Newsletter: 02/2021: Symposium on COVID-19, mole-rat dialects and a science contest

Key Visual I & I Virtual Symposium

Dear readers,

There are few conferences that elicit the response, “Wow, rock stars!” Our I&I-Symposium on COVID-19 is definitely one of them. If you want to know what the immunology community currently has to say about this disease, you had better clear your schedule on the afternoon of March 3 and make sure you have a reliable internet connection. Registration is still open, and participation is free. Klaus Rajewsky and Michela Di Virgilio of the MDC deserve a huge well done for putting together this extraordinary lineup of speakers.

If you don’t want to hear anything about coronaviruses right now, perhaps the chirping of naked mole-rats will be a welcome change. Not only do these amazing rodents have a distinct voice, but each colony has its own dialect – which young animals have to learn. This cultural achievement comes in handy, not least in helping to identify intruders. But there are also highlights to report in cancer and muscle research. And as always, we have a book recommendation for you.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

Your MDC Insights Team

RESEARCH

Naked mole-rat
Press Release No. 5 Berlin

📺 Naked mole-rats speak in dialect

Some converse in Creole, while others speak Scots, but it’s not only humans who can be identified by the diversity of language they speak. Naked mole-rats have their own dialects, too. Shared dialect also strengthens cohesion within a colony, a team led by MDC researcher Gary Lewin reports in the current "Science" cover story.
mesenchymal cells
Press Release No. 12 Berlin

A gearbox for tumor cell identity changes

Cancer cells are quick-change artists. A team led by Gaetano Gargiulo and Michela Serresi of the MDC has investigated in depth the molecular mechanisms that drive this constant metamorphosis. The researchers are now publishing their findings in the journal "Science Advances".
Myofiber
Press Release No. 14 Berlin

The key to proper muscle growth

Three oscillating proteins cause new muscle cells to emerge from muscle stem cells in a balanced manner. In a paper being published in the journal "Nature Communications", a team led by MDC researcher Carmen Birchmeier explains in detail how this process works.
Abbildung von Beta-Amyloid-Plaques
Press Release No. 13 Berlin

Misfolding in the Alzheimer’s brain

Erich Wanker wants to find out to what extent misfolded, and hence pathological, amyloid proteins structurally alter other proteins in the neurons – and thus contribute to the progression of Alzheimer’s dementia. He has now received €120,000 in funding from the non-profit "Alzheimer Forschung Initiative" to pursue this research.
Organoide in Petrischale
Science

Mini-organ, mathematical model or mouse?

Scientists must decide on the right experimental method for each and every research question – including whether or not to use animal experiments. Here we provide an overview of what alternative methods can achieve in biomedicine, how they are used at the MDC and where their limits lie.

COVID-19

SarsCov2
Press Release No. 10 Berlin

Top COVID-19 experts to speak at I&I Symposium

The Immunology and Inflammation (I&I) Virtual Symposium on COVID-19 on March 3rd will feature an international panel of scientists who will share their latest research on the pandemic, coronaviruses, variants, vaccines and treatments. Registration is free.
gastrointestinale Organoide
Press Release No. 9 Berlin

How the immune system paves the way for SARS-CoV-2

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".
Nashorn
Science

COVID-19 versus conservation

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.

PEOPLE

The picture shows the four young junior research group leaders with the chairs of the Single Cell Program: Ashley Sanders, Angelika Eggert, Stefanie Grosswendt, Nikolaus Rajewsky,Leif Ludwig and Simon Haas (from left to right).
Press Release No. 7 Berlin

Four new groups use single-cell methods to advance medicine

A year ago, BIH, MDC and Charité launched the joint research focus "Single Cell Approaches for Personalised Medicine". Its aim is to use innovative single cell technologies to answer clinical questions. This aspiration will be put into practice by four new junior research groups, which have now started.
Portrait Leif Ludwig
Science

Award for single-cell researcher Leif Ludwig

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.
Luiza Bengtsson und Zoe Ingram
Institute & Campus

Teaching the teachers

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.

AT THE MDC

miniature chips
Science

📺 Analyzing single cells in space

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.
Jugend forscht Urkunden
Press Release No. 11 Berlin

Ideas for the future in the Jugend forscht contest

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.
Group picture of the participants. Recipients hold checks in the air.
Institute & Campus

MDC staff donate five-figure sum

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.

RECOMMENDED READING

Eine Brille liegt auf einem aufgeschlagenen Buch
Institute & Campus

What are you reading, Mrs. Ehrhardt-Joswig?

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.

SAVE THE DATE

Conference

(I&I) Immunology & Inflammation – A Virtual Symposium on Covid-19

Virtual Meeting via Zoom
Minisymposium

UniStem Day - Europaeischer Stammzelltag

Virtual Meeting
Labor trifft Lehrer*in Lab Meets Teacher

Metaorganismus Mensch und wie neue Techniken ein Forschungsgebiet revolutionieren

Virtual Meeting
Workshop

Online: What does the public expect from genome editing in life-sciences? Results from the ORION Public Dialoges

Virtual Meeting