Gene Expression Regulation & RNA Biology

Using skin organoids, Emanuel Wyler and collaborators in Hamburg have traced how herpes simplex virus 1 infection progresses among neighboring skin cells. The work, published in “Science Advances,” might ultimately help researchers understand why a common virus sometimes has serious consequences.

The European doctoral network ORFeus is welcoming applications from doctoral students who want to help decipher the dark proteome. The Max Delbrück Center will host one student in the lab of Uwe Ohler. The deadline for applying is October 22, 2026.

An international team has created a detailed molecular map of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, one of the most common forms of heart disease. Their findings, published in “Science Translational Medicine,” identify biological pathways that could pave the way for more precise treatments.

Nikolaus Rajewsky and his team have built a search engine that can scan data from millions of single cells from thousands of experiments worldwide in seconds. The tool, described in “Nature,” makes it possible to answer previously impossible questions about RNA biology.

Researchers led by Ana Pombo have found that just one exposure to the drug can create changes in mouse brain cells that persist for at least two weeks. Their findings were presented at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies Forum on July 7, 2026.

Uwe Ohler and Gaetano Gargiulo have been awarded prestigious ERC Advanced Grants. With funding of €2.5 million each, they will spend the next five years investigating how protein synthesis is regulated and identifying vulnerabilities in pediatric brain tumors.

Researchers have uncovered the molecular details of how ancient viral DNA controls a gene linked to preeclampsia. The study, published in “Genome Biology,” builds on previous research and may lead to a diagnostic test to identify preeclampsia risk much earlier.

A collaboration led by Max Delbrück Center and University of Bath has uncovered how ancient viral DNA controls a gene linked to placenta development and pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening pregnancy disorder. The research, published in “Genome Biology,” could help identify pre-eclampsia risk much earlier.

Markus Landthaler and colleagues from the University of Cologne have deciphered the rules of a key cellular quality control mechanism in detail, and published their results in “Molecular Cell.”

The Ohler lab has developed a new method called TESLA-seq to identify regulatory regions in the human genome. The research was published in “Cell Genomics.”