A project funded by the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg is investigating the interplay between RNA modifications and epigenetic mechanisms during cell division – and its potential significance for treatment resistance in cancer.

The start-up xenko has been awarded an EXIST grant of 143,500 € from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The team of founders from Ulm University is developing a digital health platform designed to encourage more physical activity in everyday working life through virtual reality. This development is of interest to companies with occupational health management schemes and, in the long term, to the physiotherapy sector as well.

Thanks to enzyme-based biocatalysis, an enormous range of pharmaceutical active ingredients and other complex molecules can be synthesized in an environmentally friendly manner. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now developed a technology that allows to assemble enzymes into millimeter-sized, storable beads. In this process, the enzymes not only act as catalysts but also constitute the beads’ material itself.

CAR-T cell therapies have proven successful in treating several types of blood and lymphoid cancers. However, their use in treating other tumors is significantly more challenging, in part because suitable target structures are lacking.

The liver is organized into distinct zones in which liver cells perform different functions. The blood vessels of the liver play an important role in this spatial organization: the endothelial cells lining the vessels provide signals that instruct neighboring liver cells and help determine their function. But how do endothelial cells know which signals to produce?

How can cell-based immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases become more widely available in the long term? The SYNTHIA project is addressing this challenge: The Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI are collaborating on new research approaches to advance the development of cell-based immunotherapies.

CAR-T cell therapies have proven successful in treating several types of blood and lymphoid cancers. However, their use in treating other tumors is significantly more challenging, in part because suitable target structures are lacking.

Iron is essential for healthy cells. Cancer cells also require this trace element. Researchers in Freiburg have now found evidence that high levels of iron directly in the tumor microenvironment promote the spread of certain cells in a particularly aggressive type of brain tumor known as glioblastoma. In the long term, iron metabolism could therefore serve as a target for more precisely influencing particularly invasive tumor cells.

About 250,000 people in Germany live with epilepsy that does not respond adequately to medication. How can their treatment be further improved with a brain pacemaker? As part of the CLOUDIA research project, the Medical Center – University of Freiburg is now collaborating with a medical technology company to develop an AI-supported assistance system for analyzing long-term brain activity data.

Prime Vector Technologies is developing a new vaccine platform - 20/10/2026

The ORF platform – one virus, many possibilities

Many vaccines effectively deliver an antigen to the desired target site. But what if, at the same time, the immune system could be specifically orchestrated to build broad and comprehensive protection? This idea led to the development of a novel vector platform based on the Orf virus. The work was carried out by the Tübingen-based start-up Prime Vector Technologies.

A European research consortium led by the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) aims to fundamentally improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer using AI agents, big data, and patient-centered clinical decision support. The central goal is to detect aggressive tumors early and accurately, reduce unnecessary interventions, and tailor treatment decisions more closely to the individual patient.

How can the human body be stimulated to build more bone, thus helping those affected by osteoporosis? Researchers in Ulm have investigated the role played by the protein molecule Axl in this process. Their efforts were successful: in a study, they demonstrated that Axl inhibits bone formation – and that cells produce significantly more bone tissue when the molecule is blocked using medication. There are no discernible harmful side effects.