Organoids

Ines Lahmann explains how organoids could change medical research in a podcast called ‘Forschungsquartett’. Listen to the interview with detektor.fm editor Esther Stephan (in German).

The Helmholtz Association has approved €30.8 million in funding for the Center for AI–Accelerated Molecular Innovations in Medicine to be located at the Max Delbrück Center. Researchers will use new technologies to develop AI-driven strategies for precision treatment and prevention.

Researchers led by Maike Sander, Scientific Director of the Max Delbrück Center, have developed a vascularized organoid model of hormone secreting cells in the pancreas. The advance, published in “Developmental Cell,” promises to improve diabetes research and cell-based therapies.

How do disordered proteins drive neurological diseases? Dr. Melissa Birol uses advanced imaging and brain organoids to uncover the hidden functions of these mysterious proteins. She hopes to find novel ways to treat incurable diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Research teams at the Max Delbrück Center and its partner institutions used a total of 31,517 animals in experiments in 2024 – almost 6,000 fewer than the previous year. These figures were reported to the Berlin State Office for Health and Social Affairs (LaGeSo).

Around 220 high school students from across Berlin came to the conference center of the Max Delbrück Center in Buch in mid-March with one topic on their minds: stem cell research. For the tenth time, the German Stem Cell Network (GSCN, stem cell research dialogue platform at BIH) hosted UniStem Day.

Jakob Metzger has developed a new generation of brain organoids that are easier to mass-produce and uniform. The data they provide on rare neurological diseases can speed up the time it takes to find new therapies.

Jan Philipp Junker’s new full professorship at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin will enable him to push the boundaries of tissue regeneration research. Using single-cell sequencing, microscopy and genetics, he hopes to unlock ways to enhance organ regeneration in mammals.

Researchers from Mount Sinai, Max Delbrück Center and other international institutions have identified a novel cancer cell state that fuels resistance to therapy in colorectal cancer. The findings, which were published in “Nature Genetics,” reveal a new mechanism and potential drug target.

Therapy that is tailored to patients’ diseases is largely unaffordable. Three Max Delbrück Center postdocs have won GO-Bio Initial grants to simplify and improve personalized therapies. They aim to bring down costs to enable more widespread access.