: Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Surface Microtopography for Thin-Film and Wetting Studies by Reflection Interference Contrast Microscopy (RICM)| journal = Applied Optics| volume = 37| issue = 29| pages = 6892–905| year = 1998| last1 = Wiegand | first1 = G. | last2 = Neumaier | first2 = K. R. | last3 = Sackmann | first3 = E. | bibcode = 1998ApOpt..37.6892W}} – a powerful tool to probe adhesion of membranes and thin films. Collaborations with theoreticians like Reinhard Lipowsky, Udo Seifert and [Robijn Bruinsma](/source/Robijn_Bruinsma) have led to seminal works on adhesion of cell mimetic giant vesicles{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1002/1439-7641(20020315)3:3<262::AID-CPHC262>3.0.CO;2-U| pmid = 12503172| title = Cell Adhesion as Wetting Transition?| journal = ChemPhysChem| volume = 3| issue = 3| pages = 262–9| year = 2002| last1 = Sackmann | first1 = E. | last2 = Bruinsma | first2 = R. F.}} (also called [liposomes](/source/liposomes)). Another of his interests was the [cytoskeleton](/source/cytoskeleton) and its dynamics. To study cytoskeletal dynamics, his team developed [magnetic tweezers](/source/magnetic_tweezers) capable of exerting very small pulling forces. He contributed to our understanding of the dynamics of single [actin](/source/actin) filaments, [actin](/source/actin) [networks](/source/neural_network) as well as intact living cells.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.178101| pmid = 16383873| title = Microviscoelastic Moduli of Biomimetic Cell Envelopes| journal = Physical Review Letters| volume = 95| issue = 17| article-number = 178101| year = 2005| last1 = Limozin | first1 = L. | last2 = Roth | first2 = A. | last3 = Sackmann | first3 = E. | bibcode = 2005PhRvL..95q8101L}}{{Cite journal | pmid = 16090216 | year = 2005 | last1 = Uhde | first1 = J | title = Osmotic force-controlled microrheometry of entangled actin networks | journal = Physical Review Letters | volume = 94 | issue = 19 | article-number = 198102 | last2 = Feneberg | first2 = W | last3 = Ter-Oganessian | first3 = N | last4 = Sackmann | first4 = E | last5 = Boulbitch | first5 = A | bibcode = 2005PhRvL..94s8102U | doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.198102 }}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1073/pnas.052432499| title = Microrheometry of semiflexible actin networks through enforced single-filament reptation: Frictional coupling and heterogeneities in entangled networks| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences| volume = 99| issue = 10| pages = 6533–6538| year = 2002| last1 = Dichtl | first1 = M. A.| last2 = Sackmann | first2 = E.| bibcode = 2002PNAS...99.6533D | pmid=11997438 | pmc=124437| doi-access = free}} His research interests included: physics of [self assembly](/source/self_assembly) and function of artificial and [biological membranes](/source/biological_membranes), [viscoelastic](/source/viscoelastic) [microscopy](/source/microscopy) of cells, physics of the [actin](/source/actin) based [cytoskeleton](/source/cytoskeleton): micro-[rheology](/source/rheology) of macromolecular networks, applications of solid-supported lipid-protein membranes, ultrathin hydrated [polymer](/source/polymer) layers and polymer/membrane composite films and [neutron reflectivity](/source/Neutron_reflector) as a new tool to study the [self assembly](/source/self_assembly) of membrane associated proteins. ==Selected bibliography== Along with Reinhard Lipowsky, he authored ''The Structure and Dynamics of Membranes''. With Rudolf Merkel, he published ''Lehrbuch der Biophysik'' – a text book on biophysics aimed at students and researchers. ==Awards and honors== He was elected a [fellow of the American Physical Society](/source/fellow_of_the_American_Physical_Society) in 2002.{{cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initial=&year=2002&unit_id=&institution=|title=APS Fellow Archive|publisher=APS|access-date=17 September 2020}} In recognition of his research work, in 2006, he was awarded the [Stern-Gerlach-Medal](/source/Stern-Gerlach-Medaille) by the [DPG, German Physical Society](/source/Deutsche_Physikalische_Gesellschaft). ==See also== * [Lipid raft](/source/Lipid_raft) * [Interference reflection microscopy](/source/Interference_reflection_microscopy) * [A. S. G. Curtis](/source/Adam_S._G._Curtis) * [J. S. Ploem](/source/Johan_Sebastiaan_Ploem) ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Sackmann, Eric}} Category:1934 births Category:German biophysicists Category:2024 deaths Category:Scientists at Bell Labs Category:Academic staff of the Technical University of Munich Category:Academic staff of the University of Ulm Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Erich Sackmann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Sackmann) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Sackmann?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.