MDC Berlin

Researchers at the MDC, the BIH and Charité have developed methods for performing comprehensive analyses of fixed tumor tissue samples. These analyses make it possible to shed new light on the clinical course of various cancer types, as the team reports in Nature Communications.

The new Einstein Center for Alternative Methods in Biomedical Research is officially starting its work. The Einstein Foundation will support the Berlin-based facility to the tune of around €5.3 million through the end of 2026. The funds are being provided by the State of Berlin. The MDC is involved with several projects.

Diverse messenger RNAs are produced in cells by “alternative splicing.” The Leducq Foundation is now supporting a transatlantic network dedicated to investigating this process in heart muscle cells and how changes in this process contribute to disease. Professor Michael Gotthardt of the MDC and Professor Leslie Leinwand of the University of Colorado Boulder are coordinating the project.

Research teams from Würzburg, Munich, Erlangen and the MDC in Berlin have identified, for the first time, where special receptors are located on heart muscle cells. Their findings open up new perspectives for developing therapies for chronic heart failure.

Stefanie Grosswendt develops new methods to analyse cell interaction in embryos and neuroblastoma, an early childhood cancer, at the level of the individual cell. The group leader has received the BSIO Female Independence Award for her research.

A young Berlin-based company called T-knife is a rising star in Germany’s biotech sector. Co-founder Dr. Elisa Kieback, along with colleagues, has catapulted the joint spin-off from the MDC and Charité to the top of the German biotech start-up universe.

Two events, three days: researchers, industry, policymakers and the public are invited to attend the LifeTime Conference 2.0 on June 16 and 17 and the Berlin Summer Meeting 2021 on June 18 to discuss the latest technologies, tools and methods to tackle disease. Both virtual events are free.

It’s nice that virtual events are now second nature to us. So this year, too, science enthusiasts won’t have to miss out on the “smartest night of the year.” On June 5, 2021, the MDC will offer a glimpse into its research – completely digitally.

Every year in Germany, around seven boys are born with an incompletely formed urethra and urethral sphincter. These children often remain incontinent. ECRC researchers want to find out whether a stem cell transplant could help them. The trial has been awarded approximately €4.3 million in funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) at Charité.