The description is not the described; I can describe the mountain, but the description is not the mountain, and if you are caught up in the description, as most people are, then you will never see the mountain" Jiddu Krishnamurti vii Acknowledgements I am very thankful to Detlev Arendt for giving me the opportunity to work in his group. I am particularly thankful for the balance with which he provided support, mentoring, independence, and liberty. I am also very thankful to the other members of

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... the Arendt lab, past and present. Many of them paved the way that I have ridden on, others have provided greatly-needed help during this ride, while others have been inspiring people to have around. I would like to single out Hernando Martinez-Vergara who supervised me when I first arrived to the lab, Emily Savage who I could always count on to offer me a helping hand, Paola Bertucci for her care and support, Jacob Musser whose curiosity inspires me, Vanessa Disela who taught me at least as much as I taught her, Ines Kübler whose determination and good heart are exemplary, Matthias Janeschik with whom I grew as an instructor, and Nikolas Papadopoulos for checking my results and providing insightful comments. Yet every member of the Arendt lab has contributed to this work in different, sometimes abstract ways, and I am thankful to all of them. I also received the help of many more colleagues from different groups, among them Valentyna Zinchenko, Kimberly Meechan, Christian Tischer, and Constantin Pape. I would like to thank the members of my thesis advisory committee, Anne Ephrussi, Yannick Schwab, and Steffen Lemke. Their insightful comments and suggestions throughout the years have helped me navigate this project and it is better thanks to them. This project was carried out over several years and carries the influence of my life outside of EMBL as well. I would therefore like to acknowledge some people outside of my 'work life'. Johannes, my husband, has loved and supported me during these years and I am very grateful to him. He also translated my Summary into German, which I am very thankful for. Finally, I will be eternally grateful to my mother for always being my number one cheerleader.