With the goal of creating living cells from non-living components, scientists in the field of synthetic biology work with RNA origami. This tool uses RNA biomolecule to fold new building blocks, making protein synthesis superfluous. In pursuit of the artificial cell, a research team has cleared a crucial hurdle. Using the new RNA origami technique, they succeeded in producing nanotubes that fold into cytoskeleton-like structures.

University of Tübingen research team shortens the search for attackers that can wipe out multiresistant pathogens – with the aim of treating infections without antibiotics

The Max Planck Society and the Dieter Schwarz Foundation (DSS) have embarked on a groundbreaking initiative. On March 13, 2025, they signed an agreement through which the foundation will support an innovative approach by the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg to translate basic research findings into practical applications. As part of this endeavour, two new departments of the institute will be established in Heilbronn.

Until now, doctors knew hepatic stellate cells mainly as drivers of liver fibrosis. The actual functions have hardly been studied to date. Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center, the Mannheim Medical Faculty and Columbia University have now published that hepatic stellate cells control liver metabolism as well as liver regeneration and size. The results of the study could contribute to new therapeutic approaches for liver diseases.

Donating blood saves lives – but what long-term effects does this practice have on our bodies? Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the HI-STEM stem cell institute* and the German Red Cross Blood Donor Service, among others, have now discovered that frequent blood donations cause genetic adaptations in blood stem cells that promote the regeneration of blood cells.

Researchers have developed a new method that enables a more precise analysis of individual tumor cells circulating in the blood. This allows not only the previously possible genomic investigation of such tumor cells, but also the focused analysis of single-cell signaling pathways at the functional protein level. The combined analysis of the mutated genome and signaling proteins opens up new avenues for more targeted treatment methods.

A recent study by the Hector Institute for Translational Brain Research at the CIMH provides the first cellular insights into how psilocin promotes the growth and networking of human nerve cells.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, the University of Tübingen and the University of Stuttgart under the Bionic Intelligence Tübingen Stuttgart (BITS) collaboration developed a biorobotic arm that can mirror human tremors. Artificial muscles on either side of the forearm contract and relax to suppress the involuntary shaking of the wrist and hand.

This year, the Brain Prize worth more than one million euros, honors pioneering work on nervous system-cancer interactions: Neurologist Frank Winkler, who researches at the Heidelberg University and at the German Cancer Research Center and treats patients with brain tumors at the Heidelberg University Hospital, discovered that nerve cells in the brain communicate with brain tumor cells. This causes the disease to progress.

People with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and more so with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis and MASLD-associated hepatic fibrosis can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma and are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease, and cancers. Future research might be beneficial for implementing precision medicine in MASLD.

Using a new combination of three sensors and artificial intelligence, researchers at Heidelberg Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and Heidelberg University Hospital are recognising patterns in babies' movements that show whether their nervous system is developing healthily.

The Bayer Foundation's Early Excellence in Science Award 2024 in the category of Data Science goes to Ivana Winkler of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). Winkler's work uncovered the unexpected effect of female reproductive capacity: the constantly recurring remodeling of the organs of the female reproductive tract during the sexual cycle leads to fibrosis and chronic inflammation over the years.