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Virchow 2.0, the only finalist from Berlin to make it to the second round of the BMBF’s Clusters4Future competition, is entering the conception phase. At a kick-off meeting on September 27, 2021, participants from the scientific, clinical, and business communities offered a preview of their cluster strategy.

Proteins are unrivalled in their diversity and complexity, says Erich Wanker, and the slightest of changes can disrupt entire networks of relationships. He wants to understand why, in brain disorders like Huntington’s disease, such disruptions cause the death of neurons – and how this process can be stopped.

MDC researchers can now induce diverse genetic mutations and track their effects on a large scale in microscopic worms. The team describe their in vivo parallel genetics approach and new analysis software called crispr-DART in the journal "Cell Reports".

All living things are built from proteins. Biologist Matthias Selbach uses the technique of mass spectrometry to understand the various functions of proteins and to systematically hunt down those that cause – or can prevent – disease.

In-depth discussions held in four countries, including in Germany at the MDC, gathered public opinion about genome editing technology in life sciences research and future applications. Most participants were unaware of CRISPR, but were supportive of fundamental research once they learned more.

In order for the human immune system to effectively fight off pathogens, B cells need to smash up and reassemble their own DNA. Michela Di Virgilio searches for factors controlling this important process, which also have crucial implications for our predisposition to cancer.

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.

An international research team recently created the first atlas of the human heart. Now the scientists want to add a new dimension to the project: diversity. They are being supported by an additional Seed Networks grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Researchers from three continents have produced a first extensive draft of a cell atlas of the human heart to understand how this vital organ functions and to shed light on what goes wrong in cardiovascular disease. As the team reports in Nature, it reveals a huge cellular and molecular diversity.

Christian Luft, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, visited the MDC and the ECRC together with other ministry officials in early March. During his visit, he learned about research in single-cell biology and vascular medicine, as well as about interdisciplinary collaboration with clinicians.