News & Events

Spatially resolved transcriptomics are changing the way we understand complex tissues, as Nature Methods wrote when it crowned the technology “Method of the Year 2020.” A SCOG virtual workshop has now provided an overview of the latest findings and developments in this exciting field.

Boosting the immune system with kefir grains, developing smart road models and writing a program for chemical reactions: the winners of the 56th regional contest at Campus Berlin-Buch impressed the judges with their complete dedication and imaginative projects.

Whether it’s in biology, chemistry or bioinformatics, research is developing at a rapid pace. To help science teachers stay up to date in their fields, the MDC created the special further education program Lab Meets Teacher – offered in both digital and analog formats. Luiza Bengtsson and Zoe Ingram explain why the program is so beneficial for teachers, students and researchers alike.

The immune system actually wants to fight SARS-CoV-2 with antiviral signaling molecules. But a research team from Charité and MDC has now shown how such a signaling molecule can promote the replication of the virus. The results have been published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Leif S. Ludwig has received the Hector Research Career Development Award for his research into the DNA of cellular power plants, the mitochondria. The award supports particularly talented young scientists as they embark on the first steps of their research careers.

Research and conservation are not exempt from the negative effects of the pandemic. The BioRescue research project, a program aiming at saving the northern white rhino from extinction, exemplifies the challenges research and conservation face in an international consortium during these times.

Employees at the MDC donated a total of €10,325 to the Christmas campaign “Lasst uns helfen.” The money raised will go to four different charities. Two other donation campaigns have benefited a local refugee center and the Elisabethstift children’s home.

February 11 marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The Berlin Institute of Health (BIH ) and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) are hosting a joint virtual event that will feature a film screening, a keynote lecture and a panel discussion. We want to examine and discuss what changes are needed to make science more diverse, equitable and inclusive.

Jana Ehrhardt-Joswig is an editor in the MDC's Communications department. As well as writing, one of her favourite pastimes is reading. To overcome the lockdown blues, she recommends – believe it or not – a novel about a global flu epidemic.