MDC-BIMSB

Since 2008, the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (MDC-BIMSB) has expanded the research profile of the Max Delbrück Center. The researchers at MDC-BIMSB want to understand how genes regulate the lives of cells in health and disease. This requires the Institute’s research groups to break down the traditional boundaries between disciplines such as biotechnology, computational science, biochemistry, molecular biology, and clinical research.

Further informationen on MDC-BIMSB

Article

Mosquito
Press Release No. 24 Berlin

How malaria harms unborn babies

U.K.-based Wellcome has awarded over €2 million to an international research effort to uncover how malaria can injure developing babies. Emanuel Wyler at the Max Delbrück Center will play a key role in studying the molecular interaction between the parasite Plasmodium falciparum and the placenta.
five people
Science

Five Berlin-based leading minds honored

Five scientists from the Max Delbrück Center have been named among the 100 most important minds in Berlin science in 2025 by the newspaper Tagesspiegel: Simone Spuler, Clara Vázquez García, Thoralf Niendorf, Gabriele Schiattarella and Ana Pombo.
Yun-Hsuan Huang
Science

Furthering careers through scientific exchange

Yun-Hsuan Huang spent two intense weeks at the University of Edinburgh as part of the Max Delbrück Center’s PhD exchange program in Medical Systems Biology. She returned with new skills, scientific insights – and a broader outlook on research and collaboration.
stained tissue sections of a mouse liver after base editing
Press Release No. 23 Berlin

Gene editing to treat inherited kidney disease

Researchers led by Michael Kaminski report in “Molecular Therapy” that they have used base editing to repair mutations that cause ADPKD. The approach reduced liver cysts in mice.
This digital illustration depicts a cancer cell in the blood stream.
Press Release No. 22 Berlin

Using deep learning for precision cancer therapy

Altuna Akalin and his team present a tool in “Nature Communications” that applies deep neural networks to evaluate multimodal data to help doctors choose the best treatment for their cancer patients.
Ashley Sanders
Science

Professorship awarded to Ashley Sanders

Ashley Sanders has been awarded a full professorship from Charité –Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The tenured position will enable her and her team to expand their research on developing personalized therapies for inflammatory bowel disease and other conditions.
Scientific illustration
Press Release No. 18 Berlin

How immune cells communicate

A team led by Simon Haas has developed a technology to decode how immune cells talk to each other – revealing how our bodies respond to infections, how miscommunication can trigger autoimmune diseases, and why some people don’t respond to immunotherapies. The study was published in “Nature Methods.”
fridge
Science

Cutting the environmental impact of research

From reducing freezer usage to plastic waste, Max Delbrück Center labs have been implementing strategies from the LEAF program for sustainable research. As more labs join the program, they are not only contributing to reaching our sustainability goals, they are also improving research quality.
Bersucher*innen bei einem Vortrag beim Pride Symposium
Institute & Campus

Meeting adversity with resilience

Supporting each other and standing up for our values: Resilience is the theme of the 4th MDC Pride Symposium, hosted by our LGBTQI+ community on July 18 at MDC-BIMSB. For the first time, researchers will also take part in the Berlin Christopher Street Day parade under the Max Delbrück Center banner.
Andreas Diefenbach, Britta Siegmund, Nikolaus Rajewsky
Science

ImmunoPreCept: “We want to shake up medicine”

Where does health end and illness begin – and what happens in between? Researchers working in the ImmunoPreCept Excellence Cluster are planning to take a deep look inside our cells and answer this question. In this interview, the coordinators explain what they hope to achieve in the next seven years.