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If waste DNA or RNA remains in cells, it can lead to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and autoimmune conditions. Writing in Nucleic Acids Research, scientists led by Oliver Daumke of the Max Delbrück Center describe the role one enzyme plays in removing this waste.

To attract renowned researchers to Berlin, Stiftung Charité is funding “Visiting Fellows” with 1.5 million euros. One of them is Manuel Irimia from Barcelona. He is coming to the Max Delbrück Center for three years to analyze gene regulation.

Organoids help researchers understand biological processes in health and in disease. It is, however, difficult to influence the way in which they organize themselves into complex tissues. Now a group led by Nikolaus Rajewsky has found a new way to do so. They report their work in Nature Methods.

When the PRDM16 gene mutates, heart muscle cells undergo changes in their metabolism. This increases the risk of congenital heart failure in women more than men, as a ECRC research team led by Sabine Klaassen and Jirko Kühnisch reports in “Cardiovascular Research.”

It borders on the miraculous how an entire animal emerges from a single egg cell. In order to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms, Markus Mittnenzweig is establishing the Computational and Developmental Biology Lab at the Max Delbrück Center.

Internationally renowned for pioneering achievements and geared to inter-institutional cooperation: 22 research groups at the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology in the Max Delbrück Center (MDC-BIMSB) explore how genes regulate life. It is now celebrating its 15th birthday.

Science has something exploratory about it, says Norbert Hübner. You never know exactly where you are heading. Despite this, cartographic works are the focus of his interest: the researcher creates atlases of the human heart. And amongst other things, he uses them to understand heart conditions better.

Behavior can be observed in the brain. Swedish neuroscientist Hanna Hörnberg looks for the molecular and cellular changes that occur in the nerve cells of people with depression or neurodevelopmental conditions – and hopes to create new basic knowledge that can help diagnosis and guide support needs.

Cancer cells are capable of escaping chemotherapy and radiotherapy by activating a signaling pathway that prevents them from dying. Researchers led by Claus Scheidereit at the Max Delbrück Center have now described in Cell Chemical Biology two new compounds that block this escape route.

RNA molecules travel long distances through nerve cells. To reach their destination, they need one thing more than any other – a long life – as a research team led by Marina Chekulaeva from MDC-BIMSB reports in the journal “Molecular Cell.”