Prof. Dr. Halbritter has served as the new Medical Director of the Department of Nephrology at the Medical Center – University of Freiburg since April 2026. With his expertise, he is enhancing care for patients with kidney disease: The goal is to prevent kidney failure through early diagnosis and the implementation of strategies to slow disease progression. For cases where kidney failure has already occurred, the focus is on organ replacement.

A novel biomimetic tissue substitute combines precisely tunable mechanical properties with biological functionality and is now ready for applications in medical technology. The material was developed in the »PolyKARD« project by Fraunhofer IAP and the NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute. From 20.-24.04, 2026, the material will be presented together with further developments at the Hannover Messe, Fraunhofer joint booth.

Within biological cells, molecules are constantly in motion. Investigating these motions, however, is still difficult, due to the fact that these processes occur on very small length and time scales. To overcome these challenges, researchers from HITS and MPI-P have developed a simulation method that works rapidly and can predict chemical processes in cells with high precision. Their findings have been published in Nature Communications.

Brain-computer interfaces can read neural signals and influence brain activity. We spoke with Pascal Fries about how this technology can benefit people with neurological and psychiatric conditions, future developments, and his views on ethical boundaries.

The cities of Heidelberg and Mainz want to work closely together in the future: Their aim is to further develop the Neckar-Rhine-Main region as an international innovation and biotech region. To this end, Heidelberg Mayor Würzner and Mainz Mayor Haase signed a MoU at Heidelberg City Hall on Friday, April 24, 2026. Those responsible for the central innovation and development structures of both cities also took part in the signing.

Genome duplication probably gave biodiversity a decisive evolutionary boost. A Chinese-German research team led by Axel Meyer from the University of Konstanz has now investigated the early phases of the process known as re-diploidization. The results show that the fusion of chromosome sets is asynchronous.