News

MDC researchers used significantly fewer laboratory animals during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 than in previous years. The MDC has now been awarded the “Exemplary Communications of Animal Research” seal for its transparency on the issue of animal experiments.

When the cells’ power plants don’t function properly, life expectancy is low. Otherwise, little is known about Leigh syndrome. Using organoids, researchers in Düsseldorf and Berlin have now created the first human model for studying this rare disease. They are presenting their work in “Nature Communications”.

Cells that line the inner surface of blood vessels form a crucial barrier between blood and the surrounding tissue. Scientists at the Berlin Center of Translational Vascular Biomedicine have now reported in „Nature Cell Biology“how these endothelial cells maintain their stable resting state.

There is strong demand for laboratories, and biotech entrepreneurs need space in state-of-the-art research facilities. Now, in the presence of Berlin’s Governing Mayor, the cornerstone for the new BerlinBioCube incubator has been laid on Campus Berlin-Buch.

MDC researchers can now induce diverse genetic mutations and track their effects on a large scale in microscopic worms. The team describe their in vivo parallel genetics approach and new analysis software called crispr-DART in the journal Cell Reports.

The new cryo-electron microscope on the Buch campus is four meters tall and captures images of tiny, nanometer-scale structures. The MDC has constructed a special building to house this feat of technology, which is now available to Berlin’s structural biology community. Dr. Christoph Diebolder of Charité heads the facility.

In the last week of March, the German National Cohort’s Berlin-North Study Center received some special guests: Former professional soccer players Claudia Müller and Sven Kretschmer underwent preliminary examinations as part of a soccer study being conducted by the GNC’s sponsoring association.

All living things are built from proteins. Biologist Matthias Selbach uses the technique of mass spectrometry to understand the various functions of proteins and to systematically hunt down those that cause – or can prevent – disease.

What side effects should I expect from the vaccines against the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus? Have they been developed too fast? To support a factual debate, our experts from the fields of immunology and RNA biology answered frequently asked questions.

The MDC mourns the death of Jan Kunze. The Head of Research Funding died on 20 March 2021 at the age of 52. He leaves behind four children. An obituary.