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On June 6, 2026, we opened the doors to our labs for the 26th time to welcome thousands of curious visitors. We answered questions, conducted experiments together, shared laughter, and explained how our work can shape the medicine of tomorrow. A look back in pictures.

Congratulations to Gary Lewin on his election as a new member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina! The prestigious honor recognizes his scientific accomplishments over the span of his career.

Max Delbrück Center researchers have discovered a previously unknown genetic switch that affects RBM20, an important protein in heart cells. The findings, published in “Nature Communications,” suggest a potential new target for treating cardiomyopathies more precisely in the future.

Why does obesity cause heart disease and diabetes in some people, but not in others? And how do the different types of adipose tissue influence cardiovascular disease? These are just a few of the many questions Mascha Koenen will pursue as a Junior Group Leader at HI-TAC in Mannheim.

The true cause of RBM20 cardiomyopathy, a severe inherited form of heart failure, is not the gene defect itself, but an overactive protein, concludes a study led by researchers at the Helmholtz Institute for Translational AngioCardioScience and published in “Nature Cardiovascular Research.”

Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center have found a way to improve CAR-T cancer therapy to treat lymphoma. By additionally engineering the cells to express the receptor CCR7, they show in “Cancer Immunology Research” that the CAR-T cells penetrate lymph nodes more efficiently and kill cancer cells quickly.

A combination of three drugs appears to more effectively treat people with cystic fibrosis than therapy with only two, concludes a study by Max Delbrück Center researchers published in “Cell Systems.” The study analyzed changes in the proteomes of blood and sputum samples from people with the disease.

A VR journey into microplastics in the brain, a walk-through vein, a laboratory transformed into an escape room: The Max Delbrück Center is hosting 65 events as part of the Long Night of the Sciences. Visitors will get a look at how our researchers’ work is shaping the medicine of tomorrow.

Different types of bone marrow stem cells give rise to blood and immune cells. A team led by Simon Haas now reports in “Nature Cell Biology” how that diversity develops. The findings could help improve stem cell therapies, including treatments for blood cancers.

The Helmholtz Foundation Model Initiative (HFMI), launched two years ago, supports AI projects focused on processing enormous amounts of data. In this interview, AI expert Dagmar Kainmueller offers an interim assessment — including her own HFMI project, AqQua.