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.

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.

Effective 1 October 2026, Professor Jakob Nikolas Kather will assume the Hopp Foundation Professorship for “Artificial Intelligence in Medicine” at the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University. Associated with the professorship is the establishment of the new Institute for Medical AI (IMAI) at Heidelberg University Hospital, which Professor Kather will lead as its founding director.

Prof. Chunhai Fan, who is a recipient of the Humboldt Research Award, has been conducting research at the University of Stuttgart since June. Fan works closely with Prof. Laura Na Liu of the 2nd Physics Institute. Both researchers are among the world's leading experts in the field of DNA nanotechnology.

Cells of the highly aggressive brain tumor glioblastoma exhibit predatory behavior: they exploit signaling between healthy neurons and internalize portions of their contact sites. Dr. Dr. Varun Venkataramani of the Heidelberg Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, and his research team, will investigate how glioblastoma cells benefit from this process and whether it may represent a novel therapeutic target.

Researchers are developing biotechnological processes that enable microbes to produce proteins and vitamins for human consumption using basic chemical ingredients, such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen – entirely bypassing livestock farming and agriculture. Because these methods also require energy input, they are popularly called “power-to-protein” and “power-to-vitamin” processes.

New in Nature Nanotechnology: A DNA origami nanosyringe introduces mechanically controlled molecular transport into synthetic cells. This opens new opportunities for synthetic biology, engineered biointerfaces and molecular therapeutics.

Researchers use synthetic biology approaches to test hundreds of DNA sequences for their effect on regulating gene expression. The human genome contains over 20,000 genes. However, at any given time and in a given cell, only a fraction of them are active. Researchers from EMBL Heidelberg’s Krebs Group have come up with an innovative experimental approach to understand how cells determine which genes to turn on and when.

Most everyday moments are quickly forgotten, while others stay with us for a lifetime. How the brain determines which memories are retained and which are lost remains an open question. A neuroscience team at the University of Tübingen, has found that spontaneous fluctuations in the brain’s internal state influence how ready the memory system is to store new information.

BioM Biotech Cluster Development GmbH, bioRN Life Science Cluster and ESMT Berlin announced the establishment of a Unified Hub for Healthcare Innovation. Through this alliance, the two biotech cluster organizations and DEEP – Institute for Deep Tech Innovation at ESMT will collaborate strategically to reinforce Germany’s position as a leading hub for translating scientific breakthroughs into impactful healthcare solutions.

Researchers have designed synthetic and inducible proteins that bind to bright fluorescent dyes with high specificity and affinity, significantly expanding the toolkit for multicolour imaging of proteins inside cells.

The University of Hohenheim becomes a European University through the EuroLeague of Life Sciences Universities. For ELLS, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, this marks the beginning of a new chapter. The decision will provide students, researchers and staff at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart with increased opportunities to study, work and collaborate with partner universities across Europe.

The University of Freiburg is strengthening its European collaboration in the field of Artificial Intelligence by having been accepted into the Virtual Centre of Excellence of the European AI initiative ELIAS. The Freiburg researchers contribute their expertise to the European network in areas including machine learning, computer vision, robot learning, automated reasoning, intelligent systems and neurotechnologies, as well as responsible AI.

Robots that can learn and adapt require not only data, AI tools, and algorithms but also direct communication with their users. Jens Kober would like to improve this interaction and as the new head of a research team at Fraunhofer IPA, he is focusing in particular on construction robotics.

An environmental bacterium could protect against the effects of stress right through to the next generation. Evidence of this emerged in a study using a mouse model carried out by researchers from Ulm and Frankfurt, the results of which were published in the journal `Molecular Psychiatry´. According to the study, the offspring of treated mothers were better protected against the effects of stress in adulthood than control animals.

Certain medicines contain compounds known as PFAS, which are causing increasing environmental harm due to their long-lasting effects. A report by the University of Freiburg, commissioned by the German Environment Agency, shows that many PFAS-based active ingredients used in medicines can be replaced by alternatives. Based on the findings of the report, doctors will in future be able to give preference to prescribing PFAS-free medicines.

In a virtual reality study involving zebrafish, researchers from the University of Konstanz and King’s College London have discovered that the development of the eye is influenced by what the fish see during the early stages of life – and this, in turn, alters their behaviour.

NEURA Robotics (“NEURA”), the pioneer in cognitive robotics and creator of the Neuraverse, today announced a landmark Series C financing with a total round size of up to $1.4 billion to accelerate its mission of building the world’s leading Physical AI platform. The financing brings together global leaders across AI, robotics, compute, manufacturing and industrial infrastructure.

The German Chemical Industry Fund (FCI) is supporting the course offering ‘DigiChemJN’ at the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy. DigiChemJN strengthens students’ data literacy by providing them qualifications in data-based research methods, experimental datasets, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Which cellular processes ensure that immune responses are controlled precisely? A new study by the Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology Thurgau (BITG) and the University of Konstanz decodes a decisive signalling pathway.

Living systems such as cells rely on membrane pores and channels to transport molecules, exchange signals, and organize biochemical reactions. These functions emerge from dynamic interactions between molecular components. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have used DNA nanotechnology to develop a synthetic membrane architecture that mimics such interactions.

The Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1550 “Molecular Circuits of Heart Disease” at Heidelberg University is entering its second funding period. The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved approximately EUR 17.4 million in funding for the next four years. The spokesperson is Johannes Backs, Professor of Experimental Cardiology at the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine.

NVision announced a $55 million Series B led by Abbott and unveiled PIQC, a new quantum computing platform built on its molecular quantum technology.

Prof. Dr Simon Elsässer will be awarded one of this year’s Alexander von Humboldt Professorships in Berlin on 12 May 2026. With funding of five million euros, Elsässer will strengthen Freiburg’s research focus ‘Signals of Life’ over the next five years. In this interview, he discusses complex decision-making processes in cells, the significance of signals and what makes the research environment in Freiburg so special.