News

Until recently, it was unclear how and why cancer cells adapt to their environment. A team led by Dr. Gaetano Gargiulo at MDC has now developed a technology that can be used to observe the molecular processes in living cells. The researchers present their results in the journal Cancer Discovery.

Dr. Jakob Metzger is a physicist who has found his scientific home in developmental biology. From November, he heads the Quantitative Stem Cell Biology Lab at the MDC, pursuing an interdisciplinary approach.

MDC welcomes a new guest PI: Dr. Michael Sigal, a clinician scientist at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin who studies how stem cells contribute to gastrointestinal disorders and cancer. He is excited to partner with MDC to explore the gut’s interior lining on the single cell level.

Dr. Laleh Haghverdi joins the MDC on July 1st to lead a new group: Computational Methodologies and Omic Analytics. She brings her expertise in finding mathematical approaches to improve single-cell, multi-omics data integration and analysis.

Scientists at the MDC have discovered stem cells responsible for the most common form of kidney cancer. The team of Walter Birchmeier has found a way to block the growth of these tumors in three models of the disease.

MDC researchers established a new model to study neuromuscular development and disorders. For the first time two distinct human tissues co-developed in the lab from one progenitor cell type and self-organized into a complex, functional neuromuscular organoid.

A new technology platform at the Max Delbrück Center is using human stem cells to develop complex tissue cultures known as “organoids.” This enables researchers to gain a better understanding of disease processes by simulating them in 3D. Neuronal diseases will be modeled first and then other diseases.

Scientists have discovered a new subtype of muscle stem cells. These cells have the ability to build and regenerate new muscles, making them interesting targets for the development of gene therapies.

Elaine Fuchs, who heads the Mammalian Cell Biology and Development Lab at The Rockefeller University, will give a lecture at MDC on Oct. 1 about finding ways to target the skin cancer stem cells that resist treatment and often lead to relapses.

What does a protein forming the cell’s nuclear envelope have to do with a dangerous heart condition? Aided by stem cell experiments, a team of researchers from Stanford University and the MDC recently answered this question.