Research Highlights

Misaddressed proteins are mislocalized, with possibly fatal consequences for the cell.

The origin of this incurable nervous disease lies in minute fibers formed by chains of the huntingtin protein.

MDC researchers have described how the heart forms itself into a its characteristic S-shape and how the ventricles and atria finally develop. Their findings will help to better understand congenital heart diseases.

James Poulet's lab listens to the activity of networks of single sensory neurons in the brain and discovered how a single signal from one cell manages to attract attention.

The MDC researcher Jan Philipp Junker and his team have used CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to pioneer a technique capable of determining both the type and origin of all the cells in an organism. They describe their method in Nature Biotechnology.

A research team led by Gary Lewin has now discovered that Piezo channels are highly sensitive to changes in membrane voltage.

An international research team has succeeded in stopping the growth of malignant melanoma by reactivating a protective mechanism that prevents tumor cells from dividing.

For many obese people gaining weight is a vicious cycle. Scientists at the MDC have now uncovered a contributing factor: genetic variants linked to obesity cause the brain to produce too much of a protein called Cadm1. The result is a disruption in the regulation of body weight and changes in behavior and metabolism, as reported by Matthew Poy and his colleagues in Nature Neuroscience.

After 13 rapid divisions a fertilized fly egg consists of about 6,000 cells. They all look alike...

While hundreds of circular RNAs (circRNAs) are abundant in mammalian brains, one big question has...