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In light of the pandemic, the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) is pooling together its resources for projects that advance the understanding of SARS-CoV-2, while scaling down its regular research operations to a minimum. Here’s an overview of the MDC’s current collaborations and plans.

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.

What happens deep inside the heart as it ages? To answer this question, MDC scientists looked into which genes are active in thousands of old and young heart cells. They found that the heart loses its high level of organization in old age – and that connective tissue cells in particular end up getting out of control.

An artificial intelligence platform developed at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) can analyze genomic data extremely quickly, picking out key patterns to classify different types of colorectal tumors and improve the drug discovery process. The deeper analysis shows some colorectal subtypes need to be reclassified.

Using artificial intelligence to evaluate images of the retina – The jury of the "Deep Berlin Conference" was convinced by the concept of the "Nocturne" spin-off that uses the eye as a window to the human brain.

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.

Today the research project BioRescue for the rescue of the Northern White Rhino, which is threatened with extinction, is officially launched. State-of-the-art reproduction and stem cell technology shall ensure the survival of this key species. The international scientific consortium, led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and with the significant participation of the MDC, is receiving around 4 million Euros in funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF ) as part of the BMBF's biodiversity conservation research initiative.

The MDC welcomes the agreement reached between the State of Berlin and the federal government regarding the future of the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH ). The term “privileged partnership” has to now be filled with life and backed up with funding.

Huge amounts of data are produced in life science research – but few know how to analyze them. The Computational Genomics Summer School at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) wants to change this by offering young researchers intensive data analysis training.

If a project is missing a certain protein, such as an antibody, Anja Schütz can help. The biochemist has been leading the Protein Production and Characterization Platform at the MDC since May 2018.