Kurt Schaffner: from organic photochemistry to photobiologyThis article is published as part of a themed issue in honour of Professor Kurt Schaffner on the occasion of his 80th birthday

Kurt Schaffner turned 80 this year. This perspective highlights his contributions to the research on the plant photoreceptor phytochrome, as many of the findings on structure and function of this molecule are tightly linked to the Max-Planck-Institute for Radiation Chemistry, where he was effective as Max-Planck director for more than twenty years. A short overview on phytochrome research at the Max-Planck-Institute for Bioinorganic Chemistry (formerly: Radiation Chemistry) on the occasion of the eightieth birthday of Kurt Schaffner. The photo shows (left) oat shoots and (right) pea. In each panel the plant on the left hand side has been grown in the dark and is in etiolated state, whereas the plant on the right was grown in the light and is de-etiolated.