Press Releases

Perceiving warmth requires input from a surprising source: cool receptors. The finding published in Neuron by neuroscientists at the MDC challenges the theory that dedicated neurons convey either warm or cool sensations to the brain.

A protein in the cell envelope influences the rate of fatty acid uptake in cells. This is reported by MDC researchers in the journal PNAS. This process also appears to be altered in overweight people.

Researchers at the MDC have developed a new online tool that displays the development of the COVID-19 epidemic in Germany clearly and by individual state as well as worldwide. The map and timeline showing the spread of the coronavirus are freely available on the internet.

A team led by Dr. Lina Jaeschke and Professor Tobias Pischon of the MDC has investigated the individual factors associated with high and low levels of physical activity. The results, which have been published in the journal Scientific Reports, contain some surprises.

What goes on inside and between individual cells during the very earliest stages of tumor development? Single cell sequencing technologies and a mouse model have enabled researchers to comprehensively map the cellular diversity of whole salivary gland tumors and trace the path of cancer stem cells.

To strengthen Berlin’s reputation as an international science hub, the capital’s non-university research institutions have come together to form Berlin Research 50 (BR 50). Together, they want to develop research strategies and foster dialogue between science, politics and society. The initiative will also facilitate and strengthen cooperation with Berlin’s universities.

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.

Muscle pain and cramps are common side effects of statins. As an MDC and Charité research group now reports in Scientific Reports, the cholesterol reducers actually influence thousands of genes in muscle cells – thereby hindering cell growth and division.

Research groups from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) are joining forces with other Berlin-based partners. Pooling their experience and outstanding expertise in the field of mass spectrometry, they will form a new ‘Forschungskern’ or ‘research core’.

PCAWG, the largest cancer research consortium in the world, has set itself the task of improving our understanding of genetic mutations in tumors. A new study by the international research group, to which the MDC substantially contributed, is now being published in the journal Nature.