News

A CRISPR-based rapid test called CrisprZyme could help general practitioners to diagnose heart attacks and distinguish between different types of prostate cancer. They do not even need a lab, as an international team of scientists – including Michael Kaminski – reports in "Nature Nanotechnology".

Berlin's Senator for Economics Stephan Schwarz joined State Secretary Michael Biel on August 17, 2022 to learn about the economic development of the Berlin Buch Science and Biotech Campus. During his tour, he also spoke with researchers from the MDC and ECRC about their spin-off projects.

Armin Rehm and Uta Höpken want to improve our immune defenses against cancer. They have recently shown in human cells what was previously only possible in mouse models. Their findings, published in "Molecular Therapy", have raised the chances of a highly effective immunotherapy being developed for blood cancer.

Shortly before Berlin’s Christopher Street Day, the MDC will hold a Pride Symposium for the first time. On July 22, 2022, everyone is welcome to exchange ideas about queer issues in life sciences and health care.

Blood vessels must adapt their growth to the nutrients available in their surroundings so that they can keep organs adequately supplied. A team led by Michael Potente has identified two proteins that are important for this process and published their findings in "Nature Metabolism".

Maike Sander has been selected to direct the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC). The Supervisory Board appointed the diabetes researcher and professor of pediatrics and cellular and molecular medicine as the Scientific Director and Chair of the Board on June 16, 2022.

Pediatric oncologist Anton Henssen and a group of researchers from the US and the UK have won funding for a Cancer Grand Challenge. The international team will receive almost €24 million to research the role that ring-shaped strands of DNA play in the development of cancer, and how to fight them.

How do cancer cells differ from healthy cells? A new machine learning algorithm called “ikarus” knows the answer, reports a team led by MDC bioinformatician Altuna Akalin in the journal "Genome Biology". The AI program has found a gene signature characteristic of tumors.

T cells are usually very good at eliminating diseased cells. But they seem to fail when it comes to tumor cells. In "JCI Insight", MDC teams led by Armin Rehm and Uta Höpken describe what inhibits this immune function, how they can release the brake and boost the immune response against cancer.

A technique called Deep Visual Proteomics helps shed new light on cancer cell properties, a German-Danish team now reports in “Nature Biotechnology”. Fabian Coscia co-developed the new method and will further refine it at the MDC – with the aim of finding therapies for even resistant tumors.