MDC Berlin

Mixing and mingling on Hydra: For the anniversary of the Lewin Lab, leading somatic sensation experts, colleagues and students of Gary Lewin all came to a Greek island. In this interview, he talks with his former mentee Stefan Lechner about the symposium, dazzling personalities and what makes a good PI.

CRISPR, PCR, TCRs – in biomedicine we use many abbreviations, in research and at symposia, in workshops or at celebrations. Since the Pride Symposium, shortly before Christopher Street Day (CSD) 2022, another abbreviation has joined the MDC: LGBTQ+.

Glia cells are as indispensable as neurons. Yet they were long considered a mere “neural glue” – until Helmut Kettenmann came along. He initiated international glia cell research and helped it gain recognition. He was also part of the MDC’s founding generation and has continued to leave his mark on the institution over the last 30 years.

Giving voice to the academic, social, and economic needs of PhD students at the MDC – that is the goal of the PhD Representatives. Their main concerns include equality, diversity and inclusion, as well as a stronger sense of solidarity.

At ECRC, Theda Bartolomaeus investigates how the microbes that colonize the human body affect our lives. In our "Lunch Break" video series, the PhD student reveals how she got into biology – and why sports are so important to her.

Single-cell analyses provide a wealth of molecular and genetic information. A team led by MDC researcher Uwe Ohler is using machine learning to combine these data and produce meaningful profiles of the cells. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is now funding the project.

Shortly before Berlin’s Christopher Street Day, the MDC will hold a Pride Symposium for the first time. On July 22, 2022, everyone is welcome to exchange ideas about queer issues in life sciences and health care.

An international consortium brings together 7,200 segments of the human genome that are virtually unexplored and presents a roadmap for integrating them into genome databases in “Nature Biotechnology”. They could hold information about what sets humans apart from other animals.

We talked, explained, danced, experimented and told stories together: About 3000 visitors came to the Long Night of Science on July 2 at the Max Delbrück Center in Buch and in Mitte. A recap in pictures – and on the focus on science and art.

For almost three decades, Claus Scheidereit has been at the MDC researching a “gene switch” that plays a decisive role in certain cancers. As his time as a lab head comes to an end, he is on the verge of developing new drugs for cancer therapy.