News

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.

The 13th Berlin Summer Meeting “Rising from the Ashes – Regeneration at the Single Cell Level” will take place as a Christmas Special on Dec. 10-11, 2020. The free, virtual conference will feature talks about regeneration research in animals and organoids.

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.

PhD candidates now have the opportunity to apply for two new training programs. The EU is supporting the program for talented early-stage researchers at the MDC and other European research institutions to the tune of €4 million per network.

Nadine Haase has received this year’s Hypertension Research Award of the German Society of Nephrology. The ECRC researcher discovered a potential agent for treating preeclampsia.

By analyzing the gene expression of single cells, algorithms are able to not only reconstruct their original location in the tissue, but also to determine details about their function. Teams led by Kai Schmidt-Ott and Nikolaus Rajewsky have published their findings in JASN, using the kidney as an example.