News

Neuroscience is one of Berlin’s strongest fields of research. The Berlin Brains lecture series at Urania shows the breadth and depth of this research expertise in the capital city – this year under the theme “Junior Meets Senior.” The MDC’s Thomas Willnow and Anna Löwa are kicking off the series.

The HIDA Trainee Network is back for a second time in 2021. The exchange program promotes interdisciplinary networking between young scientists at Helmholtz and helps them learn from one another

MDC researchers have developed a new approach to CAR T-cell therapy. The team has shown in Nature Communications that the procedure is very effective, especially when it comes to fighting follicular lymphomas and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the most common type of blood cancer in adults.

On January 1, 2021, the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH ) will become the translational research unit of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and will then form – alongside the hospital and the medical faculty – Charité’s third pillar.

Bone regeneration, dynamic hydrogels and the novel coronavirus – these three topics are currently being researched by MDC scientists in two new Collaborative Research Centres and as part of the COVID-19 Focus Funding initiative of the German Research Foundation (DFG ).

Colon cancer stem cells have one weak spot: the enzyme Mll1. An MDC team led by Walter Birchmeier has now shown in Nature Communications that blocking this protein prevents the development of new tumors in the body.

More than 150 postdocs and senior Ph.D. students from across the capital joined for a virtual Berlin Science Postdoc Day to present research, build skills and network. Emmanuelle Charpentier, who shares the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was the keynote speaker.

A new textbook “Computational Genomics with R” written by MDC’s Altuna Akalin will be published this month. The book aims to assist to a wide range of readers, providing both an introduction to genomics and step-by-step instructions to help biologists analyze their own datasets.

A muscle fiber consists of just one cell, but many nuclei. A team at the MDC led by Professor Carmen Birchmeier has now shown just how varied these nuclei are. The study, which has been published in Nature Communications, can help us better understand muscle diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The MDC community is mourning the loss of Heinz Bielka, a pioneer of cell and molecular biology, science historian, and committed Buch citizen. From 1953 until his retirement, Bielka served in important positions on the campus. He was 91 years old. His outstanding contributions will be long remembered.