News in 2021
December 2021
- Humboldt Fellows for the MDC
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The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has recruited Nikolaus Rajewsky for the Henriette Herz Scouting Program.
- Covid updates from the sewer
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Researchers at the BIMSB teamed up with Berlin’s water supply company, Berliner Wasserbetriebe, to develop a computer-based tool that can determine the distribution of coronavirus variants in wastewater – and thus in the population. The tool is now available to other scientists.
- Genome folding in the mouse brain
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A team led by MDC researcher Ana Pombo has deciphered the 3D structure of the genome in three cell types of the mouse brain. They not only discovered specific folding patterns but also found that very long genes almost completely lose their compact folded structure when most at work, as they report in “Nature”.
- The evolution of tumors
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The genetic material of individual cancer cells within a tumor varies – including in neuroblastoma, a cancer that predominantly occurs in early childhood. What’s more, these genetic differences are constantly evolving, as researchers from Charité and the MDC report in "Nature Communications".
- Darío Lupiáñez is named EMBO Young Investigator
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The 40-year-old scientist from the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology at the MDC has been selected as one of 26 researchers for the EMBO Young Investigator Programme. Starting in January 2022, Lupiáñez and his team will receive both financial and practical support for a period of four years.
November 2021
- Humboldt Fellows for the MDC
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New chances to attract sought-after research talents to Berlin will soon be available to the MDC. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has recruited Nikolaus Rajewsky for the Henriette Herz Scouting Program.
- Three MDC researchers among most highly cited
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Once again three MDC scientists – Nikolaus Rajewsky, Sofia Forslund and Alexander Mildner – have been named to the global list of Highly Cited Researchers.
- Music meets science
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Under the theme “Breaking Boundaries,” young musicians from the Barenboim-Said Akademie are giving concerts at the MDC in Mitte/BIMSB at irregular intervals, followed by seminars for PhD students. The inaugural concert on November 12 was a great success, with not a seat left empty.
- Call for cell-based medicine project ideas- Apply for Virchow 2.0 open call until December 12, 2021!
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We invite project teams from academia and industry to propose their collaborative R&D project ideas to be included in the final cluster strategy to implement cell-based medicine.
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Teams involving a minimum of 2 partners from academia and industry can apply with their collaborative R&D project ideas for the Clusters4Future Virchow 2.0. Projects ideas aiming at further developing, integrating and applying single-cell technologies, artificial intelligence as well as patient derived disease models for research and/or clinical applications are welcome.
Virchow 2.0 is a growing research and innovation network in the German capital region aiming to build a completely novel biomedical AI innovation ecosystem for the implementation of cell-based interceptive medicine in Berlin-Brandenburg as part of the BMBF Clusters4Future initiative.
To apply via the Virchow 2.0 website click HERE
Oktober 2021
- New Berlin Cell Hospital announced
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When cells make the wrong decision, diseases ensue. This insight came from Berlin – namely from Rudolf Virchow, whose 200th birthday is being celebrated this year. To mark the anniversary, Berlin research institutions have announced the founding of the Berlin Cell Hospital. The MDC occupies a leading role in the project.
- Virchow 2.0: From intervention to prevention
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Virchow 2.0, the only finalist from Berlin to make it to the second round of the BMBF’s Clusters4Future competition, is entering the conception phase. At a kick-off meeting on September 27, 2021, participants from the scientific, clinical, and business communities offered a preview of their cluster strategy.
September 2021
- Nikolaus Rajewsky part of ARTE Documentary "42"
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Nikolaus Rajewsky has been featured in an episode of ARTE's "42" science documentary series - this episode is about algorithms and big data and how they can be deployed for achieving better health (available in German and French)
- The visionary
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BIMSB's scientific director, Nikolaus Rajewsky, has been the profiled in MDCs "Insights" series.
August 2021
- Understanding lung damage in patients with COVID-19
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A severe course of COVID-19 disease is not caused by the direct destruction of the lung due to the multiplication of the virus. As researchers from Berlin report in the journal Nature Communications, inflammatory processes and the endothelium of the lung are involved.
July 2021
- Janine Altmüller is new head of the Genomics Platform
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Dr. Janine Altmüller’s goal is to raise the profile of genomics research in Berlin. Since July 1 she has headed the BIH and MDC’s joint Genomics Platform, providing support to Berlin researchers and honing new methods and technologies.
- EMBO Funding for Dr Christian Feregrino from BIMSB
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Unlike most mammals or other rodents, the common spiny mouse has a menstrual cycle. Dr Christian Feregrino from the MDC is investigating how this trait has emerged. The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is funding his work with a fellowship worth €140,000.
June 2021
- Four times as much information per cell
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Scientists from the BIH at Charité and the MDC have teamed up with U.S. and Japanese researchers to take single-cell analysis to a new level. They combined methods for determining mRNA levels and DNA accessibility with those used for detecting proteins and mutations in mitochondrial DNA, they report in “Nature Biotechnology”.
- Nikolaus Rajewsky at "Diagnose: Zukunft"
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Nikolaus Rajewsky was interviewed for the podcast "Diagnose: Zukunft" and talked about Systems Biology!
- Single-cell researcher Stefanie Grosswendt wins award
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Stefanie Grosswendt develops new methods to analyse cell interaction in embryos and neuroblastoma, an early childhood cancer, at the level of the individual cell. The group leader has received the BSIO Female Independence Award for her research.
- Tracking RNA through space and time
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A research team at the MDC has succeeded in tracking genes through space and time within a one-cell zebrafish embryo – even before cell division occurs. They have now described a method in the journal “Nature Communications” that may one day allow scientists to measure cell response to drugs, for example, in organoids.
May 2021
- A leap into the future with Virchow
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Virchow 2.0 has been chosen as one of the 15 finalists in the second round of the BMBF’s Clusters4Future competition. The Berlin-based network, coordinated by the MDC, aims to build an AI-driven biomedical innovation ecosystem that will bring cell-based medicine to the clinic.
- What Berlin wastewater reveals about the coronavirus
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For many people, the day begins with a glance at the current incidence rate. Researchers at the MDC can now determine this a few days in advance. All they need are two vials of wastewater from Berlin’s sewage system.
- Too much salt suppresses phagocytes
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Small changes of sodium in the blood reduce the amount of energy produced in the mitochondria – the power plants of our cells. This has consequences for immune cells. An international research team has discovered the mechanism behind this phenomenon and published their findings in the journal "Circulation".
April 2021
- Solutions for tackling current and future pandemics
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How can we use the knowledge gained so far to better overcome the COVID-19 crisis and prevent future pandemics? Two MDC labs are taking part in a collaborative Helmholtz project that aims to answer this question from an immunological, virological and economic perspective.
- Scaling up genome editing big in tiny worms
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MDC researchers can now induce diverse genetic mutations and track their effects on a large scale in microscopic worms. The team describe their in vivo parallel genetics approach and new analysis software called crispr-DART in the journal "Cell Reports".
- Shedding new light on Leigh syndrome with organoids
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When the cells’ power plants don’t function properly, life expectancy is low. Otherwise, little is known about Leigh syndrome. Using organoids, researchers in Düsseldorf and Berlin have now created the first human model for studying this rare disease. They are presenting their work in “Nature Communications”.
- Towards a better understanding of self-healing
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Jan Philipp Junker studies how organs develop and how they regenerate after injury. To understand how this happens, he is investigating which genes in individual cells of an organ are active at any one time. Together with a fellow researcher in Dresden, he has been awarded a generous DFG Sequencing Grant for his research.
March 2021
- The protein detective
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All living things are built from proteins. Biologist Matthias Selbach uses the technique of mass spectrometry to understand the various functions of proteins and to systematically hunt down those that cause – or can prevent – disease.
February 2021
- Analyzing single cells in space
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Spatially resolved transcriptomics are changing the way we understand complex tissues, as Nature Methods wrote when it crowned the technology “Method of the Year 2020.” A SCOG virtual workshop has now provided an overview of the latest findings and developments in this exciting field.
- Award for single-cell researcher Leif Ludwig
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Leif S. Ludwig has received the Hector Research Career Development Award for his research into the DNA of cellular power plants, the mitochondria. The award supports particularly talented young scientists as they embark on the first steps of their research careers.
- Four new groups use single-cell methods to advance medicine
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A year ago, BIH, MDC and Charité launched the joint research focus "Single Cell Approaches for Personalised Medicine". Its aim is to use innovative single cell technologies to answer clinical questions. This aspiration will be put into practice by four new junior research groups, which have now started.
Januar 2021
- What are you reading, Dr. Junker?
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In the lab, Jan Philipp Junker is working on cell lineages. He is trying to understand how zebrafish repair their own hearts. In his spare time, he likes to read a lot. For our series "What are you reading right now?", the systems biologist takes us to the East Coast of the USA, to Boston. Not to the MIT, but to a milieu of tennis players and drug addicts.
- Integration of BIH into Charité and the privileged partnership with the MDC
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On January 1, 2021, the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) has become the translational research unit of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and will then form – alongside the hospital and the medical faculty – Charité’s third pillar.
- “Danger to the Brain” – a Urania lecture on Alzheimer’s
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Neuroscience is one of Berlin’s strongest fields of research. The Berlin Brains lecture series at Urania shows the breadth and depth of this research expertise in the capital city – this year under the theme “Junior Meets Senior.” The MDC’s Thomas Willnow and Anna Löwa are kicking off the series.
- How the vaccines fight the coronavirus
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What side effects should I expect from the vaccines against the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus? Have they been developed too fast? To support a factual debate, our experts from the fields of immunology and RNA biology answered frequently asked questions.